After completing the framework for the shorter of the two causeway sections I have realized I have a bit of a problem that needs be resolved. The attached photos show the causeway next to a bridge abutment I plan to cast in plaster and trim down to size. Clearly the slope of the causeway exceeds the size of the abutment which is not how these things are engineered. I need to either change the slope of the abutment, raise the height of the water, or some combination of both. I need to be careful not to make the slope too steep.

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The Ode To be a Better Historian…of Oneself

I should preface my blog by stating that over the years I have tried to keep some sort of record of my Model Railroad progress.  I truly have; I've taken pictures, I written up pages on various completed projects, and I have indeed gone as far as composing some pages to highlight various projects.  My personal web site has blossomed far beyond the original bud I started back in 2001, into what is now a nightmare unless you like code.  All of these attempts at archiving my progress still pale in comparison to the recor

Yet I have so little of it.  I'm finding that one of my biggest issues to overcome is being patient.  I want to do everything and finish things as quickly as possible and move on to the next task.  I've been like that as long as I can remember.  It has its advantages and disadvantages.  In programming I think it was an advantage for the most part.  Once I had an algorithm, I could bang out code, test it and move on to the next project.  Not so much in my model railroading projects.  You can do little jobs and then generally you wait for something

Athearn® Trains has just announced they have purchased select tooling from T55, the plastic division of Overland Models. T55 is one of the model railroading industry’s leading producers of high-quality injection-molded models. Using T55’s tooling, Athearn states the Genesis line will soon be producing a run of General Electric GEVO (ES44AC and ES44DC) models, as well as EMD SD70ACe and SD70M-2 models.

These prototypes are the most current locomotives from North America’s primary builders, and are found in the fleets of Union Pacific (including the Heritage Fleet and Bush Presidential Library and Museum), BNSF, CIT Leasing, CSX, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, EMD Demonstrators, Ferromex, Florida East Coast, GE Demonstrators, Kansas City Southern, Montana Rail Link and Norfolk Southern.

So we now have a house with a basement with more room for a layout.  Our new house has increased our total square footage by 800 sq.

Been working on the new train room for 3 weeks now and I am very close to completion. After working every weekend and morning before I go to work I have a very nice room for my railroad. All of the framing, wiring, room lighting, sheetrock, mud and tape, painting and flooring are done. I finished the laminate flooring yesterday morning and for cheapo stuff it looks really nice. There are still some minor details to add though.

We went to the Great Train Expo on Sunday here in Raleigh and they had a good many booths this time around, but one thing that really got me was the number of vendors who seem to price their items at twice the amount most people can afford to pay. Now my LTS Train Buddy had a section too, and I spent $140.00 on stuff from him because he is always 20% to 25% below MSRP for most items. This is a photo of Kim Parker at TB explaining something of importance to Monique, but I cannot remember what he was talking about.

Continuing on with my story from "View from a Siding..."

This title has always been how I've felt about my place in Model Railroading.  I've wanted to be a "Model Railroader" since I was about four years old.  Its only been the last few years that I've really had a sense that I could do it, but I still kind of look at myself as a lonely switcher sitting on the siding watching the wonderful trains go by, hoping for an opportunity to be one of those mainline trains rumbling along.