Sorry Energizer Bunny

I  love my static grass applicator. The look of static grass on a layout can't be beat.
But it's a killer on batteries.
Never seem to have a fresh 9 volt battery when I need one.
And what I find astonishing is that it's taken me this long to address the problem.
I simply got a 9 volt dc power adapter and hardwired it into the Grassmaster.
Took all of 5 minutes

Just mind the polarity.
The real challenge was trying to find an adapter in town. None of the "usual suspects" had one.
Wound up buying one at Best Buy in London.
Now I'm waiting for my order of static grass to arrive. Ran out over the weekend!

From pink to brown,

Just add a few helpful friends!
A few pals come to visit yesterday and helped kick start a big mass of scenery creation.

This 30' long section of mainline needed a layer of Sculptamold and a coat of base paint in preparation for ground cover and textures etc.
So Trevor, Ryan and Doug were handed bowls, shown the 25 lb box of Sculptamold and let loose.

In a few short hours the entire expanse was covered and ready for paint. Which was quickly applied, leaving me now with a a nice clean palette upon which I can apply ground covers.

While those 3 were busy, Chris volunteered to add drop feeders and main line bus in the section of mainline that is now in the furnace room. Not very glamorous, but oh so essential.
Me. I was busy refining my static grass techniques and playing with different looks for the fields around the turn of the backdrop.

There are 3 different field treatments going on in this photo. And each will be separated by a tree line, which you can see I've started to indicate with tufts of Poly-Fiber. They'll get Noch leaves applied and then I'll work in 3" and 4" trees.
All in all a very good day.
The work force was rewarded with a lovely dinner prepared by my wife Kate.
And few of the world problems were solved as the wine flowed some.
Thanks guys!

Sometimes it pays to come out of the basement

Today, rather than sequester myself in the basement yet again, I chose to sashay out into the big bad world and take in the Ancaster Train show.
Just an hour and a half down the highway.
Got to see a few old friends, brush past the few unwashed types who seem to always populate these shows,(What's up with that anyway? Water's not the expensive! For crying out loud people, bath!).
And perused the tables looking for treats.
Did find this gem,

One of those WIF cars in Philadelphia. based upon the reweigh date, between 1952-54.
These WIF cars sure got around. I've been having people tell me they've seen pictures of them in the NW, in Sudbury, ON, to name but 2.
And that is the prototype of one of our latest kits.
Such a neat car.

And I bought more tree armatures from my favorite supplier.
Model Builders Supply, http://modelbuilderssupply.com/
They offer, what is for me the nicest plastic tree armatures out there.
http://modelbuilderssupply.com/tree-armatures/tree-armature-4-4pc/

Unlike the armatures from Woodland Scenics, these are cast with branches on 4 sides, resulting in a nicer looking tree, IMHO.
Now to find all the tree stuff.
It's down here somewheres!

Cracking the whip!

Another delightful and successful Chicagoland RPM is in the bag.
Many thanks to Mike Skibbe and his crew for making this grand-daddy of the RPMs an ongoing success.
And my thanks to all of you who continue to support Yarmouth Model Works and make this little business another ongoing success.
I did come to the realization that Yarmouth Model Works is now the 3rd largest resin kit maker in the model train world. And that's in no small part due to the clientele being willing to support us as we continue to try and offer the best resin kits possible.
We've had a few stumbles, but we learn, we improve and we move forward.
And in the moving forward department;

The body master for what will be the next ACF postwar 40' boxcar. The DT&I 14000 series boxcar.
Release date undetermined.
There are a couple of other cars to come first, (patience Schulyer, you're next).
 But even before that we have to restock inventory from the RPM. My sale table was reminiscent of the frenzies in the old Sunshine sales room, back in the day. A good problem to have!
Again, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who continue to support Yarmouth Model Works.
Without you I'm nothing!