Last time I explained that I took apart the layout and moved it to the other side of the room.  While the layout is still in pieces, I’m refreshing scenery and backdrops and fixing other problems so when the layout is reassembled it’ll be better than ever. Above.  I started with what I call the “north side” of the layout–which, when viewing the layout–is the right half of the 16-foot layout.  To begin the refresh I removed the backdrop and then removed all the buildings, trees and details, and then made a plan to remove scenery. Below, here’s the north side with everything … Continue reading No. 118: The Ackley Layout – North Side Scenery Refresh

We went to the Netherlands last weekend for our kids’ last swim meet of the year, and on the way we took a short side-trip through Belgium to make a beer run.  We stopped at a Delhaize grocery store in Houthalen on the way to Eindhoven and stocked up.  Here’s my son Jacob, below, with a cart-full of the good stuff plus a whole lot of stroop waffles.  If you’ve never had Belgian beer and stroop waffles, you need to come and visit.  They’re life-changers. Unbeknownst to me, Houthalen is in a mining area.  On the way to the grocery store we drove by this thing … Continue reading No. 117: Moving Ackley

This post will be more boring than usual.  It will serve as a record-keeping function for me. The last time the bump-out was seen, in Post 112, Rebuilding the Bump Out, Part 1, it looked like this.  The original bump-out was removed so the track could be re-aligned to accommodate two freight customers.  At this stage I had completed the new benchwork, laid roadbed and track, and completed landforms.  Ballasting was underway. Here’s another view with everything cleaned up. I wanted this track to be buried in mud and debris and grass.  I applied matte medium with an eyedropper between the … Continue reading No. 116: Rebuilding the Bump Out onthe Ackle Layout, Part 2

In my last post I mentioned that my friends Lonnie and Mary Bathurst were visiting Europe, and last week they came to visit us in Kaiserslautern.  My wife and I met them at the Hauptbahnhof and took them to our favorite German restaurant in Hohenecken for lunch, beer and conversation.     After a hearty German meal we went over to Ramstein Air Base for a pre-arranged C-130J tour.  There was no rain in sight until we made the long walk out to the ramp.  Despite the weather the boys from the 37th Airlift Squadron gave us a first-class tour.   They even wheeled … Continue reading No. 102: More Details for Ackley’s South Side

My friend and St. Louis RPM co-host Lonnie Bathurst is on a trip through Europe this week and I met up with him and his wife at Rudesheim, which us about an hour drive from my home.  That’s Lon on the left.  We had a nice dinner and caught up on things.  After dinner we went out to the main street–where our photo was taken–which faces the railroad and the Rhine River.  We set ourselves up at a nice German restaurant so we could have a couple more frosty brews and watch trains.  The weather was magnificent.  Deutsche Bahn did not … Continue reading No. 101: Building the Carver, Minnesota Grain Elevator

I’m not a streetcar guy but I was in Milan, Italy on Monday and was surprised to see a whole bunch of old trolley cars running around downtown.  I managed to get one halfway-decent photo shown below.  I read online that these cars have been around since the 1920s and were built to an American design.  The most interesting thing about these cars, apart from their cool early 20th Century design, was that they are loud!  Modern trams running nearby are quiet and comfortable, but these cars clank along and with every turn of the wheel there is a creak … Continue reading No. 100: More Southside Scenery Work