So I talked to Ken Patterson at the convention today (great guy by the way) and he is graciously doing a decoder install on it for me. I am not sure if I should be excited or nervous (I know he won't mess up) as when saying thanks and handing off the neigne he said tomorrow I am going to make you smile. So hopefully he doesn't overdue it.

The engine I got was a Athearn special edition in their scheme from a few years back looked great and was only $40.

Progress has not progressed at break-neck speed, but it definitely hasn't been spinning its wheels either. In the first photo you can see the old nightstand that I have re-purposed as benchwork for the layout. The second photo a the mockup of a factory flat that will go against the backdrop between the city and rural areas. The backdrop itself will be a 12"x24" sheet of 0.060" styrene.

After purchasing a 1954 Great Northern Timetable, I remembered the great MR series of articles regarding pike-sized trains.

http://peskar.org/model_trains/model_railroader/pike%20size%20trains%20%...

I am considering modeling "The Dakotan" since it was the only train serving Kandiyohi, MN in the 1950's. How many of you model short passenger trains (without compression) on your layout and what do you do for operations?

This one stumped me for a long time but I finally sussed out a method I was mostly happy with:

Let me know what methods you use.

Kathy