Holding pattern.

So if you haven't noticed the activity on the blog and Facebook page effectively came to a screaching halt this last month.  In fact this could be one of the lightest months for activity since the launch of the Facebook page and revamp of the blog.  While I had anticipated a slow down last month due to being on vacation, I did not anticipate losing almost the whole month.  In fact apparently I cant read a calendar because I scheduled myself another week off just two weeks later.

While some projects continued on, the time I did lose was the time I use to write the blog. While I did get some writing done on a last minute trip to Seattle, I was only able to get one post 95 percent completed during the two flights I took.  Usually I can complete two posts per flight, but the subject matter (layout operations) required more thought than most of my blog posts require. 

It was upon finishing the post after returning to Arizona that I realized that I had intended that post to be the first in a series and that I wanted to post the series without other posts in between. This requires that I sit down and write all the other posts in the series. To give you a sneak peak as to the topic of the series it is an example of operations on the YPG Lines Million Dollar track plan.

The first post was a virtual cab ride eastbound over the layout. This is the post I completed and hopefully the other posts move through the creative process faster. Other topics in the series are a westbound trip, Amtrak #1 and #2 The Sunset Limited, Somerton Branch operations and helper operations on Beaumont Hill. As you can see this is a very in depth topic but I hope it will be worth the wait.

I also recently had some projects land on my work bench and although the test track and car upgrades will be back burnered for a little bit there will be several other projects that we can discuss.

First I have taken on the task of building two structures for the model railroad club and I will discuss these in depth later.  The first kit is the Walthers overhead traveling crane which I am pretty much building per the instructions. The second is the Walthers New River Mining Company which I plan on modifying slightly. The two kits will be combined with a preexisting  Walthers Glacier Sand and Gravel Company and possibly some scratchbuilt structures to make a iron/taconite mine and load out.

Second my order of Freight Crates from Fast Tracks showed up so I will be building these and sharing my experiences and how well they do or dont go together or work for freight car storage. I had planned to upgrade the blue box kit cars that will go in the freight crates as I put them in storage but the upgrade possibly will have to wait for additional parts and resources as currently finishing the structures for the club has top priority.

On the bright side the trip to Washington allowed me to look through my dad's book collection and look at his layout for inspiration. Anyway sometimes on a long journey we have to take a detour to get where we are going, and other times we just have to wait at the flagger for permission to proceed.