So, I was reading the latest issue of mr and saw a questin on ballasting track and thought that sounds interesting. Then I saw the person was from Illinois. Now th funniest part came in, after awhile I realized the person was me! ​

I'm about to start to add a brewery to my layout and decided on the Hampden Brewery which was about 1 mile from where I live. It is long been closed but one of the 1800's buildings is still standing.

The Hampden Brewery opened in 1868 - 1975. Had many owners and the last owner was Piels

I am new to this I have a small lay out just tried to wire in my swithes they work when not connected to the track but when i put them in my layout they wont throw so I wired them using the constant power plug they work with no power to the track but when i power the track they do not work

Are they difficult and or good builds? My local hobby shop has some on sale for $10 each compared to what the usual is said to be $40. Would it be good to try some out or are they not that worth it?

In the basement and future train room, the lighting is twisty bulbs and a single shop light. I am going to hang shop lights for construction. The final lighting will have to be LED with a few spotlights? So that means a valance? I am thinking I should plan this layout with possible future expansion to an upper level. The upper level gives me a place to hang the leds. And until or if I ever put track up there, I will have a nice shelf for storage.

This thread will follow the construction, track work, scenery & detailing of our Locomotive Servicing Facility which has now been started as of 05/02/2016...

For many years I have wanted a logging layout. Living in apartments and things have made it difficult and also all those un finished projects on the bench. I recently built a home on a rural block. Now the house is finished the next major thing is a layout room and shed. With any luck by the end of the year I will have this completed and a 10' x 20' dedicated layout space with a 10' x 10' studio to work in.

Anyway its now time to start a project that will become a large part of this layout. No doubt it will be a long precess to complete.

Well it's February and I haven't done anything significant on the layout for a couple of months now, so it's time to get busy again.

The next project is Atherton. This is by far the biggest section so far and will also complete the top deck.

First - a distant view of the somewhat scary,  but equally exciting gap that needs filling. This shot taken from Atherton engine terminal with the overhead layout lights deliberately switched off to emphasize the target area:

It has been a little over a month since my last update and these videos will bring you up to date with the construction of the Union Station passenger and freight yards.  

Well I've been a member here now for exactly 2 years and 2 weeks (wow time flies!) and thought I'd take a look at how far I've really come. Just one year prior even I had no idea what DCC was and let alone how to build a kit. Now looking at things I have done and learned this list of things:

- Building a Laser Cut Wood Kit

- Building a Basic Kit

- Building a Tichy Kit

- Laying Scenery

- Ballasting Track

- Laying Sectional Track

- Laying Flex Track (As of 2/3)