I ran trains today for the first time in months! Now of to the LHS to buy a couple more decoders -the will make a whopping four DCC locos that I own. I find it entertaining seeing the locos cruise over the cement pad -admittedly, this is the first time I have tested locos since installing the cement pad! @rrobason - glad this is helping to motivate you! i found similar layout threads that got me stoked, and helped me to get back into the hobby a couple years ago.
Running trains is always great. Glad your back at that stage Noah. Layout looks wonderful and great vantage points for the photos.
Noah , I think that layout simply turned out superb. A great balance of size and scenery as well as running. A fine job and thanks for the pictures. Mike
I spent yesterday evening reconnecting feeders that had been dangling. Many months ago, I had removed some pieces of track and when I replaced them they were backwards (or something) and a couple feeders got mixed up. I ended up cutting some of the feeders above their respective Posi-Taps, in a short-finding frenzy. With as many feeders as I have, I knew it wasn't likely to be an issue for a while, so I left them dangling. I finally got under the layout last night, to reconnect everything. I had to do some upside-down, under-layout soldering to extend a handful of feeder wires. Let me say, I was very thankful I chose those Posi-Taps for connecting feeders to the bus. Soldering under the layout is not fun! Especially when you slip up, and fling hot solder onto your face and arms! Fortunately, all of my under-layout-wiring is connected again, and I can check that box on my 'list of to dos'.
And Mike, thank you very much for your compliments! I also appreciate everything you do for our hobby! -Noah
Like the way you added patches on the highway. Running trains! That just has to get in the way of making progress sometimes! It is what we build them for..... Keep it up!
For my pasture fencing, I ended up using 0.020" metal music wire. The wire makes for perfect fence posts, and is a lot sturdier than wood or styrene. I sunk the first section of fencing on Friday night, then went out of town camping for the weekend. I spaced these posts at 20' apart, but after a weekend driving through Napa-Sonoma countryside, I quickly realized that pasture fencing has post-spacing typically more like 7-10'. I'm just going to add extra posts to make for 10' spacing. Here's a quintessential California shot -from out little weekend in getaway on the Sonoma Coast. These are California Poppies, our State flower. We wanted to avoid the 88 degree heat in the Valley, and enjoy some coastal fog. It was a pretty spectacular little weekend trip!
Noah , don't forget we are compressing scenes and the posts further apart may tend to make the scene look bigger. Might want to rethink extra posts. IMHO Mike PS , Great scenery on the outing !!!!
Ooo. I like the ocean view. That fuels my desire to return to old home grounds this summer. Post spacing of 7 to ten feet is indeed correct. Any fences I have ever built (chain, barbed wire, board) have usually been in the range of 8 foot spacing. Eight feet is common for the lengths of boards or rails purchased for use in that style of fencing. Spacing chain link or barbed wire out too fair can cause some troubles with getting good tension.
Looking great Noah, great shot of the coast. California is definitely a wonderious state, still planning on visiting one day.
Sorry for the lack of updates again! Since I started running trains, that's all I've been doing! Well, actually running trains has created other tasks with fixing/improving couplers, trucks, DCC issues, wiring, etc. Here's a little shot just kicks: Oh, and I brought the wife back up the Mendocino Coast, and camped a few days in Fort Bragg. It was beautiful, and the weather was ideal! We landed this sweet campsite without even having a reservation -basically unheard of, this time of year. We got incredibly lucky!
Lovely country Noah, glad your running trains have fun with it. We can never get away with constant maintenance. Much like the prototypes we try to model.
Thanks Mike! Small update: I've added some dirt and static grass to the retaining wall. I've got more to do on this, but it's coming along.
