I'm discovering that there's nothing quite like the relaxation and pleasant diversion you get from just operating a local freight train. Lots of others got to this party before me, but - driven by the lack of formal op sessions - I've just recently arrived at this realization, having operated the outbound leg of the Airline Local just a few weeks ago.

Bus Wire / Feeder Wire Installation Considerations

As I worked on the LED lighting of my dbl-deck layout I began to formulate different ideas as to how I might incorporate my bus wires and their feeder wires. Quiet naturally they will need to be attached under the deck they are serving, ...and in my case those undersides are just plain plywood surfaces, free of any reinforcing cross-beams as that are cantilevered out from those 2” square steel beams attached to the walls of the shed.

I was recently out of town on a scouting trip to find hunting and fishing locations in eastern Montana.  While I was out on the eastern side, I decided to take a couple hours one day and detour to the extreme western edge of the Soo Line at Whitetail, MT.  Other photos exist of this line, but I haven't seen any taken during the last few years so I was interested in seeing what the track conditions were like.  While the line is not abandoned, there is very little, if any, traffic west of the MT/ND border.  Even so, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the track was