Relander Central

I made a trip to Hub Hobby Center in Richfield, MN to pick up some odds and ends of supplies. I picked up some Atlas N Code 55 Track turnouts, flex track, and rail joiners. I also grabbed some wire and a set of terminal blocks. This should make up for all the times that I left the hobby shop empty handed ... :-) Track and Wire Supplies

Here are some quick shots of the contents of one of the corner module kits. The straight module kit is similar with less parts. The first photo is the contents of the scenery material box. They pack a little bit of everything in there, folliage, turf, ballast, trees, rock castings, plaster cloth, glue, paint, etc. The long strips are the connector plates used to fasten the modules together. The second photo is the SubTerrain and Track-Bed from the rest of the kit. Scenery Materials SubTerrain Materials

Yuck! When I unpacked the first corner module, there was brown paint all over the inside of the scenery material box. Well ... not all over, just over some things near the middle of the box. Luckily, everything was wrapped in plastic and was able to be wiped clean. The culprit was a cracked bottle of earth undercoat as seen in the first photo. I taped the bottle with some packing tape and let everything dry out. The other two module kits were clean and in good shape. Cracked Paint Bottle Scenery Material Box

The Woodland Scenics Mod-U-Rail kits have arrived! The contents of each module kit were pretty much the same. The straight module kit did come with some really nice Woodland Scenics catalogs, however. The brown boxes on the left side of each box are full of scenery material. The white pieces on the right side of each box are the SubTerrain risers and profile boards. The foam sheets for the base and the Track-Bed for the roadbed are underneath. Mod-U-Rail Kits - (top to bottom) Two Corner Modules, Straight Module Inside of a Typical Module Kit - (corner module)

The Tortoise slow motion switch machines have arrived! Mike at Charleston Digital Trains was great as usual. He offered to give me a discount next time to cover return postage but it really wasn't necessary. Stuff happens. I will definately be ordering from them again. Tortoise Switch Machines

I made arrangements with Mike at Charleston Digital Trains to swap the Hare decoders for the Tortoise switch machines. Mike is a great person to work with. I sent out the Hare decoders this morning. The Tortoise switch machines should be here by December 21, 2005, about the same time the the Mod-U-Rail kits arrive.

The Digitrax equipment has arrived! Unfortunately, there was a problem with the order and I got four Hare decoders (the ones that plug onto the Tortoise switch machines) instead of the four Tortoise switch machines. Looks like I will need to arrange for a Tortoise and Hare exchange ... :-) Digitrax Equipment - (clockwise from the upper left) PS12 Power Supplies, Zephyr Starter Set, USB LocoBuffer II, BDL168 Block Occupancy Detector, DS64 Stationary Decoder, DN163A1 Mobile Decoders Zephyr Starter Set - (clockwise from the upper left) LT1 LocoNet Test Kit, PS315 Power Supply, DCS50 Command Station/Booster/Throttle, Manuals USB LocoBuffer II - (clockwise from the upper left) Power Supply, Installation Disk, LocoNet Cable, Manual, LocoBuffer II, USB to Serial Adapter

Since I will need to get a layout together in a relatively short period of time, I sent out the order for the Woodland Scenics Mod-U-Rail system today. I ordered two of the corner modules (ST4802) and a single straight module (ST4801) from Internet Hobbies, Inc. I am trusting that they will deliver since I haven't ordered from them before. They had what I was looking for and most importantly, they accepted PayPal. The modules should be here by December 21, 2005.

I finally decided to order my Digitrax equipment through Charleston Digital Trains . I was impressed with their website and they had everything I was looking for at a good price. I ordered a Zephyr starter set, the USB version of the LocoBuffer II, one of the new DS64 stationary decoders, a BDL168 block occupancy detector, a couple PS12 power supplies, a pair of decoders for my N Scale Atlas SD-60 locomotives, and a set of four Tortoise switch machines. They should be here by December 15, 2005.

The last of the money from the Tayden Design contract was transferred into my account today. I should finally have enough to start shopping for my Digitrax equipment. I think that I will look into the Mod-U-Rail system from Woodland Scenics for the model railroad itself. I had looked into them earlier in the year but now that I have the time and money, I might as well do a little experimenting.