Safe and sound

On 4 August we received our household goods here in Bellevue, Nebraska after moving from Apex, NC (by order of the USAF). We've been working hard on unpacking 14,000 pounds' worth of stuff, so it was only Saturday (my 34th birthday, incidentally) that I was able to open and set up my layout.

Last weekend, before the stuff came, I painted up the basement walls a nice bright white. Previously it had been used as a girl's bedroom and was painted alternating stripes of pink, purple, and a very loud red. Much primer was needed.

True to expectations (and the last move) it emerged from its plywood crate completely unscathed! I built the crate out of 5/8" plywood and framed it with 1x and 2x stock. I've photo-documented the entire process from tear-down to crating to loading to unloading to setup. I plan to submit it as an article to the N scale press.

The first train to operate over the relocated Juniata Division was a 1980s-era mixed freight led by Conrail GP38-2 #8097. It was followed shortly thereafter by PRR H10sb-class 2-8-0 #8756 with a 1950's-era local. The next task is reconnecting all of the signal controllers and the sound system.I can't find my Bright Boy, yet trains are running perfectly smooth in DCC without a track cleaning in over 3 months; this makes me a firm believer in "the more feeders the better." I think I have a total of 13 feeder pairs on this tiny layout.