Weekend Update 2/11/18

[Ed Kapuscinski]

After several months on the workbench (including the holidays) I have finally finished the Custom Model Railroad's Railroad Headquarters Building.  CMR kits are laser cut acrylic and the panels only have straight cuts on the edges.  When there are angles where the walls meet, such as on this building, you fill the gap with Evergreen styrene rod (provided) and then you must carve and sand it to create the angled joint between the walls--a pain in the rump.  Once the joint is smooth you need to carve the brick line across the joint.  In all I scribed 2200+ brick lines.  Despite not enjoying that part of the build the remaining construction was fun. Paint is Rustoleum 2X Fossil.

Have you sent those photos to Jeff at CMR? I bet he'd love to see them.

[mplsjct]

Scenery is still slowing spreading over the layout. Still needs more trees and underbrush in places.



Caleb.

Nice mixture of ground cover, thanks for sharing.

[Cajonpassfan]

PS Lot # 8027, WP 20801-21400

Thank you, @cjm413 !
Time to get it very lightly weathered...
Otto K.

[bnsfdash8]

I didn't hesitate getting my NS B40-8W painted and the major decals put on. For a complete foob, I think it looks pretty believable.

[Angus Shops]

Follow up and trip report for the Vancouver - Toronto Canadian ride that I mentioned a couple weeks ago: huge fun and a great trip. We were a full 25 hours late arriving in Toronto, but (almost) nobody complained and the staff treated us royally. The bride and I agreed that an extra day on the train was infinetely preferable to a day in Toronto (sorry to all Toronto natives). Food was excellent and the staff somehow managed to make the last and extra dinner arguably the best. Bedroom C on Carleton Manor was quiet and comfortable. The weather and scenery were both perfect with sunny snow covered forests and frozen lakes.
I highly recommend the winter trip; the train is shorter and less crowded and the crew seems to be less frazzled than when trying to deal with 3 seatings in the dinning car, the Park car, now part of the "Prestige Class" package, is open to all sleeping car passengers 24 hours, the less expensive low season fares are in effect, and, if you're really lucky, heavy CN traffic and winter operating conditions will allow for that extra day on the train.
We also took trains from Toronto to Montreal and Quebec City. I found the Renaissance coaches (Montreal  to Quebec and back) a bit worn, but comfortable and smooth riding. Montreal and Quebec City were great cities to visit, even in the dead of winter, with no crowds but lots snowy charm and tasty tummy filling food.
Geoff

[nscalbitz]

 carve the brick line across the joint.  In all I scribed 2200+ brick lines. 
[/quote]

  Just a pale pencil line would probably have sufficed___
dave

[chuck geiger]

David and Caleb - Mic drop...

[James Costello]

Follow up and trip report for the Vancouver - Toronto Canadian ride that I mentioned a couple weeks ago: huge fun and a great trip.

snip

I highly recommend the winter trip; the train is shorter and less crowded and the crew seems to be less frazzled than when trying to deal with 3 seatings in the dinning car, the Park car, now part of the "Prestige Class" package, is open to all sleeping car passengers 24 hours, the less expensive low season fares are in effect, and, if you're really lucky, heavy CN traffic and winter operating conditions will allow for that extra day on the train.

Geoff

Thanks Geoff - I remember reading one of the columnists in Trains describing how great this exact winter trip is and I've been keen to do it for some time. Thanks for sharing and confirming.

[trainforfun]

Thanks, Louis and all.

The entire floor is being replaced, so something close will be fine.

My only fear is warping from the moisture, which has already caused two sections of scenery to deform.  Those sections will be easily repairable, and thus far the spline is doing it's thing and keeping the track stable.  Time will tell.

When I had to redo part of the floor , I suspended the layout with drywall corner bead screwed to the floor joist above ( opened a few acoustical tiles ) and fold the leg . The guys worked under the layout . I had enclosed the layout with poly attached to the ceiling and tacked under the layout to prevent sawdust to go everywhere on the layout  .

[trainforfun]

Follow up and trip report for the Vancouver - Toronto Canadian ride that I mentioned a couple weeks ago: huge fun and a great trip. We were a full 25 hours late arriving in Toronto, but (almost) nobody complained and the staff treated us royally. The bride and I agreed that an extra day on the train was infinetely preferable to a day in Toronto (sorry to all Toronto natives). Food was excellent and the staff somehow managed to make the last and extra dinner arguably the best. Bedroom C on Carleton Manor was quiet and comfortable. The weather and scenery were both perfect with sunny snow covered forests and frozen lakes.
I highly recommend the winter trip; the train is shorter and less crowded and the crew seems to be less frazzled than when trying to deal with 3 seatings in the dinning car, the Park car, now part of the "Prestige Class" package, is open to all sleeping car passengers 24 hours, the less expensive low season fares are in effect, and, if you're really lucky, heavy CN traffic and winter operating conditions will allow for that extra day on the train.
We also took trains from Toronto to Montreal and Quebec City. I found the Renaissance coaches (Montreal  to Quebec and back) a bit worn, but comfortable and smooth riding. Montreal and Quebec City were great cities to visit, even in the dead of winter, with no crowds but lots snowy charm and tasty tummy filling food.
Geoff

This is a great review , we rode the VIA Ocean from Montreal to Halifax a few years ago and the park dome car was my preferred place to stay ( it was a bit cold in there and we were in the summer !! ) 
The service on board was excellent .