I have been thinking about how to positively lock turnout points to the stock rail without resorting to powered turnout throws (i.e. Tortoise and others) or commercially available manual throws (i.e. Caboose Hobbies).     I especially wanted to “lock” the points in place in my yard and industrial tracks that are within 24” of the layout fascia.   I prefer to use a skewer or finger to move the points.

Download this episode at: amodelerslife.com

This year's Rails Along the Rio Grande show was productive. 

Well this has been an 8 year journey.  Modeling and running trains has been on mostly a hold.

My Mother passed away 5 years ago.  That was real tough as she was my best friend.  Miss her still terribly.

I cleared my mathematics credential in California.  So I can now teach History and Math all the way to 12th grade. I teach 7th grade mathematics right now.

Finally, I have been finishing my Masters which I started, but stopped when my Mother passed.  3 more weeks and it is done...3 more weeks.

The only part of my Flin Flon layout I kept was the big bridge scene. I had built it to be moved and I am happy to say it survived the 1400km journey. 

This weekend I built a stand for it and got it out of its shipping crate I made. I was very pleased to see it was all intact. I had taken off a lot of small details before the move so once I figure out which box I put them in I can add them back to the scene. 

Fun fact... did you know, that there are several FULL episodes of TMTV that are FREE to view?

If you ever thought "why would I subscribe to a paid video service" go to TMTV, click "Past Monthly Shows", and scroll down to the bottom. November and December of 2013 are free! The FULL episodes, PLUS the bonus materials...

Hours of fun, and it gives you a good feel for what you are buying!

While digging through my toolbox recently, I came across some blue flags that I had made back in the early 90's.  Much like the the prototype, I made the original version to serve the very real need of not wanting my train to be "accidentally" run off the end of a staging yard!

This post will detail the history, construction, and use of these flags.

Craig