God morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick, glad you found a hiking trail yesterday.  Rick, what we consider cold here is relative. 😊  Temperatures here have been below normal for this time of year, but I haven't used a sweater or jacket yet.  We consider it being cool around 49f, cold at 25f and freaking cold below -40f.  After spending a summer in Florida, my idea of hot has changed dramatically. 😊

Tom, nice to hear from you again, glad you are doing well considering. I bet you will be back in the shed before you know it.

Dave, hope the laser issues get fixed with the new laser.  My laser is also set-up in the garage.  I need to find time to play with it.  

Larry, hope the errands go quickly and you get to the bench.

TomO, hope the weather breaks so you and Terry can get some traveling in.

Curt, hope the dock gets finished today.

Terry, nice to see you drop in.

Karl, we have been lucky here with those storms going around us.

Jerry, hope you get everything done today.

Current weather is 21c (71f) and partly cloudy with 30% chance of rain.  Got a little work on the layout, mostly maintenance stuff, we shall see what tonight brings.

Have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick,  what's the hurry to head home?

TomO, great information on the tree sizes, very useful stuff, thanks for sharing it.  Enjoy the work session at the local club.

Larry, sounds like you had quite the weather yesterday, hope Ellie's visit to the Dr is all good news.

Curt, bet you're glad you got the 60 boards painted/weathered yesterday.  Have fun planking the deck today.

Mike, the remaining question is, did the dogs get the ground squirrel? 😊  Hopefully to get to go upstairs today.

Karl, your deet pictures reminds me of when I was working in northern Alberta.  Across from where I was living there would be a head of deer in the field across the road every day.  Have fun working on the layout.

Current weather is 20c (68f), cloudy with rain in the forecast yet again.  Had some rain on the drive home from work yesterday, but it was light.  Spent some time last night mocking up the tunnel portal yesterday as I was curious on how it would look.  I'm liking it.👍

Have a great day everyone.
 

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick.  Another great photo as usual, safe driving.

Larry, hope you make it to the workbench and Eli gets here MRI results (and that they are good).

Tom, the wire trunk tree method is something I've always wanted to try but haven't attempted yet.

Another early check-in.  Current weather is 17c (62f), overcast with more rain in the forecast.  No modeling last night, mostly because I'm procrastinating.   Scenery is something I haven't done much of, mostly because it terrifies me.  I'm not sure why, as my scenery attempts in the past have turned out pretty good, maybe it's because I'm too much of a perfectionist or afraid of failure, or maybe both.  I think I just need to follow the Nike philosophy and "just do it".   

Have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick, enjoy your hike today.

Jamie, have a great day.

Curt, hope you get the grunge issue figured out.

Larry, looking forward to your update.

Checking in early today before the day gets out of hand the joys of working for a living.  Current temperature is 16c (61f) overcast with more rain in the forecast.  I have come to the realization that modeling through the week is difficult for me when I'm in the office.  Getting up at 5:30 to get ready to work, drive to work (trip to work takes 1 1/4 hours each way) work 8 to 9 hrs a day, drive home, make and eat dinner gives me little energy or desire to do anything else.  If I need to work on Fridays I work from home.  This leaves me Friday to Sunday to work in the layout.  Even with errands, chores and other things I usually can find at least a couple of hours a day to accomplish something.  Well that's my life right now.

With all that, no modeling last night. 

Have a great day everyone. 

Thanks for the kind words Curt, Rick, Larry, Philip and Jerry. 

Jerry, it seems that the contractor involved in the tunnel widening is environmentally friendly.   

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Curt, very glad your dad's issue was minor and that it heals quickly.

Rick, that is a great sunrise photo, enjoy your rest day.

Larry, I think we all slow through slow periods, I had one last week.  If you make it to the bench, I hope it's productive.

Jamie,  hope you stay off the "VP's illustrious" list.

Karl, I'm kind of looking forward to football season too, We shall see how the fish do, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

TomO,  Sounds like you will be sick of making trees by the end of the week.

Jerry, hope you make it to the bench today.

Current weather here is 16c (62f), overcast with rain in the forecast.  Managed some more bench time yesterday and completed the trackwork through the tunnel which was the goal this weekend.  I have 16" of track to lay to connect the staging yard to the existing layout.  Before I can do that I need to do some basic scenery before I install the bridges.  That will be this week's project depending on how I feel after my work day.

Have a great day everyone.

Quote from: deemery on August 30, 2026, 08:21:29 PMThat's a long last step.  Suggest adding some sort of just-in-case end of track block. 

dave

Dave, I this case I just need to make sure that the switch isn't thrown.    But having a "just-in-case" is never a bad idea and one I'll be doing.

Making sure that the cars go through the tunnel without issue.




 
Until the last 16" of track is laid, this is the current end of the line.

Thanks for looking in.

More progress this weekends, this update is called.....

FIRE IN THE HOLE.........

One of the projects to get done before the October open house is to connect the staging yard to the main layout.





I needed to modify the "tunnel" to allow the proper clearance for the cars to pass without scraping the side walls.  using a multi-tool I sliced a 1" strip to enlarge the existing opening.  As you can see I saved the tree.   





I needed to add another piece of wood to fill in the hole caused by the tunnel widening.





After that A piece of cork was glued in place.





Once the cork was dried (the next day) it was time to lay the track.  I used a piece of Micro Engineering code 83 On30 flextrack for this portion as it is nearly impossible to spike tracks inside the tunnel.





The track laid to the west side of the Great Divide.  Where the tracks come out through the tunnel I stripped the ties off the rails and spiked the rail to the wooded ties.

Jerry,

Three down, one to go. 

Wall looks great.

Quote from: KentuckySouthern on August 30, 2026, 10:14:14 AMRain overnight and continues this morning. .6" in the gage moments ago.

OPS went well yesterday, worked an out and back industrial turn and a road train. While passing the passenger station I saw a glitzy set of power on one of the ready tracks.



Aren't grand kids gifts great? 

Might wander to the layout later. Need to take a chill out day, the rain will help

Enjoy the day everyone.

Kids all started school here at least a week or more ago.

Be Well

Someone is getting ready for football season. 

Quote from: Rick on August 25, 2026, 10:10:09 AM

Quote from: elwoodblues on August 25, 2026, 09:48:27 AM

Quote from: Rick on August 25, 2026, 06:01:06 AMRon, nice job making the switch.
I guess moving it to the left is impractical at this point.
Regardless, I know you'll get the hole corrected.

Thanks Rick,

Going to the left is not an option due to a shelf bracket that is used to support the layout.  Only option is enlarging the hole on the right, I just need to figure out how large the opening needs to be.

Tom, I was talking about moving the switch and not the hole.

Rick,

If I move the switch further back I will not have enough clearance on the left hand side of the switch.

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Rick, it's to bad that dogs are not allowed in National Parks.  No F1 race this week means that there are races the next 2 weekends. 😊  Enjoy the hike with star this morning.

Curt, hope you don't make the trip for nothing.

Larry, we have also been streaming for years, hence the cutting of the cable umbilical cord.

TomO, Happy Birthday to your granddaughter.

Mike, sounds like you had a great ride yesterday.

Dave, hope you get the tree situation figured out. 

Kark, glad the op session went well.

Jerry, seeing you finish the third wall, should we be expecting an update within a reasonable time? 

Current temperature here is 19c (66f) with cloudy skies, although there is a 60% chance of showers later today.  Had a busy morning already as I made a very expensive trip to Costco (membership was due) and did the grocery run.  There was some progress on the layout yesterday with the tunnel enlargement completed.  The blasting was less messy than expected.  Next step is to lay the track through the tunnel to get to the other side of the great divide, which is planned for today.

Have a great day everyone. 

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast, interesting friend you found on the trail.

Larry, enjoy your time at the bench.

Curt, sounds like your road trip will be longer than you would like.

Karl, enjoy the ops session.

Mike, enjoy your visit with your fellow modeler.   Hope the kit assembly gets easier.

Current weather is 16c (60f) with the sun shining bright.  High is expected to be 23c (73f).  The Internet installer just left, we are now on fibre. 😊  Decided to change provider since the price was getting out of hand.    We also decided to drop cable as we don't watch it.  So our Internet/cable/home phone went from $310.00 to $95.00 per month.    Added bonus the speed is much quicker.
 
Yesterday was another day with no modeling as I worked longer than I planned to and the distractions continued.  Today's plan is to widen the tunnel to the staging yard.  The weekends plan is to connect the staging yard to the main layout.

Have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone,

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Larry, Hope the errands go well so you make it to the bench.

Curt, sounds like your making great progress on your build.

TomO, Hope your work session goes well and you accomplished what you want to accomplish.

Karl, TomO might like the help. 😊

Mike, have fun working on the engine shed.

Jerry, I kind of relented and said I'd do it.

Current temperature is 15c (60f) with cloudy skies.  Another evening with no modeling as I just didn't feel like it.  We shall see what tonight brings.

Have a great day everyone.