October 2017
What’s on your workbench? Sometimes it seems I have too many projects. I’ve said before that the AP Program has helped me focus to be able to get projects completed. I’m at the point where I need to do scenery on my HO layout. In the meantime, a side project has come up that might delay me from getting the scenery even started but in the end I hope will help. I’ve always liked the smaller footprint of N Scale. Next summer the National N Scale Convention will be in Salt Lake City! I’ve decided to build a small layout that will help me practice some scenery techniques and make use of the equipment I have been given or bought over the years. If all goes well, I may even be able to use it to achieve the Scenery AP Certificate! This is a hobby and you should enjoy what you work on. Yes, I want to get the scenery done on my HO layout but I have also wanted a small N Scale layout for years as well. Trains are what I like. I just happen to be able to run them in 1.5” scale, On30, HO/HOn3 and now N and Nn3 scale! Yes, if I’m doing N you bet I’ll have narrow gauge too!
What else is on my “virtual” workbench? Track building – the “big stuff”! My son recently finished building 600’ of track for Shay Park as his Eagle Service Project. My cousin, Pete, and his friend Brent came over and helped me deliver it to the park. The morning of Oct 21st the club, and anyone else who can help, will be laying as much of it as we can. Last Saturday a few of the club members installed another switch in preparation to lay the rest of the track.
What else is on your workbench, you say? I have started using the “Tree Making Machine” as I like to call it, that I picked up at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver. In December I plan to give a hands-on clinic on using that. It’s fun and I can make trees fast! The thing I learned from beginning that “project” is that it isn’t hard, you just have to get in and start doing it! There are so many things like that in this hobby. Sometimes we suffer from “analysis paralysis” as I have heard it called. I am that way too. I urge you to just get working on something! It doesn’t matter if it’s just one tree or a hundred. It can be a project for a club or group, or even a whole new layout for yourself. Share your ideas and your passion with the rest of us and you will find others who might want to help and in that way we can enjoy the journey together!