Hope all get something from this. I am going to put together a video of my version of foam carving cheep mans way of doing things.

This is a lumber load I built for my railway.

To me the type of load that is just a solid block with printing on it to represent the layers of lumber bundles just doesn't cut it, as it just looks like a 2D block and the graphics line up too cleanly.

John, - 

Where did you purchase the steel shelving brackets for your RR ?  They look very robust !

Tanks,

Ted Michaels

Riverside, IL

As usual I'm too busy building the layout to blog about it!  Some new stuff this week:

Starting to rough out Lubkin Canyon and the tunnel that gets the railroad into the canyon. The standard gauge to Mojave runs off the edge of the layout at bottom right.  The elevated line on the inside of the canyon is one of the switchback handles.  More:

Sorry, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. I wanted to make this post because I've recently become a glass insulator collector, and eventually I realized that I might be able to lend some food-for-thought here. See, most people just have simple poles without wires if they even bother with the poles, and they all look identical, full racks of insulators, maybe not even colored like insulators. I saw a article in a MRR magazine by Pelle Søeborg on trackside telegraph poles.

Work on the Big Scene is 99 % complete. Always weeds and some grass to put in. Video Will follow. Will do video on bead board and hot knife this is the cheapest way to go for scenery.  Link to step by step of the project. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.361443270692787.1073741848.234942163342899&type=3

To All: Today I present a decision many of us model railroaders face, namely, do I install lights and animation to my

           layout? I will phrase the question like this--Pros and Cons. Pros-1) Lights sure look great for night scenes

          in buildings and strret lights 2) Animation is a great conversation subject, such as a working coal dumper.

To All: Dinosaurs do exist (at least on our model railroads). Photo by Lawrence Eggering. Yours, Elvin Howland/E. St. Louis Rail Group Layout

As I progress with benchwork I am beginning to realize that the true dimensions I have feel much bigger than they did in CAD.  While this means that the trains should look nice and I will have plenty of room for large industries and great scenery, I've realized that I have left out the potential to use space above one of the helixes.  the plan was to just build a large canyon, but this is a big area that may be useful.

To All: Here is a recent photo of an art piece (in this case a photo) I took recently on the side of a building (I believe it is the Senior Center) in Manton, Michigan. Please post any photos you have of railroad art on the side of buildings. Yours, Elvin Howland/E. St. Louis Rail group Layout