So this is a free for all conversation with all viewpoints welcome. I was talking to the head of my club today and the teacher was saying he didn't know if he wanted to continue the club next year. I won't be at the school to help him is his reasoning and I am contemplating how things go by. He said I could take it all for my own but my question is, is this right? I talked to one of the donors and they said I could have that as they were local and easy to return the items. I hope to hear all views and help solve my dilemma

In between laying cork, building benchwork, and fiddling with turnouts, I have begun to weather this Maine Central boxcar that has been sitting on my workbench for a while now.

I am hoping to start work on a small 2'10 with a 2'x8' leg L shaped switching layout. I would like wireless control for this but not something very expensive. I will only be using one engine at a time, either a Atlas Classic GP7, A Trackmobile or a Kato Engine. I would prefer not to install any decoders or receivers though if it is required I could do with it. So anyone have any suggestions (or an old one they no longer need?) Any help would be appreciated!

Hi all,

Just checking on what people use for fascia colors.   I originally was going to go with black for a theatrical vignette look.  However, a lot of the 'guys' on the proto-list have gone with a green(ala CTC panel green that Joe Atkinson uses)   Not a fan of that color however, so going with a bolder green.   Looking to match the original IC green diamond emblem color.   The attached picture looks a lot lighter than in person due to room lighting and flash, so assume a medium/slightly dark green.

​Worked on a gondola weathering project over the weekend. 

​Chicago & Northwestern 741078 is waiting at the "Three Dogs" scrap yard for another load.  Even on a model railroad, vandals can still find away to graffiti railroad cars. 

​"In this case, probably any new paint is an improvement on this well worn gondola!"

Anthony and me had op session and we switched between conductor and engineer
We ran 2 trains.

Notes 
Train 1. C&S Ex 475
Train 2. C&S passenger train

 Pictures here http://coalandsteelrailroad.blogspot.com/2016/02/coal-and-steel-op-session-today.html?m=1

I mentioned it before that one of the things that stands out between railroads of 20 years ago and today is backdrops. They were not so common before.  And I find myself drawing a track plan thinking about how much space to the wall for scenery. Its not that important anymore. A well done backdrop 1 inch from the edge of the roadbed looks very acceptable. And today, there are a whole bunch of backdrop suppliers and any scene you can imagine. And custom made backdrops.

WVRR #2496 sits in the glow of the yard lights

The WVRR switching crew spotting the cars for the end of shift. Time to head for the engine house.

I am looking at these spikes http://www.micromark.com/small-spikes-pkg-of-1000,8607.html from Micromark and was wondering if anyone has used them. They look an awful like Micro Engineering spikes. I have been using the Walthers spikes https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/948-360  I am having a hard time finding the walthers spikes here in Canada. I found some at Trainworld but was not going to pay $50 us dollars for shipping of 10 packs of spikes so im on hold hand laying my track till i get some more spikes. Good thing theres always something to do on model railroad.