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"Incredible Stuff" absolute monster equipment - and just look at those sleepers (ties) in the last shot
Barney

Please post a video when you fire the canon. And remember to fire it outdoors to avoid blowing up your house! -- Russ

What an enjoyable and productive trip. Your daughter must be very patient or else she inherited your modeling genes. Either way you're lucky. -- Russ

Even without the final tweaks, it certainly looks adequate. Prepare yourself for a lot of compliments. -- Russ

Two more pics of the latest scenic work.

It's that time of year where a show looms and progress (or lack of) becomes obvious.  A lot has happened on the layout in the last year, though this will not be especially obvious to the viewer.  Progress is mostly in terms of stock development and practical matters, but I have moved the scenic work forward a bit as well.

Almost all of my stuff is currently 90%.  That's because it's a work in progress, so not much is actually finished and will get final detail and weathering once the scenic work is fully done.

The bush here represents around 30 years of regeneration as the slope below the line was cleared in construction. There are a lot of trees in these images!

The ballast is still entirely too pristine and there is a spilt coal still to spread around, but it does convey the feeling of the place (to me anyway).

The next week or so will be spent tuning couplers and tweaking stock as it's a shunting layout and we aim for 100% hands free. The extra stock and extended fiddle yard should enable us to run a more realistic timetable this year. Sadly not all wagons will be entirely correct as Kevin's veracity campaign was not fully worked it's way through the roster yet.

Overall though things are moving ahead.  Research is largely done. Kit development for the hoppers and highsiders is all done and quite a few are built. All of the passenger cars are built, although only 3 of 8 are finished.  3 locomotives are done, and kits for the rest are developed with parts on hand. There is still plenty to do, but almost all hurdles have been surmounted. Not that there are not challenges, but they are comfortable ones.

Research is half the fun of modelling!

Next stop: the Ashtabula Maritime and Surface Transportation Museum in Ashtabula, Ohio. There is a bucket on display there, which we also measured and photographed. With full commitment, as you can see.



The last stop was the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society in North East, PA. A shunt locomotive that was formerly used on Whiskey Island is on display there. Here, too, we measured and took photos.



With that, the work was done and the vacation could begin. We were able to relax for a few days in Niagara Falls and Toronto.

It was a truly unforgettable trip. We got to meet some extremely nice and helpful people and gathered a lot of interesting information for my project. I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone for that. Of course, special thanks also go to my daughter. Her language skills were a valuable asset in our conversations. And she accompanied her nerdy father everywhere without complaining, even though it may not always have been that interesting for a non-technician.

I will now spend the next few days processing the information I have gathered and using it to complete my design.

Bernhard

This isn't directly related to model building, but I'd like to tell you about my nearly three-week "study trip" to the USA. I was traveling with our older daughter. The trip took us from Chicago via Terre Haute, Bowling Green, Cleveland and Niagara Falls to Toronto.

First, we spent a few days in Chicago. I live in a small village with 350 inhabitants. The houses here are no more than three levels high. So, the city was quite impressive. Especially when you consider that Lake Michigan is larger than Switzerland in terms of area.

Our first visit was to Tim Murphy. He was fortunate enough to be able to enter the factory premises twice and take photos during the scrapping of the last two machines on Whiskey Island. He was also able to remove and take some original parts with him. I have already reported on this erlier. We had a great time together.



Then we visited the library at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Archivist Mark Sprang had already digitized many original drawings for me. Now we had the opportunity to meet him in person and browse through the collection. Mark digitized some interesting documents for us right there on the spot. It was a very inspiring day.



The next meeting was with Mike Pascucci. He is designing a digital model of a Hulett based on the original drawings from Bowling Green. In doing so, he is meticulously tracing every single part on a scale of 1:1. What a job! We had a very interesting exchange of ideas.



Then we visited Northern Ohio Scrap Service Corporation in Euclid, Ohio. The company scrapped the last two machines on Whiskey Island in early 2024. They keep a bucket with a piece of the leg on their premises. It was really impressive to stand in front of this gigantic thing. It looks a bit bizarre with its caterpillar tracks. But these were only fitted to make it easier to move the thing. We were given a very friendly welcome by the owners of the scrap yard and were able to measure and photograph the bucket extensively.
The bucket is to be installed at the entrance to the company premises in the near future.



Henry Brooks, a former foreman who was responsible for the Huletts' operations in Conneaut, Ohio, accompanied us on the visit. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to speak with a contemporary witness.

Ok, the gun is fished, ammunition is also available. So I am ready for a first test-shots!





Seriously now! Designing any subject in a CAD program is only one part of the whole task. Each part has to be re-thought as a kit part. Wall thickness, printability and assembling had been a huge problem for me at the beginning, but with increasing experience it becomes much easier.
And if I am uncertain, I create a «plan B» right from the beginning. Changings later on are always more labour intensive. That's why I made two cradles , a complete and a half shell one.