FYI: The train board is located in the middle of a den surrounded by computer furniture, plants, a sofa and chair, a coat rack, a laundry area, and lots of windows. It's a tight squeeze in this room, but it allows me to work on all sides of the layout. Adding a backdrop now would make no sense. I've retouched some images to remove the background clutter.

If you haven't already done so make sure to check out the other March photos located at the end of Gallery 5.

I put some rolling stock on the layout, ran some trains, and took some pictures. Even when using my shop lights there is no substitute for real sunlight when taking photos. Its been exceptionally rainy and gloomy lately making picture taking difficult. Here are a few shots featuring my new LL SW9/1200 w/DCC hauling some freight across the layout.

Below are a few shots from different locations around the layout.

The switchyard photo with the factory visible in front was shot with the camera lightly resting on the meat plant smokestack. I moved up and lightly rested it on the factory roof and it caved in. That shot actually came out - but this one was more interesting The roof has been fixed and is up to county code again.

The factory siding shot was actually over-exposed but after messing with it I almost got it to look 'wet' on those areas (like there's an early morning mist on the road from the fog). Its the way the weather has been around here lately. The addition of the trees really seemed to add a feel for the size of the buildings that my earlier shots from this view didn't have.

My latest loco addition was a Kato Alco RS-2. I added a Digitrax decoder and MT couplers. The RS-2 was the first Kato engine that absolutely required replacing its couplers. The Kato couplers eventually uncoupled (from whatever freight car was being hauled) when rolling around my 9 3/4" radius curves. Since I needed to do the RS-2 coupler change I also did a few InterMountain freight cars I had also.

Note: I also replaced the couplers on my MOW crane seen in Gallery 4 (in the F3 photo section) and ran it for the first time on the tree and line pole enhanced layout. It barely fits underneath the cantilever signal bridge behind the homes and requires the crane to be angled slightly to make the turns... but it still makes it around the layout. The line poles near the farm are actually the tightest squeeze along with the entrance to the center switchyard (which is tree lined).

Here are a few shots of some of the things I've been working on. Going way back to my initial construction phase I took the time to weather/paint some buildings and not others. I guess its human nature to want to push ahead and 'fix it later'. This is my 'fix it now' period. I started with the buildings that needed weathering: meat packing plant, RR switchyard tower, RR water tower, auto body shop, farm area structures, and others here and there. I removed all the Bachmann cars that were glued to there bases and all people that were on a base. The tow truck was so old it actually started cracking while repainting it. Now that it's not fastened down I can attach a car being towed that will be era dependant. I also decided to add weathering to the line poles.

I've included some comparison shots that are rollover images. Just move your mouse off the image to see an older similar photo of the area I modified. Move your mouse back over the image to see the current photo of the area.

I purchased an Atlas MOW track cleaning car and have been using it on my layout (even though its not designed for DCC) to clean things up. I was surprised by how much the car's vacuum actually picked up since I had vacuumed a week earlier with my floor unit.

I pulled out my detail figures (people, animals, etc) that I've collected over the last couple of years and began organizing them. (I'm a little leery about gluing things down permanently so I included a test shot.) I've got more stuff coming in also.

I've included a few shots of my Kato Alco RS-2 and of my new Kato EMD SD-40 (that I installed a Digitrax DN163K1a decoder in). Both of these engines are quiet as a whisper and smooth as silk in operation. I got a couple of Atlas 23,500 gallon tank cars recently. I really like these units and have ordered 6 more flavors. Kudos to Atlas... they are definitely my favorite tanks cars (modern or older)! The new Micro Trains 50' Gondolas Pittsburgh & Lake Erie with loads are nice also. These are both included in the next shots. Shots 3-5 are of the backside of the layout where I hope to add a backdrop one of these days. I weathered the bridges after adding ballast in between the ties on the bridges (something I hadn't done earlier).

Mid April additions:

I've started adding figures to scenes as well as continuing to tweak things here and there. I ended up using Woodland Scenics Accent glue (very minimally applied to the figures) to attach them. I also decided to break out my 'modern era' vehicles and rolling stock and run some trains for a while. As mentioned earlier I really like the Atlas 23,500 gal tank cars and have added more to my rolling stock inventory. I've been rolling my Union Pacific engines which include an Atlas SD-60, Kato RS-2, Kato SD-40 and a LifeLike SW9-1200. I've got a new Kato GE ACF4400CW on order which is due out in June/July sometime. I haven't seen a listing of what type of decoder it will require at this point. I did a lot of experimenting with my camera settings on these shots.

I pulled out a couple of white project boards my son has and started using them as a backdrops.

The next series of shots were all done using the macro mode of my camera and manual light, exposure, white balance, and sharpness settings with just my overhead fluorescent lighting one evening. You can see the barrel distortion effect the lens produced on some of the shots. These are definitely the closest shots I've attempted to date. I really like the last shot with the RS-2 and tank car (which is why its the new homepage picture).

Here at the Hwy 1 RR crossing UP 3039 and 1291 are parked temporarily allowing vehicular traffic to pass. The Coke truck driver has just finished making a delivery at Fairfield Junction and is waiting patiently to turn onto Hwy1 to finish his route.

On the next shots I again used indoor fluorescent lighting and manual exposure. I liked the light on the walkway of the front of the engine and shadows created in the shots. This is part of the beauty of this hobby since (for me especially) it allows you try your hand at so many things including photography.

On this series of shots UP 3039 passes the RR bridge over the stream on the extreme north end of the layout heading east. I added ballast to the bridges in between the ties (which is visible in the first shot). The last shot (a favorite) is of westbound freight at the town.

The more I tried experimenting with lighting and manual camera settings the more I've discovered the limitations and quirks with my trusty camera. I've come to the conclusion its time for an upgrade.

Well I did it. I bought a new digital camera. After doing a lot of web research I decided to purchase the newly released 8-megapixel Nikon CoolPix 8700. I guess I'm like a lot of people when it comes to cameras. I hoped to be able to pull it out the box and get pictures that would astound me. That's not what happened however. My high expectations were met with frustration. I was originally disappointed with the camera. The preset settings didn't yield the results I had hoped for. I really began to wonder if I blew it by buying such an expensive camera. After the initial smoke cleared I decided to dig deeper into all the features buried deep in the recesses of the extensive menus. Luckily I ordered a 1GB memory card which allowed me plenty of room to experiment with different shutter speeds, focal lengths, etc.. Finally I was able to get some pretty decent layout shots that were not possible with the Fuji. Here's a few shots featuring my modern day era ATSF fleet. Those Santa Fe silver and red warbonnet diesels have always been fun to photograph so here goes...

First 3 shots used the 'Macro' preset setting with my shop lights in action. You can see the shadows (which I was actually trying to include). The macro setting had a very limited 'in focus' area and the camera determined the shutter speed and F stop.

The next series of shots were done after I ran a battery of test shots to see what worked best with the camera to increase the total area in focus. Here I used only my overhead fluorescent lights with me controlling the ISO, F stop settings and letting the camera choose the shutter speed. I let the camera use its built in noise reduction since the shots required extremely long shutter speeds. The last layout shot used the landscape mode and shop lights. The problem I have now is trying to present the shots with the web space limitations. A single photo at the 'fine' resolution setting is larger in size than all 15 shots (and thumbnails) posted below.

Engines: Kato C44-9W Santa Fe #669, Atlas Dash 8-40BW Santa Fe #518, Kato SD70MAC BNSF #8802, Kato C30-7 AT & SF #8017

Mid May additions:

I managed to create an additional 4MB of space by optimizing the hundreds of thumbnail images. If they seem a little less sharp, well, that's the trade-off. This should also make the galleries load a lot faster for dial-up users.

One of the main things I had hoped to do was add some flower gardens to the homes section of the layout. These were quite a project and took some time to build. I'm pleased with the results though it turned out to be harder to do than I expected. The 'Backyard flower gardens*' shot seemed a good reference point for the gardens. It includes railroad tracks which help as a size barometer. The 'garden strips' were about half the width of a track and varied in lengths from 15mm up to 45mm on the one labeled 'Front yard flower garden 2'. I've also weathered the homes a little. My wife likes garden 3 the best (last shot). I've posted a tutorial on how I made them in my Q+A section.

The close-up shots show all the flaws in the buildings of course. Way back when I started my layout I couldn't imagine these shots were possible. I'm still amazed with the new camera resolution.

I've been busy adding details here and there... people, animals, garbage cans, fire hydrants, etc. to the home area of the layout. Here are a few shots. Yes, I know they need to wash those windows!

These will be the last 'modern era' shots for a while. Next on the menu are my 'transition era' inventory and rolling stock. Check out Gallery 7.

Photos on Gallery 6 tagged with an asterik * appear in the November / December 2004 issue of N Scale Magazine in my article 'Return to the Westbank'. The photo tagged ** was used on the cover