Herewith I will describe a typical operating session on my home table.  It is fairly small, but plenty of forethought went into maximizing the available space.  Here is the table.  Roughly 8 feet long, 4 feet wide on the one end, 3 feet plus 18 inches for the yard.

After over 15 years of development, construction and installation, NMRA’s exhibit titled “The Magic of Scale Model Railroading” opens at the California State Railroad Museum on April 6, 2021. A detailed, 6-page feature article with floor plan, authored by exhibit leader Charlie Getz, appears in the April 2021 NMRA Magazine. A shorter recap appears in Bob Brown’s “Robert’s Ramblings” in the March/April 2021 issue of Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette. In the same issue, Charlie describes narrow gauge layouts that form part of the exhibit.

I've decided to once again visit the MRH forums! Been a while since I've been here, I always remember the community being wonderful, and the posts interesting- but life has had other plans for me, and unfortunately it's taken me away from the trains for a while. I've been trying to get them back into my life, but it's not easy at the moment.

That said, I've been working on a project!
(it involves LEGO, read on below for more on that)

This will probably be sort of a long and rambling blog entry but it's something I consider quite often and in light of some  random but sort of serendipitous coincidences it's been percolating in my mind lately. I've really been thinking a lot about the various influences on my freelance modeling and the sometimes simple events that sparked and shaped them. The most obvious influence on my work, I think, is John Allen.

How I figured out how to build that curved section, more by chance than by skilled planning....

The Twin Cities Division of the NMRA is producing a model railroading podcast called The Crossing Gate. There are six episodes published so far. You can find it on your favorite media outlets. Links provided below. 

Here is the latest episode. 

Hey all,

Most of my blog posts so far have focused on some of the more scenic static elements of my layout. 

I've posted a quick clip of two British diesel locos running on the dual loops in DC.

We are looking at some of the rail cars Bingham canyon mine once had, and the ones at the Copper King Mine.

Today was a very productive & extremely messy day.

Has anyone contemplated or have experience using the Walthers Bascule Bridge (933-3070) as a swing up gate for room access?  The Walthers web page shows the opening after the approach is 21.5 inches.  I was considering expanding the opening of the bridge using balsa wood to 28 or 30 inches.  I could then use the bridge as the access point to the interior of the track area.  I may have to increase the counter weight and hopefully I would not have to add a larger lift motor.  Thoughts???-