Hi everyone: 

With the recent completion of the last major bridge on my model of CPR's Boundary subdivision, I thought it was worth the effort to video document what running a wayfreight on the mountainous C&W is like.  I tried using the small Looxcie camera to capture interesting views and its small size certainly does allow for interesting trackside and "on train" angles. 

I was crossing the tracks today in Apopka, Florida coming back from lunch when I happed to look right (always look both left and right!) and there sat the Cannonball train!  I took a couple of still shots hoping that the train would depart which it did just as I was headed back to the car.  I shot this video with my iphone thus the less than stellar quality.

Hi all, new layout builder here. I'm ready to install the backdrop on my layout this weekend. My plan was to simply use 1/8" hardboard or masonite screwed to the upright mounting brackets (see picture below). I was just going to paint it blue and call it good enough, but I was tooling around Joe Atkinson's blog and noticed he used aluminum flashing for the backdrop on his IAIS layout. I was wondering if anyone else has had any experience with this material.

Well, in my last post I asked for suggestions for my first operating session on my N-scale Deer Creek and Susquehanna Railroad. That session took place last night and seemed to go quite well. Many people suggested having food and drink available and that is certainly standard protocol in the group that I operate with. One of the other suggestions was to have some maps of the layout with industries marked. I took that suggestion and ran with it, producing a folder with some of the railroad history and maps of towns along the railroad.