North end: BRP

When we went to Graveyard Fields a couple of weeks ago, Libby pointed out that there was a section of the Parkway on which we had never traveled: the northern-most section, from the NC-VA border to Blowing Rock. Not only that, but in all our years in Richmond, we had never traveled the southern-most section of the Parkway in VA either. We decided to set that as a goal for sometime in the near future. On Thanksgiving Day, the opportunity presented itself. Since our guests were not coming until Friday, and because we didn't want to do two big meals, we decided to spend the day traveling.

We went to Statesville, and then north on I-77 through Elkin into Virginia. We got on the Parkway there, and went north about 20 miles to Mabray's Mill. It was deserted, it being a holiday and all, but what we missed in terms of closed buildings was made up for in terms of having the place to ourselves. One of the boys (Calvin) even managed to get wet!

Back in the car, south on the Parkway back into NC. We were able to lay claim to visiting a couple of NC's one hundred counties we had never before been through. There were some nice overlooks on the Parkway, and the day being remarkably clear, we could see all the way east to Hanging Rock and other sites. The music center was closed, but we made the most of Doughton Park. By that point we had enjoyed our fill. We got off the Parkway at NC-18 and traveled through North Wilkesboro, Wilkesboro and Lenoir, before finally wending our way around Morganton and home. Not a bad way to spend the day, and far superior to lying about watching TV and playing computer games.

Sadly, we didn't quite "finish up" our traverse of the Parkway. There remain about 40 miles between NC-18 and Blowing Rock that we have not seen before. Maybe at Christmas-time...

Graveyard Fields

We took a jaunt this afternoon down the Parkway to Graveyard Fields. Apparently there was a fire in the area years ago and plantlife has never fully recovered in this small area: nearly no trees.  We had heard others talk about visiting here, but had not gotten around to it until today. The weather was great: a nice warm front had raised temps throughout the area, including the upper elevations on the Parkway.

This area is on a river, with a couple of nice falls, and plenty of places to crawl around. There is a longer trail that explores area away from the river, and another that links up with the Mountain to Sea Trail. We went for the immediate gratification near the water. It was an easy walk to the lower falls. In warmer weather it might be possible to splash around in the pool at the bottom. We also walked around a bit, trying to not disturb the fishers. It was about an hour to get there using the Parkway as our main  route.

Mountain Farm trip

On a whim we set off for Mountain Farm in Burnsville last weekend. I had seen their ad in Mountain Xpress and was intrigued. The ad said they were open throughout the week, with a seeming open invitiation. Plenty of local small farms in the region are open on special ocassions (and for a price), but this was the first that seemed to offer a blanket invitation to visit for free. It was in the area near Celo, a small land trust community, so there was that added incentive to visit the area.

We had a very nice time. We were welcomed by the very nice owner, and the elderly dog. They had baby goats, lots of chickens, two cats, lots of mature goats, some alpacas, a donkey, and Lord-only- knows-what-all else. They had a nice retail shop using products/ingredients from the farm: yarn, soaps, teas, eggs. They have a big lavender garden plus blueberries. It being early fall, we missed a lot of what most folks would have prefered to encounter, but for us it was a pleasant visit nonetheless.

Come to find out the owner is also a nurse (her husband, an MD). Libby got to chat her up about home birthing and natural childbirth, etc. I walked the boys down to the pond.  They had two very cool wind turbines on the farm; I didn't get a chance to ask how much electricity they provided.

We'll be going back, for sure.

No more Scouting

Our family made a tough decision this fall: no more Scouting.  If it had been solely my decision, I probably would have gone the other way.  But Libby has been feeling ambivalent about Scouting for some time. The policy decision this summer by the national organization forced our hand.

The Boy Scouts of America this summer decided to formally reiterate its ban against participation in Scouting by homosexual persons.  It had been policy before, but various troops and other organizations were able to turn a blind eye or deaf ear as needed. The decision this summer forcibly called the hand of the whole organization. It was a decision with which our family disagrees.

Much like the fact of “gays in the military,” homosexuals have been participating in Scouting for ages, as youth participants and leaders (men and women). Scouting is not an explicitly Christian organization but religious values, and more directly conservative Christian values pervade Scouting culture, abiding hand-in-hand with a strong patriotic value system. Though my experience in Scouting was usually in the context of units that were more conservative than my personal views, I managed to dodge the worst expressions of such and focus on the traditional, core Scouting values and instructional content. More recently I had been able to help my two older boys to do the same.  Earlier, in Richmond, we were fortunate to be part of a unit that, while sponsored by a church, was not overtly dogmatic in its leadership and focused more on the traditional content of Scouting than on indoctrinating participants with (conservative) Christian values.  Our unit in Black Mountain was sponsored by a conservative church and meetings opened with prayer (“…in Jesus’ name…”) as well as the Scout oath and promise.

After the decision was publicized this summer, I read several stories online of Scouts who were severing their ties with the organization, and in extreme cases, returning Scouting’s highest award, their Eagle rank.  Too, I read of plenty of folks who heartily concurred with the decision. I had hoped we might be able to sidestep the issue and let Scouting be for our boys about knots, campfires and safety. But upon honest reflection we knew the core beliefs we wished to instill in our boys were compromised by the decision and we needed to take a stand in order to model and live out what we talk about at home.

So, no Scout meetings this fall.  No popcorn sales.  No merit badges nor beads.  We’ll try to do some camping.  I think what I’ll miss most is the “village” of men and women (with some of whom I disagreed on important issues, but for whom I was extremely thankful and respectful) helping to raise my boys. I feel my job is to be a parent, loving, stern, didactic and strict. The boys, through Scouting, got to meet and work with other men and women who could be their pals. It was a pretty good set-up for us all. Truth be told we’re not missing juggling meetings and other events.  And I don’t think it’s quite dawned on Eli and Briggs what we have done.  So it’s probably hardest on me at the moment. The decision is made, but we’re (maybe I’m) still wrestling with the fallout in greater or lesser ways.

Creeper, redux

Today, as part of the last hurrah of summer, I took Eli and Briggs back to the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's a rail roadbed that's been converted into a biking/hiking trail. We went back in April with Scouts, but that was a cold and rainy day. Today we had much better weather. The boys had a nice time. We sprang for shuttle service to the top of the trail ($40), but it was worth it in terms of no-hassle. Back in April we saw this pool in the river that tracks the trail, but it was way too cold to go near it. Briggs had no such worries today.

Briggs says, "I slipped and fell in, honest!"  "Accidentally-on-purpose," no doubt!

Roanoke, VA

Buncombe County schools have this thing about beginning the school year with a two-day week.  Three last days of summer vacation, then school begins on a Thursday.  This irks me no end, but this year we did something about it.

I took Briggs and Calvin to Roanoke, VA for an overnight trip.  We saw the star on Mill Mountain and the Virginia Transportation Museum.  Libby, Eli and I had been there several years ago, but it's been a while.  A hurricane in 2006 trashed the aviation wing at the museum, but we were able to see the cars, model trains and ALL the vehicles outside.

Everything was a big hit.  From climbing on the pseudo-rocks at the mountain park, to everything at the museum.  It was a great way to end up summer.

The oven saga of 2012

It started Easter Day this year.  I had put a turkey breast in the oven on timed cook, to do its thing while we were at church.  When we came home, the clock on the oven was flashing, and the temperature inside was not nearly what it should have been.  A simple push of the clock button got things going again.  But lunch was delayed.  I didn’t think too much about it, until it happened again a few days later.  There was no discernible pattern to when the oven would shut off.  But we could tell when it happened by a flashing clock.

Finally in late-May it did this one last time, but when I pushed the button to restart everything, it didn’t work. (The re-start technique worked about 30 minutes later.) But I figured it was time to tease out what was going on.  I called the folks who had helped with our appliances before, but the technician said it would be best to call Sears, because of the brand of the oven, Kenmore.  They made things tough for independent repair people to do their job on their machines, he said, and it would be easier for me just to deal with them.  A&E (whom I now know is a front for Sears) was willing to come right away, but tried to pressure me into a $270 “contract” that would provide for either fixing the oven or giving us $500 toward a new oven.  I hemmed and hawed, opted out of that, in favor of a flat fee for the service call.  I got off that call. But then thought better of it.  I called them back, got the contract and got (by all good and holy things) the same service appointment for that afternoon.  The technician did comment that he was puzzled by the series of notes he had received about the call prior to his arrival.  But he diagnosed a faulty control panel, which was itself $250.  That plus the cost of the service call, plus whatever follow-up was going to be needed, would be covered by my contract.  I thought I was safe in my smugness!

He ordered parts and they arrived.  A different technician arrived (you may have seen my status update about begin the guy’s first call of the morning), who worked hard but announced that the sent parts would not work.  He ordered different parts and left.  The new set of parts arrived; the second technician came back and concluded that these were again the wrong parts.  He fussed with his parts representative (much the way I might have sounded at this point). He even spoke to a supervisor!  They decided the correct parts were no longer available.  The tech suggested filing under the provisions of our home warranty policy, noting that Sears would refund the contract price since the oven couldn’t be fixed or replaced satisfactorily.  I called Cross Country; they wanted to send a technician to confirm that the oven was indeed caput.  It was the same guy who had already been twice before!  He didn’t even come in the third time, filing his report from his van.  He requested a huge list of parts, which he said would punt the problem into a “replacement” issue instead of a repair job under the terms of the warranty.  But no: Cross Country wanted to attempt the repair, even though the tech had explained that the replacement parts he was requesting were not available. So more parts came, four boxes worth, and I talked with the repair folks at A&E again about sending someone to fix the old oven.  They however had very clear notes from the tech that the oven could not be repaired, because the correct parts were no longer available.  They spoke with the warranty people and finally convinced them of the same.  The warranty folks then offered us two choices:  to put in a specific make and model (a nice GE that retails for $1200) for free or else give us $504 (exactly) to purchase the model we would prefer.  Since I already knew ovens started at around $800, I knew I was kind of stuck with the oven they wanted to give us.  I hesitated about the thing fitting into the existing opening, but the warranty folks assured me that the technician had provided exact specifications; but, they said, if it didn’t fit, it would be my fault and I would have to pay to have the replacement oven returned.  So I took a day or so measuring and researching the size specifications ad nauseum.  Ultimately I was convinced we would be okay.  We ordered the replacement.

I should say that through all of this the oven usually worked okay.  Very often though it would click off, especially if I was running it for a relatively long time, or at anything over 375 degrees.  And even if it clicked off, it was easy enough to restart generally.  It would have been a whole lot worse if the thing was not working at all.  But I did have to adapt my meal planning for the duration.

The replacement oven arrived in Greenville SC and I got a call saying they wanted to deliver it on Monday afternoon and that the driver would call 30 minutes before he arrived.  He called when he was sitting in front of the house (I was at work).  The nice lady working to phones at church said, “Well if it’s a package, just bring it to Mike here at his office.”  The driver didn’t explain it was an OVEN!  He arrived at the church and tried (yes, he tried) to deliver it to my office. I asked him to just drive back to the house and we could be done.  I asked him why he hadn’t called 30 minutes earlier to avoid this problem, to which he had no answer.  But he said he could not in any circumstance return to the house (a mile away).  So I had to reschedule the delivery for the next Monday, the only day of the week they came to this area.  No call or anything from the delivery folks ahead of the day; I called Monday asking about the plan for delivery and was told because I had not confirmed the date, it was not coming!  I yelled at three different people for all I was worth to no avail.  It would be another week.  Finally it arrived and the thing was placed in the entry hall. (The delivery guy managed to look a little sheepish when he was here.)  In the midst of this portion of the saga, I called the warranty folks a couple of times to fuss about their delivery service provider and was told they would speak to them and see if there was anything to be done to get a special delivery arranged, but that never happened over the two week delivery delay.

Once the new oven was sitting in the house, I then had to contact the warranty people to schedule installation.  After four days, I finally had the name of the firm they wanted to use.  They said, “Call them and set your appointment.”  I asked, “You have communicated to them to expect me?” “Yes,” I was told.  You guessed it: the install company had no idea who I was.  That took two days to straighten out.  Then the only day they could get to it was 6 days hence, today, August  1, a little more than two months since I began trying to get the oven repaired or replaced.  The nice thing is, the new oven slid into the opening like a glove.  One of the other nice moments was the warranty firm waiving their initial tech call fee because I had already had a company come out and do some diagnosis.  Sears did ultimately refund my $270 for the contract because they were not able to repair or replaced the oven satisfactorily, but that took two phone calls. (Oh, they wanted, at one point, to take the old oven into their shop to see if they could fix it, leaving me without an oven at all for at least two weeks.  I declined that gracious offer.)

Tonight I used the new oven for the first time, serving up my version of chicken divan, which is always a big hit.  Guess it finally turned out okay, but man, what a saga.

Photos: up top: install this morning; below: dinner, before and after.

Orange

Libby's goal this year was to have "orange" in the garden, so herewith, orange...

 These little moss roses are tucked amongst the peonies and other plants in the front garden.

  

This milk weed-related plant variety was one of the "big" purchases this year.

 

The day lilies have been here since before we arrived; they are well-established.  They are located in two places: here near the barn, and up on the corner of the lot, near the street intersection.  A couple of years ago a woman stopped by to take a picture of them: her dad, apparently, had been the one who planted them originally.

 

Libby planted nasturtiums around the garden last year, and they thrived.  A couple of plants came back from seeds this year, including this one.  We transplanted it out of the garden and into the raised bed.  It seems to have managed the move okay.

There are a variety of colors of pansies in the two planters beside the stoop, most importantly this year, the orange.

Late spring flowers

These have been coming along a little more recently...

This coral honeysuckle is climbing on one of the supports for the deck in back.

Spiderwort is growing in the big garden out front.

Cranesbill  is a new addition to the area near the front door.

 This columbine has been in place for a few years and seems to like its spot near the front door.

This Exbury azalea is another new addition this year.  The area near the front door was a wasteland when we arrived.  We mulched it and wrote it off for a couple of years, giving us time to get most of the worst weeds removed.  Since then we have been adding to the area each year.

Spring flowers

Some of things things that have been in bloom for the past month or so.

 A rhododendron we planted a couple of years ago, beside the front stoop, bloomed this year...

Peonies given to us by some of the church ladies our first spring in Black Mountain.  They have bloomed every year, and seem to enjoy where they are.  There are some white flowered specimens, but I missed getting a picture of them...

Life lessons

We each learn life's hard lessons in our own way.  As Briggs has slung and batted his way through his second season of baseball I have been able to watch as he learned about more than a good throw or how to keep his shoulders straight in his batting stance.  I've watch him wend his way through the facts of life as revealed in baseball in the same way that John Buchanan has written about in Christian Century and Frank Deford has talked about on NPR lo these many years.

As a musician I learned these things in the rehearsal room, on the marching field, on the band bus and on the stage and chancel.  How a single missed note can screw the whole piece up (or not).  How dependent we are on the success of others.  How something as fickle as a broken valve string on a French horn can sink one's best efforts.  How important it is to use finger three instead of four in that horrible passage in Buxtehude.  Briggs has been sorting through the same things on the ball field and in our yard this spring and summer.

It dawned on me early this spring when I realized how much time Briggs was spending outside with his glove on and his hat spun backwards.  He'd avoid homework to swing at his batting target.  He cracked more than a few pieces of siding throwing tennis balls at the side of the barn.  It his me hardest, though, when, after a game he would come home and not collapse on the sofa, but go outside and throw, hit and simply run to calm himself down.  He had discovered his way to "decompress," and it was through ball.

Reading John Buchanan and listening to Frank Deford, I have been able to grasp the message of what they spoke about even though the metaphors they used and the backdrop for their reflections was a sport mostly alien to me.  They talked about the ups and downs of ball.  John especially talked about rooting for a perennially losing team, the Chicago Cubs.  Frank was especially keen on the poetry of the sport.  But what came through the, somewhat foreign to me, language, were eternal truths involving perseverance, faith, hope and love, grace, honor and justice.

Briggs' team did well through the early part of the season, not losing a game in their first 9 or so.  Then came a couple of back to back losses that were disheartening.  The Black Mountain Braves (ages 7-8) rallied somewhat late in their season.  Briggs had a pretty good season personally, much improved in both catching and hitting.  He spent most of his time as catcher.  He's been buoyed by his coaches, and cheered on by the parents of all the team players.  As the season closed his coaches were selected to lead the All-Star team for our district, and they selected him to be on that special team.  He's been in left field and at second base this week.  After a trio of practices last weekend they have been deep into games this week (4 in five nights).  As of this writing they have lost 3 of 3.  Briggs has maintained a pretty good attitude.  Last night as we drove home way part his bedtime, he carped about the umpire and bad calls.  And I could hear in his voice just a twinge of angst that everything had not gone according to his plan, and how he was wrestling with putting it into perspective.  I was able to help him a bit, but short of musical and ecclesiological language, was not that big a help (his mom is better at talking the talk than I).  Though he went straight to bed when we got home last night, he was back in the yard today, getting ready for tonight's game, somewhat, but I'm sure sorting through life's little mysteries as they are revealed and left dangling in a ball and bat and glove and a game of baseball.

Tallulah Falls

On our way back from Atlanta we stopped in the Tallulah Gorge to see the falls.  I had seen the place last year and wanted to see what it was like as soon as we could.  We poked around the visitors' center for a few minutes then set off.  The rim trail near the center was very easy and everyone enjoyed it.  Not everyone was up for a hike to the bottom and back, so only Briggs, Eli and I set off.  Briggs ultimately turned back early, more discouraged by the open tread on the stairs, and the whole "afraid of heights" thing than the shear number of stairs (about 1000).  Eli and I persevered to the bottom on the north side, took the suspension bridge across, and went to the bottom of Hurricane Falls.  Then we had to hike back up  It wasn't awful, but Eli didn't help matters by scampering up the steps two-at-a-time on the return trip.  I did not ask him how long he had been waiting for me at the top when I finally returned.

Atlanta Zoo

For our second day in Atlanta we decided to spend our time at the Zoo.  We were able to get an early start and it stayed cool throughout our visit.  The pandas were a big hit, as were the tigers, the gorillas, the parrots (we fed some), the kangaroos, and pretty much any- and everything that creeps, crawls or walks on two or four paws or swims or flies.  Here, a goat at the petting zoo.  Be more impressed with the patience of the goat than ANYTHING else in the pics!

Atlanta, one

With a free weekend we ducked down to Atlanta yesterday.  We flip-flopped on tickets for stuff and one night or two.  Ultimately we opted for low-key.  We got a pretty good start on Saturday morning.  Our destination was the Georgia Aquarium which we had heard was awesome.  It was very nice but pretty crowded.  Lines everywhere, though staff dd their best to keep things moving.  Eli enjoyed the beluga whales, otters and the whale sharks (this is the only place in the US that has them).  Briggs liked the otters and the albino alligators.  Calvin enjoyed everything, though by the end he was really missing his nap.  We had supper at Pittypat's Porch.  It was nice if a bit pricey.  After supper we walked over to the the Olympic Park and splashed in the water.  Day two later.

Creeper

The Cub Scouts took a day trip to Damascus, VA on Monday to ride a portion of the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's an old railroad bed stripped down to make a bike trail. We made good time getting there, hoping the whole way that the clouds would give way to clearer skies (and drier weather) before we hit the trail. After a quick stop in Damascus to rent one bike we headed to Mt. Rogers for the start of the trail. It was socked in with fog like nobody's business; and at one point on the trail it was flat-out raining! But everyone including the boys kept a good attitude and persevered. I think I pedaled once at the start and then used only the brakes for the first 8 miles. It was a very easy ride. We got strung out along the trail as some kept up a very brisk pace and others dawdled. I managed to keep up with both Eli and Briggs through a lunch break (the burger shack was not yet open, so it was good that we had planned to eat picnic-y food). Another few miles and we were back in town. We had made good time and were able to head home ahead of schedule. The clouds and rain cleared around 3PM, when we were recovering on the porch of our outfitter's store. Of course. Eli got a good workout with his new bike and we all had a great time. We want to do it again in warmer weather and get in the river that runs beside the trail. We crossed over more than 20 bridges on this section of the trail! Very nice views as a result. It took about 2.5 hours each way going through TN. The ride up to Whitetop Mountain was typical windy mountain driving. Downhill was definitely the way to go. The other section of the trail between Damascus and Abingdon is reportedly more up-and-down. We'll want to check that out sometime too.

New bikes

Two bikes were stolen from our yard late last summer. Both Eli and Briggs were left without independent transportation. I was able to replace Briggs' fairly quickly and easily: he didn't mind a no-name brand from Wal-Mart. We've had to wait a while longer to get a new bike for Eli. I knew he would be a little more particular about what he got. We went today and got a nice bike from Epic here in town. It was a trade-in taken just today. The look was right for Eli and the price was right for me. I was thankful to be able to jump on the deal. It's a Raleigh SC-30; I can't tell what model year. But it looks like it's never been ridden! We're off on a Scout bike tour Monday in Virginia. Everybody will get a workout on nice new equipment.

Spring 2012

Spring came early and has hung around. The fruits trees are blooming early too. These are the apples trees and the blueberry bushes. The pear tree's flowers came and went (in a rain storm) so fast I didn't get a chance to get a picture of them. I pruned both apple trees this winter in hopes of improving their yield. I also hope to spray them to keep bugs to a minimum. That's been the biggest reason we've had such poor yield in years past. Hope it goes well.

Wiring

The thing I've been spending most of my time on the for the past year or so is wiring. The track plan came with pretty detailed information, but the components are expensive. (As a friend said, "railway capital is always in short supply.") So I'd buy a couple of bits and install them, wait a couple of months, save, buy a couple more. Finally last fall I was able to buy some wire in bulk and had accumulated enough of the pieces to feel like I could begin wiring. At Thanksgiving I built that little shelf thing to hold the switching components and began attaching parts to it. With a little bit of Christmas money that came my way I was able to purchase the last couple of switches. So I think I have everything I need to finish wiring everything. (I did realize this afternoon that I need to change out one piece of plain track for a terminal section, but that should be a fairly inexpensive fix.)

I finally put something together today than had been puzzling me for several months. There are 12 sections of track in the layout each with its own power control. I have been able to spot in the plans where each was and understand how each was supposed to be wired, except for section 8. I couldn't find it anywhere. Finally today I found a lone "8" not-near-enough to the track in that section. Section 8 does not use a terminal track piece like in other sections but a pair of terminal joiners. Therefore, it looked different in the plan, with no clear link between the digit and the place where the terminal joiners go. I had never noticed the 8 positioned as it was, kind of orphaned from its track location. But today, finally, it all came together.

I have always been nervous working with electricity; the last time I messed with something around the house involving electricity, I called my dad to get him to talk me through it. Also I recently found a discussion board that includes a lengthy thread helping someone else who built this same layout. He encountered a problem and got lots of help, all of it in the discussion. That has been very helpful. The coolest thing I've got working is the turntable. I was able to get the electric control, so I can make it spin to each of the spurs by working a switch rather than using a hand crank.

Of course the big thing in model railroading is the transition over the past few years from direct electric modelling to digital. I'm definitely in the stone age camp. But digital does open up lots of possibilities. One obvious thing that some folks have encountered is the ability to have a locomotive equipped with a camera send a feed to a video monitor, so guests can get a "track-view" perspective of the layout. I've got no illusions. On top of everything else, the new stuff is very expensive. Maybe next time.

Layout

Still in the catching-up mode with this post. In this image you can see the layout of track. It's pretty much what I had in Richmond. It's on a 4' x 8' plywood base, painted gray. You can probably see the seam indicating where it used to be in two long halves. I'll be trying to disguise that later with scenery. The only big difference is that the table is now much higher than it could be in the attic on Junaluska Drive. It was about 14-inches because of the short height in the attic, and now is about 36-inches. And the legs all have wheels, so I can re-position it fairly easily.

This layout is from a book I got years ago; the layout is called the "Eastern Grand Trunk." I've had all the track and all the cork roadbed for some time. A couple of features are the 2 loops on one and and three on the other. Right now the whole thing operates off a single power lead, so I can have a single engine going in one direction. Ultimately I'll be able to run one train clock-wise and a second counter-clockwise thanks to some fancy wiring. This layout also includes a turn-table and a small switching yard in the center plus a couple of spurs.

Once all the "stuff" is out of the middle of the layout there should be pretty good space to add some nice scenery. I'll post images of all that later.

The early years

This is the train I got as a kid. It's a Lionel O-gauge train. I think these are all original pieces. There used to be a space satellite associated with the flatbed car, but it's long gone. Several years ago I had a shop clean up the loco and get it working again and got new (un-rusty) track and a new power supply. It works pretty well these days: it throws sparks just like it's supposed to. Even though the Christmas tree was up on a table this year (because of the new cat), we put the train underneath.

Model...

...railroading, that is. I got an HO train when I was 10-11, along with some track. I got it going, but never did much with it. It got tucked away and moved about for years. I finally hauled it out when we lived in Richmond. I started putting together a layout in the attic of our house on Junaluska Drive. It never really got that far, though. I struck it and packed it all away and brought everything on the move to Black Mountain. Here at least we had a little bit of space to put the layout. I mentioned this year that I was ready to add some scenery to the thing, and stuff magically appeared under the Christmas tree! When I was showing Greg and Kristen the layout, Greg mentioned that I had never blogged about the set-up. So herewith the genesis.

This was the first set of four cars I got, a locomotive and three pieces of rolling stock. The first batch of track I had made a simple oval. I had no switches nor scenery. But it was easy to set up and get working. I did at one point buy a book of track plans and picked the one I wanted to work on. But it was years before I actually did anything with it. When I began working on the layout in Richmond, the locomotive was no longer running; I had to pay about $25 to get someone to work it over and get it back in shape (it is again no longer working and needs a bit of an overhaul). The access to the attic in Richmond was very narrow (I don't think I have a single picture of the set-up in Richmond). The layout I wanted to build required a 4 x 8 foot piece of plywood for the base; so I had to halve that length-wise in order to get it into the attic, and then fashion it back together once it was there. That took 2-3 years. Over the course of time I managed to gather all the cork roadbed and track needed to my layout and a few new pieces of rolling stock, as well as a second locomotive. All that took another 6-7 years. You get the idea. More later...