As promised (or threatened as the case may be), here are some shots from the Kyoto Steam Locomotive Museum, and some others from around Japan.

I was happy to be able to ride everything you see here, from a small excursion train pulled by that 4-6-2 under steam, to a 300kph Shinkansen (新幹線) bullet train. For a trip that wasn't rail oriented, it kinda worked out nicely! 

I wish I modeled modern N scale. No I mean it, I really do. 

We just returned from Japan, where I was able to ride some trains, do some rail-fanning, and visit a number of hobby shops in Tokyo (although that wasn't the main purpose of our visit). Although mostly Japanese prototypes, the selection of N gauge items were amazing - the range of vehicles, and things like shipping containers were mind boggling.

Welll.....after almost 4 months in the post, the Trueline Trains Canadian National C-Liner with DCC and Sound I ordered from MRH sponsor CMT finally arrived! 

Here she is right out of the box - I've been looking for this model, as the C-Liners were very common on the Central Vermont mainline hauling through freights in the 50's.

Thanks again to Mike and Tom at CMT

While it's true, I don't really have tracks to run a train on, one of the things I enjoy about this hobby is the wide variety of activities it includes.

In that spirit, while waiting for the glue to dry on some ballast on the first module of the Barre Branch, I decided to grab a car kit, and get started building the fleet. I'm going to try and keep my car builds contained within this thread, we'll see how well that goes!

The Central Vermont received new MOW offices and warehouse space in Montpelier.

The local super was so pleased, he ordered  all the trucks cleaned and polished up.

I think I heard him mutter "take that, Fithers," under his breath....

I was looking through some things this afternoon, and found these  - some final shots of the Chainsaw II layout.

Enjoy!