I love this sign posted at a real grade crossing on a real railroad in Saskatchewan...

Any Time is Train Time!

Photo by Jason Paul Sailer, Taken along the Stewart Southern line in SK. - Reposted with permission.

I went for a drive today along the BCRY to get some inspiration.  I took this picture of the siding at Colwell, Ontario and I think that it visually encapsulates this shortline perfectly.  Here we have the former CN Meaford Subdivision which began life as the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Union Railroad in 1855, and once a moderately busy Class One branchline, now barely clinging to relevance as it twists its way through the wilderness choking on rust and weeds.

Bruce,

Enjoyed your article in the latest MRH. 

From experience I would also add that it is important to:

1. Use a simple "buzzer" connected to the track as you wire feeders to the Bus to alert for any incorrect connection. 

2. Use a multimeter (or buzzer) to test any switches that are wired to isolate the frog. It is easy to cut the frog rails and isolate them but get some metal filings in the gap. Also it is an instant check that all the solder connections are solid. 

Being a teacher is intrinsically rewarding. I work hard during the school year, and get a couple of carefree months off during the summer. Not much pay, but I’ll take the tradeoff.

I recently was reminded of Bill Brillinger's speaker comparison thread at http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17902 and started investigating iPhone 4s loud speakers (long skinny one at the bottom of the phone, not the cube-shaped earpiece speaker), which are commonly available on Ebay for less than a dollar w/free shipping.

To All: Today I present two covered hoppers that I weathered for Lime & Borax Service. I used spackling to achieve this look. This type of weathering would definitely fit in the extreme weathering category. Yours, Elvin Howland/E. St. Louis Rail Group Layout

This past week I decided to take on the daunting task of adding trees for some much needed height to my layout. For months I had avoided this task because one of the great challenges of model railroading is to fabricate a convincingly realistic tree. Sure there are many examples online which offer their own expertise, and I would like to thank them for their input. I've combined all their know-how into these simple steps. After experimenting with various scenery materials I found a winning technique (which I'm lucky to say came on the first try).

Siskiyou Line progress report #7 is overdue! Only three weeks left until the convention comes to town ...

This time, I'm reporting on the last op session we just completed a week or so ago - this is op session #3 since the Siskiyou Line was pulled back out of being in mothballs for 3 years while we focused on getting MRH going strong.

On to photos and commentary from the latest op session!

Charlie Comstock hosted a rare Saturday daytime op session on the BC&SJ yesterday, and I got to be the Redland Yardmaster for both tricks. I only took one photo (Charlie took a lot more), and that with my smartphone:

I recently purchased some EMD tall stacks for a FWWR project im working on. The parts are slightly gritty. Somewhere in the past I thought I saw something about how to prep 3D parts, Can anybody help me out?

Wayne Snyder