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Once the track was laid for General Motors, and then modified to match the new and improved structure plan I made for the area, I thought it would be good to actually start working on the assembly plant structure. To be honest, I’ve been itching to build a structure for …

I recently talked about my crew of friends who are helping me build my layout. If you’ll recall, I also mentioned having a task list so that when attendees arrive they can pick what they want to work on. But I thought it would be cumbersome to actually have a …

If you do any reading in the modeling press, you’re probably aware that many, if not most, larger layouts are not built by a single person. Let’s face it, building even a medium-sized layout is not something the a working individual is likely to complete on their own. At least …

In my last post I talked about the logical reasons for choosing the Eastern Ave. underpass for the corner just past Consolidated Coal (track plan). But some research provided additional interest that clinched it for me. That area will be the first project in Phase II of the layout build, …

Although I’m committed to building the layout in sections (as discussed here and here) that doesn’t mean I’m not prone to letting my mind wander to the future. The General Motors trackage and Penn Mary/Canton yard tracks and leads are in place and operational, track for Consolidated Coal is nearly …

You may think, based on the number of recent “philosophy”- and “background”-type entries I’ve posted lately, that not much has been happening on the layout. But, with the exception of the last couple of weeks where I’ve alternately been very busy or not feeling so great, that’s not the case. …

It’s amazing how some decals and weathering can go so far towards making a model look “right.” In my last post I mentioned that I’d acquired a GP9 that didn’t quite pass muster, then talked a bit about my philosophy on whether I can overlook that or not (the answer: …

I will say straight off that, in general, I’m not a rivet counter. Yes, I want to be accurate, but so long as a car is pretty close to a prototype, I’m happy. I have more than a couple of cars whose paint scheme never appeared on that type of …

After my “Autorack Woes and Assorted Time Issues” post, in which I mentioned that my layout models the seven days between July 11 and July 17, 1984, my friend Tom asked why my time frame was so narrow. And although I quickly answered him then, I felt it was worthy …

This photo shows the last car in Chessie paint with a non-CSXT reporting mark that I have seen in person. This photo was taken September 11, 2004 at Penn Mary. The Canton Railroad crew was doing some yard work while we were there, moving cars from the interchange into their …