Dave, I think it's one of those "I live out where the streetcars don't run" things - more than 3/4 of a tank.

Good afternoon, all.  It's still sunny and above freezing in the lower Merrimack Valley, but the wind is picking up. I have a window to fix in an outbuilding this afternoon, so probably won't get much done on the layout.  Tomorrow, off to Springfield. I'd skip it if it was just to see the show, but I've volunteered to staff the Flying Yankee table on Sunday. I will be masked, and may start the 100 mile trip home early. With my freshly sharpened aluminum grain scoop in the back...

Good morning Karl, Jerry, Dave and later arrivals.  The lower Merrimack Valley is up to 40F with pale sun through thin clouds. My wife has set to work on her next styrene scratchbuild: 114 State St. in Newburyport, home of American Legion Post 150 in my layout's era (later, they talked themselves into a big cinderblock hall off US 1, but lost it to insufficient profit due to skimming followed by playing games with the taxes).

I appear to have found all the extant pictures of my bridge project, so I'll continue styrene fabrication after lunch.

The scene looks nice, but having owned and tended cattle for many years, yours can't have been in the same space as those round bales for more than 5 minutes.

QuoteHere is a quick view on how to wire them. Instead of the battery you can use the wipers or motor poles.

To connect current limiters and LEDs to either DCC or DC track power, you need to put a bridge rectifier between the track power and the circuit Tom shows. The downside is the rectifier will eat up another 1.5 volts from your track power.  I'm about to buy some of these for similar purposes:  MCC DB-101 1A 50V bridge rectifiers .25 x .32 x .13"

Good morning, all. HIgh haze is starting to appear over the lower Merrimack Valley, but we're up to 20F from full sun earlier. Too bad about the Big E show weather. I've attended in similar conditions, with a truck full of modules and an empty horse trailer behind. But I was 20 years younger and didn't have overflowing parts and rolling stock storage yet. This year I've promised to photograph the B&M modelers' get-together and staff the Flying Yankee booth on Sunday, so I'll be fairly easy to find.

Once I get away from the computer, I'll continue with a bridge project which might be worth posting to the Challenge.

Good progress. Looking forward to seeing lettering and weathering.

Good morning, all. I woke up to about 14F, now it's 21F and bright sun behind partly cloudy.  I've read about a few accidents in New England during this last storm, but nothing like I-196.

Jeff, I built a trestle about 5 bents long for my highschool era layout.  Stand-in for a drawspan which would have been difficult to put on a 24" radius curve.  I still have it, but likelihood of re-use is near zero.

Good afternoon, all. The lower Merrimack Valley is above freezing with occasional floods of sunlight as clouds pass. The tops of my orchard trees (which I couldn't reach earlier) are shedding snow on their own.

Rick, none of my layout projects got finished, but several show visible progress; much better than I managed for most of 2025.

TomO, you've mentioned NIL before, but AFAICT, that isn't enough of an incentive to change much in this area.  The private HSes seem to be pushing their students because sports achievements draw donations and parents of 8th graders seeking prestige.

I've also been following. Congratulations!

Good afternoon, all. Snow stopped falling on the lower Merrimack Valley around 10. I was already outside knocking snow off my orchard trees.  Got a lot of damage from a Halloween storm back in 2011, not again while I live. Then I started shoveling, but when family mobilized after breakfast I did plow banks with the tractor. Didn't touch a computer till midday.

After a late lunch, I'll return to layout projects.

Quote from: deemery on January 18, 2026, 04:59:08 PMThat's coming along really well.  I like the dark brick on the main structure walls, that's something I wouldn't have thought to try.

dave

Even the oldest coots among us barely remember when everything burned coal, from the local gasworks and electric power plant to the downtown businesses to everyone's house. My layout's structures probably aren't dirty enough for 1950, though maybe much of the winter soot would have washed off the houses by August.

TomO, I've had some questions about the athletic program at my son's private HS. Pushing the kids hard in practice and competition, many more injuries and different kinds of injuries than I remember from the 1970s.  Kind of horrifying to hear of a football player dislocating his shoulder, trainers on the bench putting it back (everyone in the stadium heard the kid), then back in the game for 4th quarter.

Quote from: Rick on January 14, 2026, 04:36:48 PM...
But, here's my thought, the cows are outside in the rain and weather their entire lives.
To save them from getting wet while they march to their death, I don't know if it's worth it.
...

I expect prototype ramps are roofed make the ramps a little less slippery. If a bovine falls, production stops till they can get it back on its feet, out of the way over the side, or something similar.

Good morning, all. Calm with thick overcast and 3" of snow on lawn and trees here in the lower Merrimack Valley. Once I close the computer, I need to make building footprint templates for the 3 houses I'm queuing up, install baseboards for them and start roughing in the scenery.