Mad City Rail Show ’16

Yesterday was the Mad City Rail Show in Madison, Wisconsin. Last year, I took Olin and Seraphine by myself, and it was a little nuts. I learned my lesson, though, and brought Lance along this time specifically to chase Olin. He drove …

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Walther’s Cornerstone Merchant’s Row II

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Let me just put it this way: this build was a major learning experience. I don’t think I quite realized what I had gotten myself in to when I chose it. It did turn out pretty well in the end, …

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Light Blocking Merchant’s Row – Experiment #2

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My little LEDs finally arrived and I finished the light-blocking on the cathedral. I cut out a bit of black card stock the size of the base, and then cut a square hole in the center of that just big …

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Mini Project: Scratch Ladder (Scratch Roof Access Preface)

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I have been building the Walther’s Merchant’s Row II  in HO scale for a friend, and the roof has been giving me fits. Frequently – and very much so on my table-height layout – the roof is the most-visible aspect of …

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Another Opening of Another Show

My Olin and I ventured out to a train show, again… This time, I was smart: I refused to take any other children but the one directly interested, and I brought a dedicated self-described “sheep dog” to keep track of …

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Rocks, Grass and Chain Link

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I have been doing so much with the mechanics of the train table, trying to fix the wiring, smooth the rails so they don’t derail in certain key places, solder feeder wires, rearrange and optimize turnouts… (Good grief, I hate turnouts. …

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Hobby Reality Check

Yesterday after work, I went up to Rochester to talk to the hobby shop guy. I took along a piece of track and a list of questions, expecting to find a knowledgeable person, a certain amount of stock of items …

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TTFH Update

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I was asked on the model railroading forum for an update with pictures on what I was doing with the train table. I tried to make a video of the changes, but I made the mistake of trying to do …

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