I recently made an important upgrade to the layout- I finally added dirt to the parking lot!
This is the appearance shortly after the dirt was laid down. Just as with the access road, I used Scenic Express Fine dirt & soil - pre-sifted and bottled, ready for use!
Here's a view of Mark Davis and Ricardo starting their day as Aaron leaves out on an errand. With dirt on the ground, the scene looks much better.
This shot backs up that point. Not only is the uneven seam between mis-matched foam boards now blended in, but you also see something rarely found on model railroads - tire tracks! As an added bonus, vehicles 'passing' through the lot now get actual dirt on their tires!
With the re-doing of the parking lot, the small office building got moved out to the street. It's a dead-end anyway, so why not make use of the space? The office is joined by a dumpster parked in front of a barrier.
With the weekend off, Bob says 'adios' to his co-workers. When he's not asleep in the back of the company truck, Bob is wide awake - and wide open - on the back of his Harley chopper!
Leased SD40-2 FURX 3004 sits in Hillsdale Yard coupled to AP&W SD40 3163. While the AP&W, like other railroads, has had little need for lease units lately due to the economy, this unit did show up in Hillsdale.
The classic "three-quarters" view, showing the snowplow and ditch lights.
The top view, showing the relocated air horn (to protect the crew's hearing!) with air line to it, and the exhaust streaks on the roof. FURX is the reporting mark for First Union's railcar leasing arm, and the locomotive was rebuilt/upgraded from a former Canadian National SD40.
Two of the many grimy - and graffitied - boxcars that can be found in the yard on any given day. At least the big white cryogenics reefer two tracks over is still clean.
