The section of the layout that is in the video is where the double track mainline goes in/out of the west helix, the branch line goes in a loop above the west helix, and the town of Michaelson is against two walls.  The depth of this section is 30 inches and so I found that it would be easier to remove each module and work on them when I was sitting down as opposed to stretching over them after they are screwed down in place on their support structure.

Hello,

I have started laying track in the visible area of the layout. I use a jig to keep the right spacing between the ties. I have stained the ties with an alcohol-ink mixture.

I use a adhesive tape to hold the ties in place.

My next "bright loco" project looks to be CNJ's Coast Guard RS3s, bright red body with white "racing stripe" herald.
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_cnj1543a.jpg
Atlas did run of them, and they show up occasionally on Ebay and quickly go for much more then my budget.  Herald King makes the decals for the standard Coast Guard scheme. 

Mystery Bridge, You may be asking why we call it mystery bridge.

Whilst I sip my hot cup of java, it's time for an update!

The Januray 2011 article about modeling Conrail 24 inspired me to do more research about US Army Hospital cars. The prototype has the unmodified exterior window and door pattern of a hospital car built in 1952 during the Korean War.

It has been about four months since my last update.  My primary focus during that time has been to complete the bulk of the main level trackwork through Conway and Bartlett and get it wired and operational.  The goal was to be fully connected around the main level and back down the helix through staging so I could support continuous running while working on the layout.

Today I'm starting on a new project: a portable mini-layout in On18. While remaining portable for shows and events, the layout is also being designed to "plug in" to my On30 Thunder Mesa layout as a feeder line. As the build progresses, I'll be be posting updates here on this blog, along with more in-depth articles on the TMMC website.

Here's a track plan and concept illustration for the simple 2' x 5' layout:

We had an operating session on my layout a couple of weekends go , We had 4 operators the first hour and 3 operators the rest of time, Everybody had fun.