Catching up!

I know, I skipped another week, so shoot me. I have encountered one stumbling block after another in my quest for Shiretown perfection, but I guess my stubbornness paid off and I am now (finally) up to where I thought I was a few weeks ago. All sidings in the Beaufield freight and passenger yards are running smoothly, all the switches work, the Met still scoots about out of sight, appearing and reappearing as she winds her way beneath it all, and all the blocks respond properly to the commands of their various switches.

Here is a photo of what the layout looks like right now. Yeah it's a mess I know, but I cannot work if I have to keep going back to look for something every time I need it. In other words, you should have seen this thing before I straightened it up! A couple of people have asked why I use regular household on/off switches instead of toggles. That one is easy to answer: MONEY! Those switches cost $0.47 apiece as opposed to $2.00 plus for those neat looking little toggles...a real no-brainer if ever there was one. 

So once again, I can look forward to laying out the main line toward the industrial sidings and suburban village  of Shiretown. From this point forward, I will be switching to Kato Unitrack as that part of the layout will be less accessible and I have come to realize that like the rest of the line, their track is just better. I only hope I have the good sense to finish something before I announce it as done!

Till then,

Happy N-scaling!