Electric Boogie

"Come let me take you on a party ride, And I'll teach you the electric slide" -Marcia Griffiths- One of the least visible, but hopefully most-effective changes I've made between the construction of my former IAIS Grimes Line and The Hills Line has been in my approach to wiring the layout. Towards the end of … Continue reading Electric Boogie

The Golden IDC

I don't use spikes, so this will have to suffice. 18 months after the IAIS Grimes Line was dismantled and our basement reconstructed, and a year after the first piece of Ikea Ivar shelving arrived to serve as the base for the new benchwork, track is fully installed and wired on The Hills Line. The … Continue reading The Golden IDC

Gandy Dancing: Flex Track

What is it about laying track that causes us to pull out every tool we own to get the job done? I have no doubt that the visual carnage currently present on top of my layout has been repeated in countless basements time and time again. Despite the feeling that a small bomb has been … Continue reading Gandy Dancing: Flex Track

Gandy Dancing: Turnouts

There's something cathartic about the sound of a UPS Truck idling in front of your home, followed closely by the resounding THUMP of a heavily-loaded parcel landing on your front porch. Especially when you've been anticipating its arrival. After several months of room prep, benchwork construction, backdrop painting, and fascia installation, it's finally time to … Continue reading Gandy Dancing: Turnouts