Mike loved passenger train operations, but freights were also well represented on his little piece of the CB&Q.
We also had a session on Al Partlow's SP layout. Al models the line north out of Houston thru Hearne.
At the time of the trip to Houston, I had been adding some fascia to the upper deck and filling in the area between the track and the fascia with more foam. The photos tacked on to the backdrop are ones I took of the railroad in the summer of 2016. Unfortunately, they are too green to use as photo backdrops. I need to make a trip back to Wyoming in the fall between snowstorms and reshoot the hills.
September was also when the NPRHA convention in Duluth was. I flew in and out of the Twin Cities, which gave me a chance to railfan the old CB&Q line between St. Paul and Chicago that follows the Mississippi river. Here is the bridge at the Wisconsin state line where it crosses the St. Croix river at Prescott.
In Duluth we stopped at the railroad museum in the old NP passenger station where the NP's first locomotive, the Minnetonka is on display along with a Milwaukee Road boxcab electric that is supposedly headed back to Montana as soon as they get an indoor shelter built. They also have NP SD45 3617.
In October we had an operating session at Dean Ferris. The yard master at Monument is my favorite job on his layout. I really like is tab on car system.
Even though I was just there, I headed back to Minnesota in October for Minn-Rail. Started out running the ore job on Jeff Otto's Missabe and Iron Range.
Before Minn-Rail was over I was back at Jeff's working in the Duluth yard, where he has Atkins Tools, which I thought was cool.
In November I was in Tulsa, OK for the Tulsa Line operating weekend. First up was Sammie Carlie's Santa Fe Herford Division.
The Clearmore and Southern's club layout, where it looks like I was joined by Bill Childres.
Then Steve Davis' KCS.
And on sunday, Jim Senese's Kansas City Terminal, where I ran the MKT with Tom Bailey.
I continued to work on scenery base for the upper deck.
Then someone on the Facebook showed me a photo of Parkman from 1970 and I realized I needed to add a stock pen and siding.
So I hacked in another siding so I could add a stock pen.
But I decided maybe it was time to start working on the bottom deck again. First, back with the plastic to cover things up and keep them from getting too covered with dust. I started adding dominos that I recycled from the old Camas Prairie layout.
By the beginning of December, I started working on a swing bridge to allow egress during operating sessions.
And I needed to build a support that could attached to the door jamb with hinges. I used a Kreg Jig to recess the screws, which I really liked.
The gate swings out into the foyer.
And with the decking and some magnets to hold it closed.
The tracks over the bridge are curved, but using Atlas curved snap track makes it easier to keep teh bend.
This is pretty much the layout progress at the end of 2017.
