Some incremental progress on the layout as a whole.  As mentioned in the previous post, some major trackwork was necessary for operations to continue in any reasonable manner.  Namely, I had to elevate the crossing tracks about a half inch above the roadway to eliminate a peak in the rail joints that was causing all sorts of mayhem.

  As work was ongoing, I took the opportunity to rearrange the office structures around the main entrance.  I also made some progress in replacing the manual snap switches with caboose industries hand-throws.

so, I can't seem to find anything on this so I'll just go ahead and ask. I'm getting ready to work on tracking the track centerlines for the other side of the peninsula including the coal mine and was wondering how often mines would have a track for bringing in heavy equipment or mining machinery? I know having just an extra spur for whatever general supplies was a thing, as well as it being a place for switcher crews to temporarily put cars while they were switching the mine. Wanting to lay this all out right so I can model the winches and interior details along with it.

I had seen the install of this decoder on the Soundtraxx YouTube channel in early 2021 and it looked like something that I could do. When I got the decoder, it was a pretty straightforward install similar to most drop in decoders for Kato engines. There was also plenty of room for the speaker immediately behind the decoder and forward of the high portion of the rear chassis. Because of this, I bought two more decoder kits for installation into an N-Scale E8 A/B set. This is the story of that install in three videos.

I recently had the privilege of chatting with Daz on his Model Railroad Techniques podcast (from Austrailia). It occurred to me that we talked about a number of things that I have not mentioned before, anywhere. So if anyone is so inclined to hear a bit more about my adventures in scale model animation, have a listen. I hope you get something out of it that doesn't put you to sleep!  

The Vertical Tram at Bingham, what a fun thing to ride. The Bingham and Garfield Railroad line came in high above the town of Bingham. To get the passengers down the mountain they built this neat vertical tram. After passenger service was discontinued the employees used the tram.

Hi All,

Recently I was enjoying a podcast of a ModelersLife hosted by our old friend Lionel Strang. Full disclosure I am super fan 9, so I am a long time supporter of this podcast. Recently, Lionel and Tim Cooke were interviewing a very young man named Aaron Piotraschke the owner of Apogee Locomotive works.  Episode #166

Modifying commersially available trees for a more realistic appearence. Explaning the concept of ”forced perpective”, how to use trees to divide the landscape into different scenes and creating effects.

New here. I would like to know what the general rule is for the of dummy diesel locomotives. Mine continue to derail and thinking if may need more weight. Any suggestions please.

With the shell done, its time to start managing the details that make this go from a bunch of plastic shapes to a realistic looking building.

In this video I share what's new with my layout, as well as some track planning thoughts and progress on the club layout module. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/wuCvvlZCpMk