Upon returning state side in 1982, my next duty station landed me in Minot (My-knot), North Dakota. Minot owes it's existance to the Great Northern Railway. It has been Dubbed the "Magic City" for it's remarkable growth in such a short period. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minot,_North_Dakota

Well this will work. Just use your imagination as you view the short video. Imagine the road surface is asphalt with plenty of potholes and broken pavement. The hole in the street will look just like a typical pothole. It it works great!

After last Tuesday nights Ops session Brendan and I were talking about a few little additions to the new Rutherford Yard area that would make it operate easier and add to the operations side of the layout.

I just finished up this Van for my proto freelanced Algonquin Railway.  Its kit bashed from a Atlas ICC Center Cupola Caboose.  I modified it to look like the Cartier Railway Vans built by Morrison Knudson.  In my version of history the Algonquin ordered these at the same time as the Cartier.

Model animation—bringing models to life—adds enormously to the interest and enjoyment of any layout or individual model! This entry describes how to build what I call a “DCC Function Generator,” a combination of DCC base station and throttle for about $8 that can be used for mixed DCC animation control, DCC testing, Absolute/Emergency Stop blocking for lift-outs and bridges even for Keep-Alive equipped DCC locos, trolley multi-stop control, and all around DCC havoc!

As everybody is really getting on board with weathering lately, I thought I would share a couple of cars that I have done recently. 

11/11/17 

I added this car to the list.  As you can see, I am trying oil paints as per the recent MRH article.  This is just the first layer as oils are very slow drying.  The oils I am using are a "value line" at  my local AC Moore and at only $3.99 a tube, it made the initial investment for 4 colors under $20 bucks.  

This weekend I hope to build a sample of how I want to operate the turnouts on the new C&E. Here is what I have in mind.

I'm another TT modeler with a layout under construction. It's based on the Chuck Yungkurth's article in the April 1966 Model Railroader, The Gum Stump & Snowshoe. The theme will be a logging railroad here in the north east. This will be the first module. I have plans for a second module later. Here's a edited picture of what the real Gum Stump & Snowshoe looks like. I will follow up this post with the construction of the module.

Found this on the model tech studios site seems like it will work really well.

http://modeltechstudios.com/rollingstockweatheringsetmakeyourplasticlookingcarslookmorereal.aspx

 This is much older primitive control but I have received a system free of charge for use on my switching layout. How well is this system and would you recommend it. I am planning on installing the reciever in an older Kato SW2 (photo attached) but not sure how to fit it as the metal frame is tight and not sure if I could get it in the cab. Any help is appreciated.