A new skyscraper was just added to the Philadelphia section of the S scale Penn Western. I had used some sandstone textured foamcore for the flooring of a food court for the train station and thought that the texture would look good as the siding of a building. So, I designed a 180 foot structure to fill a part of the skyline. After rounding up the parts needed and cutting sections of foamcore, the building actually started out as a kit.

For all of you that's been following the construction of the tunnel portal to remote staging located in the rock cut I've created a little video to show you how it looks from the "train view" via my MUVI micro camcorder.  You will remember that the area isn't visible to trainroom visitors as it's hidden by a foreground hill area.  I needed to scenic the area as I do enjoy making videos with the train cam and I also have a wireless train mounted camera I use during open houses.

I have some HO scale block signals, built many years ago, that have relay cases at the base.  I would like to find more of the same type of relay case, but cannot find the manufacturer (or mfrs.).    Does anyone recognize either one of these?  Thanks.    (I've tried current searches of NJ, Details West, Detail Assoc, Tomar)

I'm also thinking of making castings, with these as protos, but only if the original mfrs are long gone.

In my last posting http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/6710 I had gotten to the point of starting to finish and install the tunnel portal.  This posting shows the latest work in that area.

Here the portal is just sitting in place for a test fit after adding paint & grass.