October fun

In October I had all the switch machine controllers installed and was ready to put fascia on the lower lever. This is necessary mainly to keep things from falling on the floor. I had already lost a brand new sound-equipped Rivarossi U25C, which wasn't pretty.

I cut slots in the masonite in where gaps between the buildings will be. I will eventually add brick to the track side to represent buildings. These will really only be seen if you look over the fascia, but it will give the effect of looking thru a canyon of buildings that you get when you are in Billings.

A little paint gives the facia a clean look and ties the fascia together with the valance.

We cut some vinyl signs on the Cricut.

The first operators on the layout were Peter Bryant from Houston and John Emerson from Amarillo. They were two of the 35 or so out of town guests to come up for the 2016 DFW Interchange operating weekend. Speed Muller is on the other side of the peninsula, but he didn't count since he was a local. Actually, Speed was a big help getting the switches plugged into JMRI.

The next day David Perkins and his girlfriend Pheriche from Baton Rouge operated the last session of the DFW Interchange. The night before, the third operator decided he couldn't read HO scale car numbers and went home. Pheriche has a Kindle Fire tablet in her hand throwing the switches. The tablets will eventually be mounted on the fascia at eye level.