At this point the lighting installation is 95% complete. The only remaining portion of the layout that needs lighting installed are the harbor modules where the car ferry will operate. That benchwork is fairly specialized and not built yet. It will be done later when I spend some time solely dedicated to finishing up the harbor area. The lighting for that section will be completed along with the benchwork.

This post covers all the lighting for the rest of the layout.

For the future New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy I’m going to need a good size roundhouse for my RR’s steam engines. I’ve always admired John Allen’s stone block walled roundhouse in both RMC and MR back when both magazines were publishing John’s articles. Just recently that desire to buy/build a copy of his roundhouse reared its head. So off I went in search of what might be found on the Internet. I never found any plans.

Need some advice. I'm modeling a winch system used to move railcars and need to simulate the steel cable.

The area is front and center on my layout, so I'd like to use something that looks realistic. This will be nonfunctional, lying on the ground along the track, and also wrapped tight around the winch drum.

I thought about small diameter wire or thread. What do you folks use? Maybe logging or crane modelers have a trick or two you can share?  

Thanks!

Jack

Amazing how little one can get done when busy working.  Vacation starts today, maybe I'll start making progress again?  

Though I shouldn't complain too much.  Started buying turnouts, found an inexpensive source for Pecos, just $15!  And I rebuilt my traffic generator DB to better work with the new layout.  So that's progress.

Next week:  figure out the benchwork design.  make a 3d design for a semaphore.  Force myself to start building one of those two Peco turntables I need.

Hi and welcome to my blog (Being 13 and still living with mg parents in a Townhouse makes it hard to make a layout so it might be a while till I can get one up) 

The plan once I can get somekind of table or layout is BN and IAIS route in SW Iowa I have 2 Iowa Interstate locomotives and 3 BN locomotives 

While I strive to prototype modeling, a functional model railroad of any significant size requires many compromises as it is impossible to fit everything in.  My model of Thurmont requires caricature as there is just not near enough room to fit everything in.  This vacant area in front was one of those that turned out different than planned.

Did you know that Premium model material can be grown at home for free, or gathered in the nature? This video presents a range of different materials and how you can use them.