A new topic to be updated on occasion, random scenes around the layout. All photos of your layout welcome! Permanent layouts, carpet-centrals, around-the-tree and/or holiday displays, it's all good; let's see 'em.

I'll start the thread with a shot of the recently refurbished Lionel 253 dragging a short express train:



Seen exiting the Hell Gate bridge ( Lionel #305), heading south toward the tunnel at Heat-Pump Pass.

The rail fans seem to gather here often, one of the few places on the layout where one can get a good long shot. Here a local freight headed by a Flyer 3315 waits for a northbound express to pass:



Taken a few years back from the old pedestrian bridge, this section has been reworked quite a bit in recent times; it's not quite so forgiving for photographers now, and more changes are on the way. Some fencing is planned for the recently-installed utility box, but access should remain open, if not a bit constricted.

Here's another photo from the archives, one I may have shared before, but I include it here because it is a personal favorite. Quite a few years ago, we were trying to come up with a shot suitable for a Christmas card and decided to stage something on the layout. This is taken at the opposite end of the Lionel 305 bridge where the 126 station is located. A bit of shredded plastic "snow" and an illuminated bottle-brush Christmas tree were added:



It's 9:55PM on Christmas Eve as the Flyer 3315 pulls a short local into the station. There's just a single traveler waiting to board, a sailor on leave hoping to make it home by Midnight. Taken from a number of different angles, we found this to be the best. Cobwebs aside, the lighting really makes this shot.

The Lionel 1465 set runs through the northern corner of the layout:



The 1465 set featured the 2034 2-4-2 locomotive, offered for one year, 1952. Typically considered one of the "Scout" sets, the 2034 differs in that it has a standard open-frame motor, not the inexpensive plastic motors typically found in the low-end sets. I added a bell (the boiler casting has the hole for it) and green diamonds for the running lights.

This corner of the layout will see some improvements in the near future. The Plasticville switch tower may move here, and Western Union will be arriving soon to continue hanging telegraph wires.

The basement seems infested with cobwebs these days...a good vacuuming top-to-bottom is needed.

A repeat pic from elsewhere here, a local freight headed by the Flyer 3315 is seen running north from the tunnel at Heat Pump Pass:



Taken shortly after the pedestrian bridge was removed and Western Union began erecting telegraph poles along this stretch of the mainline.

Another shot taken at the signal bridge on the northwest corner of the layout; here, the New York Central's Lake Shore Limited is seen on the outer track heading for bridge #305:



This set was produced by MTH (Lionel Corp.), commissioned by the Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA). It was the brainchild of the great Lou Caponi, a guy who came up with a number of nice sets for the LCCA membership. It makes rare appearances here on the layout, something that needs to be remedied. Headed by a traditionally-powered reproduction of the Lionel 264E, the Lake Shore Ltd. features three 2600-series passenger cars in a metallic paint scheme. It's a lovely thing.

The signal bridge seems to be lit in an alarming pattern, and the tower's roof is askew

On the under-tree loop, the station sees increased activity as Christmas approaches:



Dept. 56 and other ceramic village buildings, a few Plasticville citizens and railroad employees, and a near century-old American Flyer passenger train...Christmas 2023.

I have had a 6466W tender in the orphan box for a few years and have been on the lookout for a mate for it. A couple weeks back I found a 2036 locomotive at the local indoor flea market that is a correct match for the tender:



It's terribly battered and has a number of issues, chief among them being the drivers don't track properly, and the motor is jammed with steel-wool fibers, aggravated by the Magnetraction (one should never use steel-wool to clean anything around electric toy trains). The loco will head to the roundhouse for an end-to-end tear-down at some point, but it will enter the project pile near the bottom...just too many projects.

The excavation/clean-up of the basement layout continues. This MTH Boston & Maine Doodlebug has been sitting on an unpowered siding for at least 4-5 years; I moved it out to the front and put some power to it and it fired right up (I was expecting it to be dead, if I'm honest):



When returning MTH Protosound type units to service, it's recommended that you let them sit on the track at half-throttle for 5-10 minutes and let the internal battery recharge a bit. I did this and the Doodlebug became fully functional after just a few minutes. I'm going to run it a bit this week to get the battery fully charged, then wipe it down (it got really dirty while sitting in the back of the layout) before packing it away for awhile.

Next up is the MTH GS-4 Bantam. I'm feeling lucky, lol.

The GS-4 Bantam has sat on the back of the layout for a few years without being run. This can be a death-blow for some of the early Protosound-equipped MTH locomotives, but this one is PS-2, so was hoping for no issues. It came to life when I put power to it, so I let it sit in neutral for 5-10 minutes at half throttle to charge the battery back up. A few drops of smoke fluid in what had to be a dried out unit, then off we went. Here it sits idling while charging up the battery:



A few laps around the layout reminded me that the traction tires were shot. Fortunately, I had a couple of replacements, and after getting the main-rod unbolted, was able to get the new ones on the rims. I used a little rubber cement to hold them in place; we'll see how that works.

Running well, all lights and features functioning, back into the storage box it went. Hopefully it runs next time I crack it out.