York is a show I certainly miss going to. I used to have many reasons to go to York. My part time employer exhibited there, I had TCA national business to attend to, and I had lots of friends and family in the area. All of that has changed at this point in my life. Yes, I still have some family to visit there, but otherwise it is a tough journey to make with my other current life commitments. For me York was never about the trains, it was about the people and there are a great deal of people I have met in my TCA journey I miss seeing at York. On a somber note, I mostly miss visiting with Bob Heil. Like many things in life, I didn't nearly make as much time as I could have to visit when he was still with us as that was a huge part of my York routine.
In the meantime, during the first weekend below 100 in a LONG time in the central AZ deserts, I was able to photograph some new acquisitions. York or not, I am certainly still the collector of all things mundane. In this case, it is Precision Scale Brass cars.
First up a PRR X-29 boxcar. What I love about this specific design is that it represents the PRR so well in that over 30,000 were built and then rebuilt and rebuilt again. At the same time this scales out pretty close to a Lionel 6464 just to point out that not all boxcars are the same size. This one represents an as-built design from 1924-1948. Several lasted on the system never to be rebuilt. Overall, I have way too many boxcars in my collection, yet at the same time not nearly enough of these. They ran in every imaginable kind of service including on the head end of passenger trains and M&E trains. Oddly, this is the first true PRR one I've added to my collection. As usual, photographed in my back yard where it didn't get above 77 today. Brrrrr..... 
On the PSC model, I love the cut lever. Just something different than we are used to seeing in our models.
My other recent acquisition is this variation on the ubiquitous P70 coach that PRR built well over 1000 of. This is a PC70bR which in English translates to passenger cafe, 70' main compartment, 4-wheel trucks, rebuilt. A floor plan link is here. I have a more nicely painted example already in my collection, but this came at half the cost and the weathered look fits in with my modeling era pretty well. I am daydreaming of Jersey Shore commuters enjoying an omelet on the way to the city in the mid 1950's or some fresh oysters and a few Manhattans on the way home in the evening in car like this. At the same time, while I have been trying not to get into PRR long distance trains, the number of 12-1 and 8-1-2 Pullmans I currently have would say I have not been successful in that venture so this car could also serve on a less than secondary long-distance train from the same period. We won't mention that a K-line "Huron Rapids" 10-6 came up at a steal and that is on its way to me too ....... Since it also seems I am doomed to one day only modeling Sunnyside, Penn Station, Liberty Terminal, and Union Station Chicago with a few feet of track between each, if nothing else it nicely fills out three of those four locations.
, about a year and a half ago I made a change to my corners of the layout and while tilling I came across a flat rock, would have to say it's from sand stone, drilled a hole in it then added a clear bulb then painted red/yellow then added some small branches that were cut to size and I did add small stones just as if you were camping, (I didn't have any bulbs that flicker) now you are going to go out and buy a Husky, and the smoke is fur from Sitka are female Husky from shedding or just pluck what you need
I did a couple fire pits like that around the layout. Also her hair works out pretty good for chimneys, by the way your fire pit looks good. God Speed
