I recently emailed the people who run a local model railroad show every March and asked them if they'd be interested in me exhibiting an O scale switching layout at their show.  Today, they emailed back and said, "yes."  Now I'm committed!

This will be my first time exhibiting a layout; I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

Just received my second test shell from Shapeways this evening...

There were two pieces in the box: the shell itself, and a replacement front pilot.  The shell fits onto the Kato donor chassis nice and tight.  The walls are a bit thicker than the first shell.  They still bow slightly inwards; but that's no a problem once the mechanism is in place (the diecast chassis buttresses the insides of the shell).

The test model that I ordered from Shapeways arrived yesterday.  Note the white object inside the shell, that is a block of foamcore.  The walls are so thin that the material flexes, the foamcore is a press-fit and keeps the walls from bowing inward.

Some test renders showing the progress of my Metra F40PHM-2 digital model...

A little while ago I started working on a digital model of a F40PHM-2 in N scale.  These were the last batch of F40PH manufactured by EMD in the early ninties.  These units were delivered to Metra for use in commuter rail service in and out of Chicago.  Like I said, I'm building a digital model (i.e. a 3D model on the computer).  When it is finished, I plan to upload the file to shapeways.com and get it made in resin using their 3D printing (a.k.a. rapid-prototyping) technology.