The first scenic pass for the town of Clive on my IAIS Grimes Line layout is complete. The area features the NW 86th/Swanson Blvd intersection plus the Swanson Depot Retail Center, the PDM/CB&I spur and the Clive greenbelt. It's a space about 12 feet in length, and is the first thing people see when entering the layout room.

I'm working on repainting a model for a friend.  It had previously been custom painted, so the first step is of course to strip it.  I usually start with 91% isopropyl alcohol, and I did in this case.  It did a great job of removing the decals (which had never been clear coated, apparently), but it barely touched the paint even after two days of soaking and vigorous scrubbing with a toothbrush and Bar Keeper's Friend.

Here are some picturess of my layout. Your comments are welcomed, but understand that I am not a purist nor a rivet counter. Nonetheless, I was wondering do others use "manual dispatching" relative to switches and signals on a DCC system like I do? My switches are 2 pole 6 ways that let me select which aspect I need. Secondly, my ballast looks much better in person than in the pictures. It is a cheap and neat way to do it, with paint. Also as you will notice I am much farther along on the area that has trees and grass. Pics to follow.    Kyle

I am considering using LEDs to light my structures, off of the dc side of a standard powerpack of ~14v. (I use DCC for track). I am curious of what color leds work well for you. Regular yellow ones from Radio Shack don't appear to produce a pleasing color, although I have not actually put one in a building yet. If anyone has been down this road, and can point me to a source and also what resistor you used, I would appreciate the advice.

Thanks, Kyle