November Update

This has been a busy month. I finally finished some engines for a friend in Chicago and got them off my workbench. I had an MRC Sound decoder fail in SCXY 1325, so I swapped an ESU LokSound Micro in its place (huge improvement). I am having fun making layout progress right now, so that has been a big focus of the month.

I made some more progress on Ivy Farms Trucking. I added the shingled roof to the main building. I also repainted the pole barn and got it weathered.

I got the Creekside Cafe almost done. The outside is painted, roof is on, and signage was added for the cafe and the Other Side Bar.

Inside I added tables, chairs, bar stools and a pool table.

 I got a Willy's to park outside the Corp. HQ. That was fun to paint.

More trees planted in Hinckley.

I completed a sideboom crawler I've had on the bench for years.

I added some powerlines in Rush City. there will be more of them coming soon.

 I added the camera pole for the Mill. The solar panel is a decal.

And I ran trains. This run helped me find a troublesome spot in my 5/6 switch. A quick shim on the throwbar in it was back in service.

Hopefully December is as fruitful as November was!

Happy New Year!

I find when I get on a roll making progress, I forget to document it. I missed December altogether, so I will get you up to speed.

First I want to take a look back to a year ago to remind us what the Skally Line looked like then:

Since then I replaced the foam-core mill with the styrene version (still not painted), I finished the engine house and the speeder shed. I have done a bunch of ballasting and ground cover as well. The same scene looks a lot different today:

Taking a step back we can see the park across from the Masonic Lodge. I've started making SuperTrees where appropriate.

Here is the view looking south at the Mill. You can see the north engine house switch that got added just after the prototype last year. I finally got some good PD hoppers for hauling flour, thank you BLMA/Atlas. These are amazing looking cars.

Ivy Farms Creamery has started to take shape just north of the Mill. I still have a building and a half to finish there, but the scene feels more complete already.

Here is a look at the Masonic Lodge before I installed it on the layout. After sitting for two years I finally finished the front stoop, the front door, the fire escape and some other details. I just need to make decals for the signs now.

I'm glad I got the pictures looking back. When you stare at it every day, it doesn't feel like much has happened. But then you look back and see how much you really did get done. I hope this year yields the same amount of progress.