Layout Construction – January 2009

Gotta Run Some Trains
With a new DCC system waiting to be tested, I proceeded with getting track down as soon as possible. These photos show the progress so far.

 

Here is a short video of the first test run of the new track.

I also took sometime to begin working on the large bridge at middle of the layout. Click here to view the blog entry where I discussed the bridge.

 

Loot Day – December 25, 2009

Santa Really Does Exist
Actually that should be Christmas Day, but I always look forward to the “loot” I receive for the railroad.

The year was really good! My wonderful family got together and purchased a NCE PowerCab for the layout. They just let me borrow it.

The NCE PowerCab is a digital command control (DCC) station to run trains with. Each locomotive on the layout has a decoder added to the motor to control it. The command station sends a signal to the locomotive to do various things like going forward, backward, speed up, slow down, turn on the head light and other things.

I should have been a hand model.

I also received a new addition to my Lego train collection. Always a fun way to spend Christmas day building a new Lego piece.

Other loot that I received included a scale truck for the upcoming farm scene, track laying tools, weathering powders for structures and rolling stock and gift certificate to a local hobby shop. Thanks family for keeping my addiction going.

Layout Construction – December 2009

December was a busy month with my Mom’s funeral and Christmas. My mom’s burial in Lewistown gave me a chance to see parts of the Northern Line of the Milwaukee.


This is a view of the Lewistown depot around 1940. The depot was closed after the last passenger train ran in August of 1955. The depot was purchased by the Lewistown Community Hotel Company in 1963 and renovated to become part of the Yogo Inn. The depot was constructed in 1913 as part of the expansion of the Milwaukee Road into northern Montana. A 137 miles of track was laid to Great Falls in 1914.
The time frame I am modeling of the Northern Montana line, the depot should be the Yogo Inn. This structure has so much interesting detail, I will be modeling it as a depot. The opportunity to be in Lewistown gave me the chance to photograph the detail not visible on the photo above. Her are some of the photos I captured of the detail.

 


 
This my interpretation of the depot I will be building. The structure will be shorten to fit the layout better as the original structure is too large.

In Remembrance of Bette Luther – November 25, 2009

Sadly one of my best friends past away just before Thanksgiving day. My mother was one of my greatest supporters in my life. Always encouraging my brother and I to do our best. Here is an excerpt from here obituary.

Bette June Luther, formerly of Great Falls passed away on Nov. 25, 2009 at Vintage Suites in Billings from complications caused by Alzheimer's . She was born on Feb. 6, 1930 near Martinsdale, MT to Oliver and Jeannie (Dalgarno) Feeback. She attended elementary school in Martinsdale and graduated from White Sulphur Springs High School in 1948. In 1949 she married Donald Luther in Moore, MT. They lived in Livingston briefly before moving to Great Falls where she lived most of her life. In 2007, she moved to Billings to be closer to family.

I would encourage memorial donations that can be made on her behalf to the Alzheimer's Association, 3010 11th Ave. No., Billings, MT 59101 or Rocky Mountain Hospice, 2110 Overland Ave., Suite 111; Billings, MT 59102.

She will be greatly missed by all!