Merry Christmas blog readers!
The past week involved some more merry-ish projects than in previous weeks. I finished up the pile of filing that had built up, and then found and hung additional railroad art and artifacts. I brought all of my trains into the train room, and after some puzzle-work, placed them into the two closets. I cleared a bit more in the hallway, laundry room, and garage, which will allow people to actually get into the train room. I also set up the TV for watching lots of railroad-themed programs, and added a lantern-like lamp. Throughout the week, I set up and trimmed the Christmas tree, and added our antique portable fireplace to the temporary decor. I cleaned up the room, after the tree spread its little fake needles all about, and used the space to wrap several Christmas gifts for my bride. Friends Ted & Michelle came over to visit and got to see the nearly-complete room. And last night, I setup an oval track and transformer, and ran the new C&NW GP7 around the tree. Thus, the first train has been operated in the Train Room, as of Wednesday, December 18th, 2013... 3 days within my goal of "Fall 2013". Yes, an oval around the Christmas tree counts as a "functional O-Gauge model railroad" :)
The #1518 C&NW GP7 is a new addition to the fleet this year. This Lionel locomotive is modeled after the very first GP7 ever produced, and I've actually been able to see it at the Illinois Railway Museum. It is appropriate therefore, that it was the first engine to run in the new Train Room. In Illinois, I have another model C&NW GP7 (#8375) waiting in the queue to be shipped to Montana; once it is here I can double-head them.
I also set up a Christmas train under our Living Room tree - I will report on that next week! And, as usual, the Season brings other fun decorating projects - at the top of the page is our deck Christmas display for 2013. Amber added all of the spiffy accents, and I laid down the lighting.
A new arrival joined the collection this week too - a K-Line die cast hopper car in the Santa Fe "Midnight Chief" (aka "Black Bonnet") paint scheme.
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| The train boxes are nestled all snug in the closets |
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| Newest addition - a die cast scale ATSF Midnight Chief hopper car |
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| Christmas decor! |
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| The new #1518 C&NW GP7 model |
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| The original #1518 C&NW GP7 prototype |
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