I sent in a question last week, but don't see it. Is it common practice to ask a yardmaster for permission to enter the yard, or is that just a model railroading thing? John Colley, Port Townsend, WA

Hello all. I have attached a photo to this message in hopes that someone can enlighten me. The photo is on Swan Street in Jacksonville FL looking down the old ACL line that served industries in this area. Right in the middle of the picture between the switch points you can see a wooden deck of some type. I assume the device that enabled the conductor or the ground man to throw the points was under this deck. So does anyone know what it might have looked like and how it worked?

It seems that keeping a layout clean means more than just keeping the clutter off the scenery.  I seem to have a lot of what is so called dustbunnies building up on the layout.  Spiders also seem to find my corners and seem to make webs everywhere I look.  Short of breaking out the monster vacuum, what do you do for general cleaning of said issues, and is there a way of preventing at least the critters from returning? 

Hi all,

I am in the throws of constructing a small switching layout in N scale. The design is such that all sections can be reused in a larger layout (we are planning a house move in the next year) and that nothing needs to be destroyed.

I have built a single ended 5 track staging yard that allows me to store about 45 cars and 4 engines. Having the staging full means that I have no rolling stock at all on the layout.