It’s been a little while since a progress update, and there’s been a lot of progress. As you can see from the picture above, a portion of the upper deck is now finished to essentially the same state as the lower level with the basic scenery (covered in dirt), painted backdrop, fusee circuits for unprotected road crossings, and ballast. I also installed a few more ISE “Squealers”… five more to be exact, including two on the Gin Creek Branch (finished portion of the upper deck). Its’ so cool running a long train that crosses multiple Squealers and hearing the sounds from multiple spots in the train!

I’ve also had a couple mini operating sessions to work out the kinks on the Gin Creek Branch. The first was with regular operator Patrick, and the second was a treat with my youngest son, Drew. Drew did a great job running the Black Mountain Local and figured out a few different moves than the ones I’ve been using. When he was done, he paid me a great compliment: “that was fun… you’re such a nerd.” Guilty as charged!

Here are some pics of the progress.