Hi all,

Thanks for reading my last blog! I'm not doing a full blog post today, just a quick update on how my layout is getting on. You'll notice that I've started ballasting; I've been learning how to ballast from scratch this last week and it's been a real experience... not short of frustration I'll say that. 

I show you the four different sizes and colors at the Copper King Mine. Then we talk about the thousand at Bingham canyon mine, history, and pictures. February 1963 Kennecott started building their own ore cars. Some photos from the Larry Sax collection found at utahrails.net.

5 minute concrete hard standing areas in HO scale...

Just started on a new project, a Walther’s Mainline series 50’ boxcar lettered out of the box for Hillsdale County, soon to be turned into a weathered patched leased car several photos below of the progress. I’ll post more photos of the finished project 

Thank You Jason The Train Freak, John Schuylkill River Valley, Ray Boebel, Bryan and Mike from Crossed Anchors Railroads, Claude from Cowboy and Timberline Junction Railroad and Shannon Tapia from Back on Track. And thank you to everyone in the community. I am what I am because of who we all are. 

It was June 2013, I stood in a cool and inviting finished basement of my new-to-me home. It felt wonderful, my wife and I more or less finished moving in and I was thinking about what to do with my new basement.  Looking back, I am not sure if this was a major accomplishment since we did not actually furnish every room for another 7 years.  The basement had all the makings of a train room (carpet, drop ceilings, lights, outlets, and buy in from my spouse).  I was going to have a layout.  Years later this would be one of my favorite photos.

I have recently bought good LED strip from Ebay:

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/High-CRI-RA-95-SMD5630-LED-Strip-Light-Warm-White-Neutral-White-Daylight-White/182965299789?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=690279710665&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

A friend with an interest in estate sales dropped off a bag of HO stuff he'd picked up for $20. He knows I like trains, but is indifferent to the finer points of the hobby. Normal, in other words. This is exciting. Some might think: "Man, I do 1:160; this stuff is useless!" I look at it as a challenge. It's all train set stuff, but rather than throw it into the closet, I'd like to do something with it.