New Power

With the room walls and floor freshly painted, it's time to start thinking about bringing the new concept to reality. As I outlined in my first post in this blog, I plan to have three engines. Two are RS-3s, that I am bringing from the previous model railroad, but the third, and primary power, is steam. To that end, I purchased a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 "Consolidation", complete with a sound decoder. The 2-8-0 is what the Winston Salem Southbound - the road that's serving as the inspiration for Paducah Switching - used until 1958, three years after the year in which I'm setting this layout.

One last look at the "empty" room. This time, with the walls and floor freshly painted. I'll have to continue the "blue sky" down to the new height of the layout, now about 30", which will allow me to roll around on an office chair to work and operate the railroad.

Railroad Room Gets Facelift

With the old out, and before the new comes in, it seems like a good time to give the room a facelift. To that end a painter, Jay, is here today to repaint all walls white, except for the blue sky above  the reconfigured layout, and the floor. With the help of wife Sue, the room is ready for the update.

The painting of the sky becomes my job after Jay is finished. I have vowed, that on this layout (my fourth), I will do it right this time, i.e., all the preparatory work first such as painting the room and bench work, organizing the workbench and model-building space, etc., instead of rushing headlong into laying track and running wire just to get something running as soon as I can. I know, a novel concept, but what can I say.