Thursday of NMRA Convention week is one that is looked forward to with both anticipation and a bit of trepidation. It is load-in and setup day for the National Train Show. 

This means that for the vendors and layout participants they've got to get everything up and running in a fairly limited amount of time - while everyone else is trying to drive their truck and trailer around you. 

It's the day you find what didn't survive the trip to the show, and what you forgot to pack or bring with you. 

I've decided to put all the contest room photos in their own blog entry. 

Let's start with the carousel video I shot yesterday - 

Wednesday morning arrived the same way as Sunday, Monday and Tuesday - with an alarm on my phone going off. 

With a hobby, as well as with life in general, sometimes it helps to take a step back and look where you're going and where you've been. My pike, The Blackwater and Blue Ridge Railroad has become the most fully realized railroad project I've ever done. After a forced hiatus from the hobby where the little line sat dormant for around two years, construction began again in earnest. Now, save for two more pieces of flextrack and roadbed which I need to purchase, the trackplan is done. From "Furlow" to "Fugate" trains can traverse the entire line.

Due to the sudden death of my mother, the timetable for moving and dismantling the layout has been scrunched up considerably. As such, I will start dismantling immediately after these sessions are streamed. There will be one final update outlining the final progress as well as what to expect from the channel. After that, I'll probably remain off of YouTube aside from comments and keeping up with subscriptions. Videos will pick up again in a few months with a look at the temporary workbench setup. Until then, thanks for joining me on the journey and see you on Hocking Valley 3.0

To start at the end, today nearly ended with a double-disaster for yours truly. I was out walking after finishing with the clinics I was going to today when I spotted a US Army Apache helicopter flying over the downtown SLC area. Maybe the natives are used to it, but that was something that made me grab for the camera I had on a sling by my side.

And I dropped my cell phone, face down, on the concrete sidewalk.

With the first day of the 2019 NMRA Convention completed more-or-less successfully (unless you were a passenger on the bus that broke down), Day 2 appeared to be getting into the groove of the thing. At 8am 5 separate clinics, including a Make 'n' Take and the LD-SIG Bootcamp started up, as well as 3 separate layout tours and a General Interest Tour - Promontory Summit - There and Back. 

One of our best turn outs yet. Lots of good trains, good food, and fun! Come along for the ride!

I've nearly completed my benchwork for the new layout! It's been a herculean effort and taken about 3-and-a-half months to get to this point, but I'm very happy with the results. There were a few surprises along the way, (both good and bad) and I'll be sure to share my thoughts in an update video soon. Until then, after the jump is a whole mess of photos I've taken along the way: