The eagle has landed

A pair of eagles, to be known as Joe and Evelyn, have set up residence on Howard Mountain and are watching over their two eaglets.

The nest is the fine modeling of Jim Adkins of Orrville, Ohio (home of Smucker's Fine Jams and Jellies). Jim is an outstanding modeler of miniatures in already small scenes, such as the tools on a workbench in an HO scale garage, etc. The tree is a Scenic Express Super Tree.

Helix progress, harbor added

The helix cover is about done. All that remains are some trees, foliage and ground cover. I will do that within the next couple of weeks.

I purchased a small harbor from the late Bob Weinman's railroad. Bob was an exquisite modeler, and loved water scenes. The large harbor on his model railroad was taken out intact for his wife Libby. My intended use for this harbor is that coal/coke will be brought in by barge for the steel mill that will occupy the entire 16-feet long peninsula stretching out behind it. Bob scratch built the barges; the tow boat is a kit.

Paducah scenes revisited

These photos appeared in a post on a previous blog, but I'm reposting so you don't have to go back and forth to see the finished pieces of the railroad. The three hotels pictured here are not prototypical to Paducah; however, the names are authentic to that western Kentucky city.

Left to right are the Hotel Paducah, the Irvin Cobb Hotel, and the Jackson House. The park in front is Noble Park, also a name authentic to Paducah.

Another view of the hotels, the street in front, and a fourth building housing a business yet to be named.

This is the Freytag Engine Shop, in my mind the signature structure on the layout. It was built by the late Dean Freytag, MMR, specifically for the P&LE, and is thought to be the last major project by the iconic modeler.

The Tortoise and SwitchMaster turnout motors on the P&LE are controlled by IntuiSwitches, developed by Shelly Levy of the Kansas City area. They are push button and lighted route switches, and my primary reason for using them is they are flush mounted. The upper photo shows a custom-made yard panel; the lower photo is of two individual machines.

Slowly, but surely ...

Slowly, but surely, we're getting the helix covered. This provides an idea of what it will look like when completed. 

When completed, the tree line at the upper left will be blended into the rest of the scenery, and the tunnel portal will be finished. Obviously, the top third of the covering still has to be finished, as well. I awoke with a start in the middle of the night ... "did we ever check tunnel portals to assure double stacks would clear?" They will! Whew!