Michael's blog

It wasn't until I logged in that I realised how long it had been since I last checked the site. It's been a while!

So where the heck did Michael go?

It's been a perfect-storm of procrastination since the spring.

With the wee dog suitably chastised and the camera cable repaired, I figured I might as well post an image. As you can see the majority of the roadbed has been installed and I've started laying some track. Already I am infinitely happier with the look of the C55 track vs. the C80 offering. Likewise, it is easier to work with, with the exception of soldering - a light touch is needed to keep the ties from melting! It didn't take long to learn how quickly the rail heats up so the rest of the joins were perfect - the first one has a beauty mark...

It's amazing the havoc a little dog can cause...  Before people jump to conclusions and presume that our little critter destroyed the layout I'll put you mind at ease - no such thing happened.  However, the pup did manage to chew the small USB cable for the camera to bits, so I haven't been able to post any images - for some reason this has dampened my enthusiasm.

Progress has been slow of late - in an effort to keep the spirit alive I figured I better write something!

Alongside the regular day to day distractions  (work, family, house) I've run aground once again with the layout as I realize I need to do quite a bit of work ‘off' the layout before I can work ‘on' the layout.

So having canned the first incarnation of the WGR, I decided to start over - focusing on the area that first caught my eye - Windsor Yard.  I reviewed the photos and notes I had collected and decided that I would plan the new layout around this one element of the railroad and this is what I came up with.  Overall, I think this is a much better design.  While there are no specific industries to model, the prospect working a small yard and simulating the daily traffic is quite appealing.  I am much happier with the track:scenery ratio and there is only one grade to deal with - and that gr

No sir, I don't like it.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent the past year working on my Niagara Escarpment System – as small freelanced 2x4 layout set in south western Ontario. In this time I’ve learned a great deal building this, my first layout, and now better understand what I’m interested in, what my goals are, and what my next steps should be. I promised myself that I would ‘finish’ the NES, and I’ve

I finally finished the feed mill. I didn't bother to add any details or refine things too much - a bit of roof, quick coat of paint, touch of weathering and I've deemed this project done. I can TOTALLY understand how one could become infinitely obsessed with hyper detailing a structure - its fun!

I've spent the past few months whetting my scratch-building palette by designing/constructing half a dozen small residential structures.  I've been please with the results, and I'm starting to really enjoy the design/build process.  Anyway, I decided to challenge myself and try building a feedmill based on a picture I found on the Internet.  I spent one evening outlining the basic schematic, and the past two evening scoring, snapping and gluing. 

"Would you care to share those aspects of the hobby that you enjoy the most and those you still have to get used to?"

Claiming a layout is ‘done’ is rather bold, as the common mantra shared by modelers is that ‘a layout is never finished’. I’ve enjoyed building this little layout over the last year, and I’m happy with the results; encouraged by what I’ve learned. This is my first layout and I’m now excited about starting another, somewhat bigger layout based on the WHRC. I’m beginning to understand what aspects of the hobby I enjoy and what areas I’d like to pursue further, as well as those aspects that just don’t grab my interests (yet!). That being said, I will finish this layout.

I've always found that I'm most interested/motivated to 'play with trains' during the cold winter months - unfortunately this always seems to be the busiest time around the house.  Its taken me 2 weeks to make 6 trees!  (Which is pretty pathetic since each tree only takes 10 minutes to create...)  That being said, I did manage to settle on a technique for making trees that I was happy with so I posted it to my blog: Spruce Trees from Scrub Pads

I've been working with Photoshop in an attempt to create some decent asphalt shingles for my buildings (documented on my website).  I've finally got to a point where I'm reasonably happy with the results, so I figured I'd post a image of the work here, as well as provide a link to 2 pdfs with the shingle images ready for printing if anyone is interested in giving it a try.

I Thought I might as well jump into the blogging fray and add what I could – which at this point isn’t much! That being said, I’ve noticed that many readers, including myself, enjoy having the opportunity to see others members layouts in the ‘nude’ – not setup photography etc., just simple snapshots that help give a sense of the overall size etc. So, I spent 3 minutes last night and shot a few images. Privileged readers will note that I made no effort to clean my workspace, and I haven’t staged anything – with the exception of removing my coffee mug…