Cover!

[p51]

Here it is, my first printed cover, taken on my own On30 layout.
This issue is out now, picked up a copy at the local Barnes & Noble last week.
I've been published many times but never got a cover for one of my own shots before in a printed magazine until this. It's been at the top of my 'things I wanna do in the hobby' list, something I dreamed of as a kid:

[dnhouston]

Congratulations Lee!  Well deserved!

[Dave V]

Congratulations! That’s a great shot too!

[narrowminded]

I follow all of your threads.   Well deserved!

[Santa Fe Guy]

 Great shot, always nice to get on the front.
It takes a lot of work to get published.
Rod.

[gregamer]

Congrats Lee.
I enjoyed the article. Your layout looks great and cool to fit O scale into a bedroom. Hopefully I’ll be fortunate to catch a session on your layout in a future Oly Ops.
Cheers,
Greg Amer

[p51]

Hopefully I’ll be fortunate to catch a session on your layout in a future Oly Ops.

Next Oly Ops, if I have my layout on it, just ask Greg Wright to put your name on a session of mine if you want, and tell him I said so.
I assume we won't have an Oly Ops this year as the same folks are working on the NG convention this September. I've been asked to offer my layout for tours, but I live well south of the venue in Tacoma. I'm actually pretty close to Centralia. Beats me if anyone will come for those tours, I've been told they'll have my layout (and others also outside of the general area) on days before/after the convention instead.
Frankly, I'm not too keen on having folks over just yet. I haven't had any visitors since the initial lockdown in 2020.
My wife and I are getting our booster shots tonight and I'm starting to think perhaps things would get back to normal sometime late this year or next year, barring any unforeseen changes...

[MVW]

A fitting honor for your wonderful work! Congratulations on the cover, and thank you for all you share here on TRW.

Jim

[p51]

I finally framed the cover of O Scale Trains magazine on the wall as you enter the layout room:

A fitting honor for your wonderful work! Congratulations on the cover, and thank you for all you share here on TRW.

Thanks, Jim!

[dcarrell8]

Very cool!

[p51]

Thanks very much. I'm very happy with how that shot turned out and they did a great job printing it. I have it sitting on my coffee table in the living room and I must admit I like stopping and just glancing at it. Sure, I'd rather it to have been MR or RMC (though the latter might happen this year), but this was the culmination of a lifelong dream. When I was a kid with a substandard HO tiny layout that would never make any magazine, it never occurred to me I'd ever get this far.
I think I'm still quite short of what I call a "Pieta or Rhapsody In Blue moment,"* but someday I hope to get the layout shot that makes most people's jaws hit the floor with a loud thud.

* I use that phrase often to describe the pinnacle of someone's work.