Back in the December 2013 MRH, Bernie Halloran wrote of using rolled vinyl for backdrop coving - https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2013-12-dec/cove-your-corners .  I'm really happy he did so, because it really did make the job very easy, and it worked great for for my peninsula backdrop as well.  More details in my first reply.

Now that the stained ties make it easier to see the tracks, I thought I'd do a quick drone tour to show how everything fits together on the new layout.  Photos to follow in the first reply, but here's the layout plan again to help make sense of it all.

As I've mentioned in other posts, I'd been struggling a lot since our move over whether to backdate to the early 1980s or continue with the IAIS, and I've reached a decision that would allow me to potentially do both if the pull to backdate becomes too strong at some point.  Since this rural line saw very few changes between the 1980 loss of the RI and my May 2005 era, I can move back-and-forth between eras by doing little more than swapping out equipment and vehicles.  However, since I'm much more of a fan of the UP than I am of the RI, I decided that a sligh

Exactly 8 months after moving to our new home, I was finally able to start trackwork on the IAIS's 4th Sub, so I thought it might be time for a new post devoted to that topic. My plan is to cover each prototype scene in a bit more detail as I go for comparison to the corresponding portion of the layout.  Each layout scene is a track-for-track representation of the prototype, so the overall design was relatively easy as layouts go.

As a guide to help orient things as we go, here's the layout plan again:

While the majority of the switching on the 4th Sub will involve agriculture - covered hoppers and tank cars - there was also an interesting move related to 52' gondolas during my era that I'm looking forward to replicating.  There's a large steel recycler on the UP in Council Bluffs, Alter Metals, that shipped shredded steel east on the IAIS in IAIS-controlled, but TR- and HS-marked, gons.  These loads went to steel mills on the IC&E in Davenport, IA and on the NS in Elkhart, IN. 

As mentioned in my previous post , the IAIS's West End (Council Bluffs to Atlantic) is on the verge of being dismantled for an upcoming move.  Our offer on the new house has been accepted, and the move is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, appropriately enough.

I didn't think this day would be coming for several more years, but it looks like the curtain is closing on my representation of the IAIS's West End.  We weren't planning to downsize until about 2027, but a few weeks ago we got a letter expressing interest in buying our house, and it got the ball rolling.  We now have an offer pending on a new house - our first with a finished layout room and attached garage!  Planning to list ours in a week, and our realtor is very confident that we'll sell quickly, so I'd imagine the next few weeks will be a whirlwind.

Yesterday I shot a number of pics of the layout, and I thought some here might be interested in more current views than what I've shared here previously. I'll post the photos in my first reply.

In a recent thread about automating layout startup using personal assistant devices, Jeff Shultz recommended these Etekcity wireless outlet controllers on Amazon .