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Continued...
Thanks biL but I'm way past that point now. I was going to use for the base layer of my layout but went with foam instead. Thx.

I broke some new ground chasing the Maumee & Western yesterday. I shot them arriving in Defiance, something I hadn't seen for a number of years. The left Napoleon about 10:00a with 30 cars, mostly boxcars with a couple reefers, and arrived in Defiance a little before 2:00p.









The rest of the photos from the day are available on flickr.

I've tried to find the answer to this, and haven't been too successful...so allow me to ask...

I've noticed on some metal structures, the ballast continues from the track onto the bridge (or trestle), while in other places I've seen no ballast at all. Is that railroad policy specific or based on elevation or length of the trestle or bridge?

The reason I'm asking is, I placed a low-lying trestle on my layout and can't decide if I'm supposed to continue the ballast across the span or not. Locally, I've seen it both ways on the Norfolk Southern rails (which I think are actually owned by CSX), but can't discern why sometimes the ballast continues across, and other times it does not.

Thanks guys.

I will be attempting to build Sierra West's Wood Cutter's Shack for the Summer Challenge. I am building this for my friend Allan Gartner's High Anxiety RR HO layout. I plan to build it pretty much out of the box, as the details and additional work needed to make it a 30's era rundown shack will challenge my skills enough. Wish me luck, I am a contest virgin! hock:

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I was reading this post http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic...icd#p42245 from Jeffrey aka Running Bear and decided to try this out.

If that solar cell charges a 1.5 volt AA sized battery and the battery lights a LED, then why can't you substitute a bit (30 ft) of wire and attach the head of the Garden light to an existing LED on the layout?????

Well - you can!!! All you need is "just enough electrical knowledge"..... and a window near the layout

I decided upon an enginehouse. It will be two stalls, and scratchbuilt. Initial plans are for it to be a wood-framed structure with a corrugated metal siding and roof. Eventually this will be part of a much larger smelter complex. I will place it on my layout near my eventual turntable, but it will be a parallel track enginehouse rather than a roundhouse.

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I was reading through the introduction of my "Railway Engineering and Maintenance Cyclopedia - 1929" and came across the following paragraph. It would fit perfectly in with just about any business today.

"Particular attention as also been given during the past five years to the exonomics of railway labor with a view to offsetting by higher efficiency the 100 percent (!)increase in the cost of labor since 1917, along with the 50 per cent in crease in the cost of materials. The problem as been greatly complicated by the shorter working day (I wonder what it was in 1929...), which is specially adverse in roadway and track repairs, since forces so engaged lose a large percentage of the day in unproductive transportation to and from their work."

It goes on to talk about using units of measure, good organization, "labor saving devices", to increase labor efficiency and also the consideration of the welfare of the laborers to avoid unnecessary turnover. The entire introduction is fascinating, but this stood out because they are concerns that you hear on the news as well as in supervisory /management meetings to this day.

The more they stay the same.

Matt Goodman

This morning I had to take my neighbor to the hospital because she cut her leg open while using a weed trimmer. Being that this is the start to the summer season, I thought I would offer a quick reminder that tools can be dangerous, and to always wear proper protective gear, and don't take shortcuts. My neighbor got hurt because she was lifting the trimmer over a fence instead of taking the few extra minutes to walk around. Long pants would have also minimized the damage. So please, when mowing the lawn or working in the yard, wear long pants, sturdy shoes, and eye protection. Those spinning blades and strings can sling pebbles and sticks pretty hard, hard enough to cause serious injury.

Also, when grilling don't think you can touch something hot quick enough to not get burned. As me how I know

Anybody else here collect employee timetable? I've been doing it for about ten years now. I don't have many; in fact, some people's "extras/duplicates" list is larger than my whole collection!


Favorites:

Ann Arbor Railroad #5 2008
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton #23 1964
Grand Trunk Western / DT&I #3 1982
Hillsdale County Railway #2 1979
Lake States Railway #2.1 1995
Michigan Southern Railroad #1 1997
Wabash Montpelier Division #60 1964
West Michigan Railroad Co. #1 1995
Akron, Canton & Youngstown #28 1965
Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern #1 2004
Fox River Valley Railroad #1 1988
Indiana Harbor Belt #1 1986
Kendallville Terminal Railway #1 2001
Maumee & Western #4 2000
NICTD/South Shore #5 2001
Twin Cities & Western Railroad #1 1991


I collect timetables for roads that I have an interest in, generally lines that I've seen in person. Occasionally I'll pick up a timetable because it looks cool or it has an interesting format. Maps are always welcomed additions, but not every timetable has one. I love timetables that are books. Norfolk Southern seems to have had the best format, up to the Conrail split. They are convenient to carry and read and easy to store. Loose pages in binders are annoying, especially because the binders are always in short supply. I thankfully have a Canadian National and a Conrail binder.

There are, oddly some glaring omissions from my collection. I've come to realize recently that I have no New York Central employee timetables, even though I have a full set of from Penn Central and consider myself a staunch New York Central fan. I am also lacking a Norfolk Southern Illinois Division from the 1990s even though I have the rest of the NS system from that era. I'd really like to find an Indiana & Ohio timetable, but they seem especially hard to get.

Have a pleasant, safe Memorial Day !

Please take a moment during your day of cook-outs, horse shoe pitching, softball games and family fun to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us can live as free men (and women!) :arrow: