Ok, here is another pass. Clockwise from left. Staging (Bethlehem), comes out of the Perkasie Tunnel, splits to a two track main. Siding that splits for the team track (which had a gantry crane) and the freight station. Perkasie Passenger Stn, and then the siding for a coal distributor, a feed mill and a place called Mt Alto. Then on to Sellersville and Lansdale. I will reserve putting a bridge across the door way for continuous running as the "Board of Directors" would have a fit with that.

I've wrapped up a small but significant upgrade to my motive power, replacing all the bulbs with SMD LEDs.

Sometimes you want one thing, but need another. When building a layout for operations, you sometimes have to think with your head more than your heart. What this means to me is, I need more infrastructure than I do a shiny new diesel or great new freight car that has just been released. One engine improves one train, a new car helps one industry.

I'm going to keep this blog relatively current with newly acquired equipment.  I'll try not to bore with every piece, especially rolling stock, but the plan is to share the rare pieces and (when I get around to it) some weathering.

On top of new additions, I will try to post progressive photos of current projects that I am working on - one such project will be an early-production cabless B30-7A that I hope to begin once I find a (cheap) B30-7...  There will be two of these units on the roster when everything is said and done.

The Greater Nickel Plate has a brand new work area thanks to the completion of my challenge. A dark, dingy and lifeless basement with an old, run down, dilapidated work bench has been brushed aside - - literally. Starting with a hammer and crowbar, the area was cleared, swept and washed down. A coating of Dri-Lock waterproofing paint added security and helped brighten a dingy cinder block wall (along with some elbow grease) and WD-40 freed up a stubborn window that hadn't been opened in 16 years.

The Chesapeake, Wheeling and Erie Railroad held its second operating session this past Saturday. A few new trains were added to the schedule and the gremlins were held at bay for the most part. But most importantly, everyone had a good time. We dispatched using track warrants, which are a little too new for my era of the mid-1970's but work really well for the current set-up. We use car card and waybills as shown in the photos below.

Well, it took a lot of of figuring and a bit of trial and error but I made significant progress on the valance for the new layout.  Pictured is one piece of what will be a two piece design. For those of you who were worried about clearance issues when building scenery and working on track, that was a good call and I designed the valance over the main portion of the layout in a two piece removable design.

Here is my first attempt at a HO design. Not happy, but I gotta start some where. The corner where the two ends almost come together is the entrance and I cannot block that. Not even a duck-under. On this I want to learn track laying, and wiring, no DCC yet. I also want to experiment with track detection & signalling.

Doug M