Plans, they are achanging - - -

I've been struggling with some items lately.  A stomach bug that floored me, completely. I lost my truck keys on Wednesday, too. My daughter-in-law's favorite grandfather passed away at 98.  He served on a Fletcher-class destroyer in the South Pacific in WW2.  His services were on Friday. The dentist is enjoying my trips much more than I am. What a week.

The one modelling issue that has bugged me the most is the six-module layout. 

I've decided that the inner tram loop takes too much space from scenery concerns.  So, it's going away.  Well, not too far, but to another possible project.  As soon as I find those missing Kato Hanover trams, that is. The track plan for that is derived from R. D. Kerr's Easy Trolley pages (http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/.)

Now, some of the larger structures stockpiled for here will actually fit.  More details later, as the modules progress.  First, there's a bit of repair and painting to do.  There's a base coat of paint, and then some track repair.  One of the Tomix turnouts was damaged in the move here, but a new one in somewhere "over the water" as the saying goes.  The single crossovers were originally a double Kato unit, but it, too, was destroyed by the move.  So, I'm bashing four (a pair each of L's and R's) Kato #6's into a pair of single crossovers. They make a perfect 310mm for a single, as did the factory DXO.  This is following a video by Mike Fifer of Fifer Hobby Supply.  Thanks, Mike, for all your support for the hobby.  When finished (soon, hopefully, but don't hold your breath) I'm planning to shoot a short video of them in action.

Also, I've had a bit of minor trouble keeping the module feet on the table.  Being double deep, they are just on the edge and the slightest bump slides them off.  So, a simple solution.  Each foot is in a 2x2 block bracing the corner of the module box.  I'm going to add another 2x2 just inside the existing ones and move the foot there. Problem solved. The blocks are cut, and come Monday (forecast to be rainy and stormy - can't mow, but can work on my important projects in the barn!) I'll drill and glue the new blocks in place.  Adjusting them is not an issue. I've been converted to the top-adjust system for my new construction, with consideration of retrofitting my older modules.  By the end of next week, I should have the painting all done and basic ground cover started.

The nichrome wire for the new hot wire cutters came in this week.  100' of 22AWG is a lifetime's supply, especially sharing it with a few local modelers.  You can be acquainted, but swapping and gifting goodies makes for good friendships, I've found.  Anyway, easy foam shaping (Stanley Surform tools are great!) allows for a more "vertical" scene, if only by a little. 

That's about it from here.  Now, if I could only find those lost keys . . . 😡