Current state of the Tintin 2001 layout

I've been doing some thinking and planning, although no work :-( , about the next step on this layout. The trickiest part might be the walls in the monolith pit as I'll need a lot of wall panels, and they could be tedious to construct. More thinking, more thinking :-)

A lecture by Kim Adams

I've been focused on books for so long I'd forgotten about video, so I decided to search YouTube for Kim Adams videos. I had some great luck and I found this excellent new/old one. It was posted around 10 months ago, so it's relatively new, but it's of a lecture Adams gave in 2010, so it's relatively old too.

It's long, around an hour and forty minutes, but if you've got the stamina, Adams himself will tell you a lot about his inspirations and work. Believe it or not, like any decent modeller, there's a lot of prototype inspiration. If you want to jump ahead to more model railway-like pieces, fast forward to around the 59:50 mark.

Summer school?

To get an idea of the box size, the table top measures 2' x 4'.
According to the box it's a Level 5 kit, and they aren't kidding :-)

I'm taking a little break from model railway things. In my modelling time this summer I'm learning how to use the airbrush I bought last winter, and am using it on this giant Revell kit of the space shuttle's launch tower Debra gave me in the spring.

I started the project by building and painting the crawler. The kit will be built up more-or-less box stock, with no extra detailing other than some paint enhancements. I've got a lot to learn painting-wise, but so far so good. 

10 Signs You're Having a Great Day at the Community Gardens

It's the long weekend. Take a break. Go for a walk. There's a private garden at one end of the community garden that borders the pedestrian path, and everyday, no matter what the season or weather, there's a new sign of encouragement to greet walkers and gardeners alike. This is a detail that will certainly need a place on the layout :-)

More, more, more hoppers!

Galen asked me in the last Havelock yard post if I could tell if any of the data markings on the HEAPZ hopper appeared to have been freshly painted over the graffiti. I took a few other photos of that hopper from some other angles so I thought I'd re-examine them for clues. I couldn't see any, and I was standing so far away in the grassy picnic area near the parking lot I couldn't make out any telltale signs.

But, after going through the photos again I thought I'd post some of the other black hoppers in the HEAPZ train.

I'd title that one up there Excedrin Headache #158.

These two ancient Boston & Maine hoppers weren't in the HEAPZ train, but I had to take their photos because there always seems to be B&M hoppers in the yard anytime I drive by, and I'm always surprised that these old things are still in service. If I ever finish my Havelock Yard micro there'll have to be some heavily weathered B&M hoppers on it.

Speaking of the past, a couple of weeks ago I went to see Steve Earle at Bluesfest, so I'll leave you with him while I figure out if this morning's coffee is too old to drink: