​Hi All,

Well yesterday I started construction of the swing bridge that will connect the north & south top deck sections.  The gap in between both sections is 800mm (31.5") the angle that the swing bridge takes is around 45 degress.  The width of the bridge itself was going to be 200mm (8") but I have extended it out to 300mm (12"/1') as it will give me more flexibility with locating the truss bridge that will span across part of the bridge.

Here are a few photos from last year's modular visit to the Ft. Hunter Barn Christmas Show. At least one portion of the layout changes each year to bring excitement to the show. A craft fair and visits to the historic barn and village attracts hundreds of people each weekend. The club has been doing this show for over 10 years now.

Hi All,

Here is a little update of the installation and first run of the first Staging Area to grace the JL&T.  The area is located on the south side of the layout room, it is 5 metres long (16.5') & 250mm long (6") and is 3 tracks...  Two tracks are destined for storage and one is for a run through and to pick up the helix.

The construction is 70mm x 35mm pine girders, 19mm plywood base, with 6mm plaster/drywall base and 3mm cork track base.  The track is Peco Code 83 Flextrack, the track is pinned down using track pins.

I like to photograph and video trains. I have 200 videos posted on Youtube. Most of them are about Trains. I started videotaping trains around 1982 and converted a lot of them to a digital format for Youtube. I also have been shooting video of trains more recently. Mostly 1:1 scale but sometimes I get video of model railroads as well.

Room preparation was high on my list as in the past i had a nice layout in a not so nice environment. This of course led to periods of inactivity as it was simply not a nice place to be. This time it is different. This is the shed when we moved in:

The original alcove scenery plan (yes, there is a plan...not on paper but in my head) included a mountain on the right of the door when entering to give some drama and act as a small view block of the alcove to allow for some "discovery" as you walk into the room.  Now that the artist has completed the background mural I can move forward on creating that mountain.  Note the neat lodge painted on the mural, which will have tiny fiber optic lights.

Here are some shots from the club's recent Open House tour. Quality of the little megapixel camera isn't that great, but you get the general idea. I was recently asked to join and run the CTC Board with my friend Harry Owens. The layout is in an old historic building (substation for a defunct trolly line) and is roughly 25 x 70 feet. Much is undergoing reconstruction. Most of the conversion to DCC and an operating board has taken place for the past 4 years.

I've been taking a break from my column for a few months. In October Up the Creek will be back with the first of a three part series where I upgrade the scenery, especially the creek, at the Upper Bear Creek bridge scene.

This photo a sneak peak of the bridge (though you can't see much of the creek from this angle).  This part of the layout is only 14" wide, left and right from the lead loco, making photography a bit tricky.

I was so impressed with Kevin's Washington Northern video, I decided to do one myself, showing how things are looking currently on the layout.

I hope you enjoy...it's just over 6 minutes, and probably 3 times as long as it should be!

I was pawing through piles of old slides looking for one in particular. Instead I found these.

These photos were taken on the previous Bear Creek and South Jackson layout on the Jallen branch line. They reminded a bit of what an old cuss I'm getting to be. So I resurrected my old slide scanner and here they are...

SP 4105 on the Jallen causeway module. I never did much running here on account of selling the house and moving shortly after this part of the layout was completed.