I was able to get quite a bit of work done over the holiday break. (quite a bit for me anyway) The reason being that I had invited/begged and pleaded with Isaac Fabris to come over to help me get my ProtoThrottle up and running and the threat of having another modeler in my basement inspecting my work was enough to finally get me moving on finishing up some of the big construction tasks that were still outstanding. (Check out Isaac’s railroad here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/607099757235527 )
Backdrop and Fascia:
I finally bit the bullet and covered up my staging yard. That was a pretty big mental blocker for me as it means that accessing it in the future to perhaps re-rail a car or fix a bit of trackwork will be trickier. It’s not really as bad as I make it out to be in my mind as it has been designed to work smoothly and remotely without intervention and so far it has performed quite well. I also added mirrors to the ceiling above the yard ladder at either end of staging which gives me peace of mind and a very good view of what is going on back there.
Having that backdrop up in the area of Usk, Washington now really does a lot to frame the scene and bring focus to the area. I am looking forward to diving into bringing this area of the layout to life here soon.
And of course, completing the fascia across the entirety of the layout just gives everything a wonderful tidy appearance that soothes my OCD soul.
Scenery:
I spent more time on the cardboard webbing that will form the foundation of my scenery as well. It is important to me that I get at least a base-level of scenery shell in place soon as the ever-looming threat of derailments sending my expensive equipment to the floor is preventing me from running trains as much as I really should be.
This task however, was made much easier and more enjoyable with the addition of my new favorite power tool to my ever-growing arsenal: The battery powered Ryobi glue gun. I can not tell you how much I love this thing! Being able to move around the layout freely without dragging a cord around that threatens to drag down a super heated tool to the ground is so freeing and the built-in drip tray keeps everything so clean! At 20 bucks (assuming you already have bought into the Ryobi battery ecosystem) This tool is a no-brainer. I am sure that Dewalt, Milwaukee, and the other big brands have something similar and I highly recommend getting one for yourself.
ProtoThrottle:
Finally, yes. After two years of sitting there looking all blinged-out and pretty in its cradle on the side of my layout, my ProtoThrottle is finally up and running. I am frankly embarrassed by how long it has taken me to get around to hooking it up and I wish I would have made it a priority sooner. I can’t give you a review of it yet as I’ve yet to properly set up my locomotives to take full advantage of it, but I can tell you that having a brake, reverser, horn handle and the ability to notch up and down the power step-by-step is really fantastic. Much better than rotating a knob. I am looking forward to playing more with it soon and really dialing in the realism. Thanks again to Issac for helping me out! (Also, check out episode 11 of the Around the Layout Podcast for an interview with Isaac about his own modeling efforts: https://www.spreaker.com/user/5448157/e11-fabris)
So that about does it for this update. I am very happy with the progress I’ve made! I think I’ve got enough to put together another update video, so look for that maybe this coming weekend. I am glad I was able to get a lot of these much needed tasks behind me and I feel really good about where I am at going into 2023.
