What did you do on your layout today?

Wow it has been a year since I started this thread!  I can't believe it is still going, and almost 1700 comments since the start!  I hope it inspires everyone to work on the layout whenever they can.  No I haven't committed my 10 minutes a day to working on the layout like I stated on the 1st comment but I would be no where near where I am on the layout today if you all didn't keep me motivated by your progress.  Lets keep it up in 2014 and see where our layouts are a year from today!

Replaces some IC Controls device with an SC-2, in hopes of being able to control some Hirth switches in a yard.

Hello everyone.  Yesterday I went to a couple of the big box stores.  and I was shocked at the prices of 14 gage thhn wire. I guess it hurts when it isn't free anymore. I used to be a Journeyman Technician for the I.B.E.W. It cost me $45.00 for a 500' roll, Well I picked up 2 rolls  and some mini clamps and a new wire striper. I guess It will take a few months or so for me to pick up some more wire.   Un less I talk to some friends and see what they have on hand for wire.   Scot  

Ran my MTH Southern Rwy 0-4-0 switcher on the layout New Year's Eve…first time it has been operated in several years or more.  I charged it up overnight the night before because the battery obviously had to be low, if not completely dead, but I added the engine to DCS and it operated flawlessly.  I still need to give it a bit of a lube job, even though it is not making any squeaking or other noises.  

This 0-4-0 remains one of my favorite engines even though Southern is no longer my preferred road name.  I love small motive power, steam or diesel, and it just looks "right" on a relatively small layout.

Next up, perhaps as early as this weekend, will be a couple of Southern 0-6-0s that I'm also very partial to.

Finally finished off my control center to handle all my accessories/switches and to turn on and off power to the tracks in my Roundhouse area.  I also added a small monitor and camera to view the roundhouse area from the control center.  I also stained the control center to match the wooden skirt I built to hide the storage space under my roundhouse and turntable.

-Pete

Very nice, Pete!  Has the look of fine furniture, along with a very neatly organized control panel.  Well done!  

Pete, beautiful looking cabinetry. Really highlights your layout.

Thank you, Alan and Brian......appreciate the compliment.

Class act Pete.

lol,,,,,,,,,, me and my grandson played with the trains!!!!! (after all they are his!), he's a special needs kid and really lights up with the trains

That's certainly a special memory. I see he's another who goes from 0 to fast in one fell swoop.

Eddie only know two speeds, off and haulin butt

My son Chris and I made further progress on the upper level of our layout, the Great Northeastern Railway, this afternoon and evening. We cut all of the track and roadbed for the three-track yard. The yard also has a stub track on which to store our MTH USRA 0-6-0 steam switcher at the ready to assemble trains as well as a TMCC controlled Lionel gantry crane that can, from its position, service four tracks. Thank you to Gar Graves for making the gantry crane track. The end of the siding that has the three storage tracks will terminate at a mirror on the wall to give the yard an appearance of being longer than it really is.

Happy New Year to all!!!

i spent several hours boxing cars i used for our modular group's christmas layout and putting them up at my house

we do not leave our trains at the layout overnight, and moving everything in their boxes is pretty time consuming

we had a good christmas, and at least for me, the modular layout is my opportunity

to "run large"

Reporting on your thread has sure gotten me going on our layout. It is a real motivator seeing what other forum members have done and, also, being able to share our progress.

Happy New Year!!!!

What a first-class job of finish work! It looks GREAT!!

Epoxy coated the basement floor a few days ago and today started some bench work along the wall.  Let my son use the power saw for the first time.  He did all of the screwing together as well.  Slow progress... but educational for him.

We are having fun together.

Ron

Ron  enjoy the time with your son. My son just turned 21 and hasn't shown any interest in trains since he was a little kid. I wish sometimes that I could have him back as the little guy I remember. So make those memories you will remember for a life time.    Scot 

Just putting some little details to the town and the mill. Put down a new Cadillac on Main Street we got from Cracker Barrel and glued some ads and a few accessories down that add to the eye candy aspect. Currently running our GG1 and Berkshire around.  

Though my son is now college-aged and in engineering school, we work together when he is home and have fun together also. That is one of the beautiful parts of model railroading.

Added a bald eagle.

That's awesome. Please post a picture of it from a distance, would be cool to try to find it.

I repaired a 1668E Pre war engine & now need to test run it on the layout!

next will be repairing the tender for the engine!

Wired switches yesterday.......and more of the same today.

Peter

Replaced another failed Z switch motor.  This one is about 2 years in place used regularly.

I'm running about 10% failure rate on them ... think it's about six gone bad out of 50 switch motors.

Lose about one a month now ... they just jam up, or skip a gear tooth, or .... just dead.  When I order another case of track I usually order four more switch motors and go through them about the same time I run out of track.

Dennis has been great about replacing them.

If I've 5 years use out of it when it fails, I don't ask for replacement.  If it fails within a year, I do ...

Another productive day....got all sidings wired, all switches wired so I can control with atlas switch machine or DCS handheld.  Made temporary platform so I can run trains where trestle bridge will eventually go.  Just for good measure I had to run some trains to make sure everything was working. 

Hey the making of a fine man someday.I have a feeling he is a whole lot smarter than you think.At the risk of sounding to mushy.I hope you and him operate trains for a long time to come.BTW happy newyear!!

Worked on track and did some soddering.And a bit of wire work trail run to find any dead spots.Also some work on gargreave track such as cuting.

No trains but some steam era workhorse vehicles....

From Santa, a 1930 Chevrolet 1-1/2 ton stake body truck modeling one of founder Grier Beam's early trucks used during the beginning of Carolina Freight Carriers[1:43]. Plus a model of a 1935 Mack Carolina Freight Carriers 10 wheel tractor and trailer[1:64].

Also, a daughter-in-law suprised me with a 1934 Ford stake body truck from Rusty Rails.

I grew weeds...

Took down the Christmas layout and put it all back in the closet. Sad to see it go because that means I'll be without a layout for awhile.

For the mountain I am building, I will put on of my Lionel Turbines there. I would like the final look to be like the real pic below. Still need to tweak the pic. I also want to have a rock side face to it. 

Evaluating all the pending projects; thinking about gathering all the rolling stock together in the big yard and covering it with some plastic sheeting for a couple of months while I undertake getting my antique Z car running again.   It's about a month of dedicated work, so I probably won't be doing any "training" until I get that done.

Last year I put it off and lost the chance to drive it once again.

Layout work is looking more and more like a winter only task to me these days ... summertime is too nice to spend in a basement room ....

Opps. forgot to add the parking area. 

My son Chris and I spent about four hours on the top level of the Great Northeastern Railway replacing questionable lionel switches, leveling track in between test runs as well as wiring track power drops and switches in the new yard area. It was tedious but we had a great time.