It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought it was time for an update.  I have settled on a plan that I think fits the space I have very well.  I moved my location about 50 miles northwest to focus on the old Milwaukee Road mainline between Milwaukee and Portage.  This area was relegated to branch line/backup main service earlier in it's life.  I am focusing on three areas for my layout.

I purchased a HO Jeager lumber yard detailing kit a while ago and the wraps for the blocks have me stumped! I have tried just about every fold this, fold that with no luck. I would appreciate any input from those who might have worked with this kit before. Thank you in advance and I am glad I found this web site / magazine.

If you’ve been modelling for any length of time you probably have a collection of Really Neat Stuff you bought years ago and still haven’t found a use for. My Stuff includes a fair bit of stripwood and milled siding (bearing prices like 43 cents to attest to its age) which periodically comes to the surface, reminding me that I really ought to build something with it.

This N Gauge Layout is part of Dixie Rails in the Atlanta GA area. This is the best running N gauge layout I have ever operated on.  It is DCC and not once the whole night that we ran 50 trains did we have one problem due to track of electrical connections.  The owner John Wilson has come up with a system of moving blocks of cars with markers on top that are easy to read for all of us who do not see numbers on N scale cars well.
http://m.youtube.com/?reload=3&rdm=mc3h053tl#/watch?feature=m-ch-vid&v=l...

This Model RR is part of a group in the Atlanta area called Dixie Rails. This video was taken during a operations event attended by 50 operators from around the country. This RR will be part of the NMRA national convention in Atlanta July 2013. I will post video of three more outstanding layouts.
http://m.youtube.com/?reload=3&rdm=mc3h057ml#/watch?feature=m-ch-vid&v=U...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0WWvWv8JYk&feature=plcp

One of my favorite things in this hobby is painting and weathering rolling stock. I have been taking a break from the layout building and all the wood, wire and track building to get a few other projects completed. I built these hopper cars for  friends layout, and enjoyed the making of them very much. I discovered a few new ideas and tried out different paint and materials that are not usually associated with model railroading.

I probably have some other photos earlier in the construction phase of our six foot modules, but for now, this is the stage where the top, ends, sides and ribs (short cross-wise pieces) and spines (two length-wise pieces)are all assembled and ready and to accept the waffle underside.  Photo taken Aug. 8, 2012.

Given that I have acquired my locos without reference to the road names, I now have 4 locos plus a Budd RDC all with different road names. This doesn't matter because I was never going to get any for the Sunset and North Eastern, given that I made up that name in 1970!

My loco roster now stands at the following:
Atlas GP-15 - Union Pacific
Atlas GP-15 - CSX
Atlas GP-9 - Northern Pacific
Bachmann RD-3 - D&RGW
Kato Budd RDC3 - Rock Island

It's been a while since I updated my progress on the ore car fleet I'm building. I've been documenting their construction on my blog.  I just finished putting all of the underbody details on all of the cars. The Sylvan kit employs lots of wire and small resin parts that are combined to create the various components of the brake system. Here's a sample of what each car looks like belly-up.  They're still not finished, but I'm getting close!

To All: This past week end Dave Capron (Great Lakes Northern), Ernie's (ATSF Raton Layout),

           Bill's (D&RGW) and Charlie's layout hosted marathon operating sessions on their layouts.

           These layouts are located in Leelanau County, Michigan and had 11 guest operators from