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Had a very pleasant visit with Tom Watkins yesterday at his home in the mountains. We ran some trains around his neat Murphy's Branch, and everything ran just fine, and after five minutes I was sold on both Digitrix DCC, and a sound system. Having been away from the hobby for a number of years until recently, and being from the (very)old school of block wiring, control panels, and only gear whine for 'control' and 'sound', I immediately made a mental analogy to the sliderule to calculator 'changeover' - DCC is that far superior to anything else ever ! And the first time one of Tom's nicely done Southern 2-8-0s blew off some steam while at idle, I was startled- cool. Gotta have sound, too ! Tom's trackwork was smooth and glitch free w/ some challenging curves on grade - just like the prototype. Nice trackplan, too. His L-girder benchwork was neatly done. But what first struck me was his weathering, and attention to both Southern and L&N details specific to the prototypes. Not that he obsessed over the rivet counts, for we both agreed that neither of us can see the rivets well enough anymore, or for that matter, remember how many we counted if we could. LOL He has included many of the signature freight equipment that make a railroad distinctly Southern or L&N, and has done a great job in creating the 'atmosphere' that says Murphy's Branch. Prototypically correct Southern and L&N caboose equipment certainly added to the effect. His steam locos were especially well done - being a mix of Genesis, Spectrum, Proto 2000, and BLI. All nicely detailed and superbly weathered. as was all of his equipment. He could teach many of us a lot about "how to weather" so it looks real, and not just 'weathered'. Did I enjoy seeing and operating his railroad ? You bet ! Good conversation (and coffee) too. We made the mistake to wander back onto his porch for some more tea and coffee, and must have sat there for a couple of hours just taking in the ambience of the view of the North Georgia mountains, and the sunshine, the birds, the trees, and I wondered why doesn't he have a Garden RR too. I don't know how he ever gets anything done in such a delightful setting. Since I live down the road a piece - approx 1 1/2 hours closer to Atlanta and to reality, I suffer a similar plight, but to a lessor extent - that's all. Like Tom, I'm proud to live in this part of the world, but Tom cautioned me to not spread the word too far and wide, as it's getting crowded enough already ! I want to thank all of you for the 'warm welcome back' posts - glad to be back on board, but I'll have to exercise some discretion as to how much screen time I put in from now on - even my 20 yr old son is chuckling, as he still considers me the 'family fossil' tech-wise. Joke is that he thinks we're flying him here for Christmas so he can hook up our VCR and Surround Sound. It is after all, still in the unpacked boxes. . . Teffy - saw an old post of yours to me re: "around the room benchwork recommendations" for me, and I failed to see it when you first posted it. Yes, I am going to have a walk-in, w/ no duckunders, and it will be an around the walls plus two peninsula trackplan about 48"-56" high from the floor w/ scenery dominating the theme. It will be point to point w/ a min of two interchanges, plus a mining branch. It will be single deck w/ open grid, L-girder benchwork, and where permitting, I may canterlever the benchwork supports off of the walls to minimize the need for table legs. I am going to strive for lightweight scenery to keep the need for clunky benchwork to a min. (Tom's benchwork is a good example of that. . .) The room is 24'X32' w/ a 7'X8' alcove at one end, no windows, 9' ceiling, and a single door. Noah - you inquired as to my 'change in era / change in locale' - this is the dilemma - I live within ear shot of the old L&N "Hook & Eye' line / now Georgia Northeastern RR - and yet I'm still drawn to two other prototypes - SP South Pacific Coast (San Jose/Santa Cruz area) and the NYC Adirondack Division ( way upstate NY from Utica to Montreal). Wierd, as they are all at opposite corners of the US, and yet I have a passionate connection to all three. . .I have also backdated my modeling era by about ten years to 1948/1953 depending on what I ultimately decide to do. . .May just have to freelance, rewrite some history, reorganize a railroad, create an unplausible merger or two, and move some mountains ! After planned visits to both northern California and to upstate NY, I'll firm up my plans, and the RR room will be ready for finalized benchwork at that time. In the good ol' days, we just ran what we liked, no matter the era or prototype, and even had ocean-front ports in Kansas if we wanted one. We know too much now. Drat ! Tom - thanks for your hospitality yesterday. See you in Blue Ridge next month. BILL
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