Good Morning All. 72° and clear. Only hit 94° yesterday, 2° short of the record. But the pool warmed up to 79° and I made use of it after 45 minutes on the tractor mowing part of the yard. I also know now that all of the window A/C's work well. A little late in posting today, as a nearby neighbor from about two miles away, stopped his truck to chat while I was out on my daily walk. A couple of coyotes passed across the road about 30 yards from us; I wish that they would come help with the remaining racoon. Trap was sprung last night without a captive, probably one of the cats climbing on top.
Forgot to update everyone on the train shed activities when I posted yesterday. Well the last two days have been pretty much identical. I am continuing to scenic the area that I call "small town business district phase II". Finished ballasting all of the main and passing siding that borders one side, added grass, brush, and rock to the ROW and in between the tracks. Painted parking stripes on the existing roadways and measured/marked a parking lot. In between, I am still dusting/inspecting freight cars to ensure trouble-free operation.
I posted a picture Thursday from the layout that had two houses in it, but I failed to identify them. The gray one on the left is "Drinkwater Place" from American Model Builders. The white one on the right is Albion House" from Branchline Trains. The small garage was scratchbuilt from leftover laser-cut sprues and other stuff from the "stuff" box.
Thanks for the comments on the additional museum photos,
Garry,
Chet,
Joe,
Curt,
Phil, and anyone else that I may have missed.
Garry - Enjoy your trip and have a safe one.
Phil - Belated Happy Anniversary. Stay dry.
Joe/Curt - No that racoon wasn't very happy at all, but it sure put the pedal to the metal when I opened the trap at his new home. I release alongside a creek in a wooded area that leads to many hundreds of acres of wilderness. Part of the property is an ATV park, but they cannot access the wooded area. There are numerous deer there as well.
Sam - Totally agree, but those boars make for some good eating when young and prepared right.
Sherrel - 793 miles in one day is really trucking! Must have been on those stretches of highway in West Texas with the astronomical speed limits. Continue to travel safely and don't rush just to get home.
Justin - I think that most of us started with that sacred 4' x 8' sheet. I did 35 years ago. Nothing wrong with it; yours looks to be operationally interesting. Regarding those structures in a box, when needed, most plastic structures can be disassembled, cleaned up, and reassembled into better structures. I have done that to a number of them that I got at an estate sale.
OK, now a few pictures of the garden RR at the Texas Transportation Museum. There's actually two, a small one shown in the first two pictures and a much larger "work in progress" one that covers over an acre, with room to expand. Unfortunately there were no members there to operate the trains the day we were there. This museum is an all-volunteer museum staffed by the various model and prototype (RR and cars mainly) clubs in the San Antonio area.
Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend. I'm off to the garden to pick peas.
Willie
