TheBanyanTree: Train Gang

[Rob McMonigal]

Thanks to some shopping at the train show with Dad yesterday morning
before the meeting up with Mom, I managed to acquire the things I
needed to really get my train platform rolling--namely transformers.

While not cheap, they are an essential part of the deal, and since I
have plenty of space thanks to using n-scale, I can now run up to 5
trains at once and the platform doesn't even look crowded. I even have
a trolley set up now, which I've always wanted.

There are problems right now, of course--the layout is completely flat
and therefore is not very pleasing to the eye, although five trains
running at once--a new high for me, I don't think I've ever operated
more than three in the past--is pretty damned cool, especially when I
stop to think about how this is only one small part of my attic I'm
using at this time, and therefore, running an entire fleet of trains
once time and money permit is not out of the question.

My next step is to start getting my scenery together--I have a lot of
housing to paint and build in the evenings and I should probably start
on trees. I also want to get some grass down and start to think about
where I want to elevate in order to give the platform some better
looks. I have an idea about what to do with my city, though I'm not
sure if I want to elevate both sides of the platform or just a part of
the city half. We shall see.

There's also the matter of getting the track I want to put together
the loops I want. At the moment, I've just been using whatever Kato
track I have handy, which is fine but today I definitely could have
used some shorter straight track and I got lucky on having just the
right size radii to keep the loops inside one another. (When dad sees
it, he will immediately dislike the number of loops. I'm not entirely
sure I agree, but when you can't do levels yet, loops are the best you
can manage.)

Oh yeah, and a new fan for upstairs, too. Heat rises and all that.

All in all, I'm quite happy with my progress, and while I don't expect
to do a lot between now and fall (when there's less daylight and more
cold, so I'm inside more), I'm glad that I have all the basics ready
to start working on the platform in earnest.

As I told Dad, in twenty years, this whole attic platform thing is
going to look pretty good. :)

-Rob
http://trebro.livejournal.com