When I retired, we decided that we wanted to live close to our grandchildren and we wanted to live on a farm.  We ended up in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia and I immediately started building my Maryland Midland.  While it isn't a large layout, it is designed for operations and it mimics the operations of the real MMID from Union Bridge to Highfield.  It is getting to the point where operations sessions and the input from other modelers is needed to improve it.  At the least, I'd like to show off what I have created.

I just unboxed two InterMountain UP autoracks. Weathering is mandatory - even more as the yellow is a little bit off and rather toy-like.

At first I applied a coat of matte acrylic varnish to get a "sticky" surface for the following - not shown here.

Next I wanted to have a faded look - the look of many hour of sunshine bleaching everything. Therefore I applied three coats of a white acrylic wash:

Building continues.  Roadbed down.  Dug the turntable pit.  Started to carve the river bank.  Started cutting chunks for the vertical scenery.   

And, oh yeah, added 1x2's to all sides of the door to ensure that the layout area meets the minimum space needed for the NMRA Scenery AP certificate.

***Adendum: Please disregard  this OP, in my research with your help here and in been delivered my proper lights...but there are still a few things to wrap up..getting there.***

I've been looking at LED light strip options for my shelf layout. In a perfect world I would have a valance and use my existing IKEA lights but the bulbs keep burning out and come in at $8.00 cdn a pop. So I am going the LED strip route. I prefer the spread of the LED lights and the price point is perfect. 

Everyone should hear this story; it is an important part of Bingham Canyon history. The Bloodiest episode in Utah law enforcement history took place in 1913, when five officers and one civilian were murdered in the span of eight days.

Watch the unboxing and setup and initial thoughts of the Ender 3 Pro for model railroad hobby. Let me know your thoughts here or the comments on YouTube. 

Inspired by the Heart of Georgia trackplan, I set out to build this layout in my unfinished basement. 
for those that may not know, it is a 8’x9’ trackplan designed around one sheet of plywood. 

building the benchwork was very straightforward. Not knowing better, I went with 22” and 24” radius curves. I used Peco switches so I wouldn’t need point motors, and flex track to eliminate joints. I decided to use DCC on the layout. 
 

Now with the paint on and finalizing of the exterior details its starting to look like the prototype.