Sometimes progress on a layout is painfully slow, especially for those in a stage of life with kids at home and full-time work. Time working on the layout comes in fits and starts as it takes a back seat (as it should) to other more important priorities. It can be discouraging to look at the accomplishments of a single evening or even a week and say “wow, I only laid three feet of new rail…” or “wow, all I accomplished was new Kadee couplers and cut bars on two hoppers…” I’m certainly not breaking any new philosophical ground here, but to really see progress, it’s important to look further back and see how far we’ve come.

While 2021 will be etched in my brain as “Year of the COVID – Part 2,” it will also go down as a significant year in the life of the St Charles Branch with many important milestones. When the year started, the layout was essentially a staging level, a helix, and a lot of benchwork for the main level–not a single rail had been laid on what will eventually become the part of the layout with scenery. By the end of the year, I had the first real operating session with multiple trains and all the paperwork. Here are some specific milestones:

• All the rails on the lower level complete (not an insignificant milestone for 100% hand-laid track)
• First “scenic” elements on layout (Bailey’s Trace bridges for St Charles wye)
• Several locomotives completed (F3A, GP7, GP35, GP38AC)
• Several unique hoppers completed (CofGa short-taper offset, INT “hand-me-down”, SOU 100T “articulated” hopper)
• First mine run (Drew and Dan Bourque – Mayflower tipple)
• First multi-train operating session (Patrick Tillery and Dan Bourque)

Like reflection on progress, goals for the future are also important. While the layout will always take a back seat to other priorities, here are the things I hope to accomplish in 2022:

• Complete main helix between lower and upper level
• Complete and paint lower-level backdrops
• Finish benchwork for upper level
• Build basic terrain for lower level
• Lay track for at least one tipple on upper level
• Have at least 3 more operating sessions to include first train to upper level

We’ll see at the end of 2022 how I did at meeting these goals. Even if I don’t complete them all, it’ll still be fun–Happy New Year!!!