Well, I'm still awake, and that YouTube video is about to finish uploading...

I've attached the Covered Hopper clinic handout to this post - you'll be missing Randy's excellent commentary and the question and answer session that took place during the clinic, but I hope you'll find the slide deck informative on it's own.

The video is done uploading, but it's still processing, but it should show up below when it's done with that. Join me on a bumpy tour of the Operations Roadshow modular layout:

Day 2 found me awake at 5:30am local - which is about 2:30am at home. Still, I was awake, so I spent my extra morning time (my alarm went off promptly at 6:30) getting my gear ready for the convention... as it ended up, I didn't take enough. The contest and display models started coming in today and even though the room is well enough lit for normal purposes, my camera is not normal purposes. Tomorrow I take the flash and tripod with me.

Okay, it's almost 10:30pm (2230hrs) (Eastern) here in Cleveland, and I've been on the go since 2am Pacific. I'm starting to see things.... fireworks, actually - one of the local towns to my hotel is setting off quite the show right now.

Okay - I'm going to start with a positive: This is an incredibly nice facility and we are practically it's inaugural convention, from what I've been told.

Okay, so I'll be arriving in Cleveland late Sunday, and I expect to be able to start attending the convention on Monday. What would you like to see from the Convention? I'm going to have big memory chips and lots of batteries for my camera. Might even take the GoPro for a walk a few times....

Clinics?
http://www.2014cleveland.org/clinics.htm#all_clinics

Contests?
http://www.2014cleveland.org/contests.htm

So this all started about a month ago when a message was left on my voicemail at work by the owner of what was the best hobby shop in Salem, OR before he retired and closed it. We also have a relationship through my current job as well. Suffice it to say, he knew I was into model railroading. 

You know that point where you get done to the point that the rest of it just seems to go into overdrive? 

Yeah, normally me neither. 

But this time... about two days ago I looked at the layout and pretty much went, hey, this is finished enough to show!

Okay, so I'm now to the inside of the track when it comes to scenery - outside the track was pretty simple, but going inside meant I had to decide what Lone Hill Park actually looks like. 

I decided to start with the walking paths in order to define sections to the park - a large field for kite flying, smaller sections for picnic tables, and of course Lone Hill, with it's path to the top. 

Okay, the "Portable Display Layout" now has a name - the Lone Hill Park RR. 

Once I decided to build a portable layout like this, I also decided that I was going to use it to do a few things I've not done before - such as making a major terrain feature out of foam and Celluclay. 

I've used Sculptomold before but have been told that Celluclay is superior - it does appear to be more fine grained a product. However, I've also discovered that at around 65-69deg F. it also takes forever to dry/cure. 

Okay, it's not going nearly as fast as I need it to - partially because I was too afraid of making a mess. I forgot how much diluted glue doing something like this takes.... 

So, I've carved a hill that I'll hit with Celluclay and put in a parking lot and the start of a "woodchip" path:

I was asked to help find some portable layouts locally for a display (incl. handing over the throttles) at a local retirement home. I've gotten some responses to it, and I'll definitely be getting back to them about it, but I also thought that this might be a nice opportunity to build something of a throwaway layout. 

In Z scale.