First Operating Session!

This month, I ran my first serious operating session, with local (and very-well-known) operations gurus Byron and Seth present for the first run. Apart from a couple stalls and shorting switches, they had a great time. Woohoo! Much thanks to Apple's debugger summer intern who helped me prepare the layout the week before, and ran a couple trains during the operating session.

As of July, 2005: The layout's to the point where you can operate it without having to push locomotives every few minutes. In the last few weeks, I've been switching from manual Caboose ground throws to Tortoise switch machines to make it easier for others to operate the layout, and to avoid power problems at switches. I've also been doing a lot of cleanup work. The fascia's been painted and labelled, and a bit more scenery (such as the orchard between Campbell and Los Gatos) has been (temporarily) added.

Here's some photos of the layout, along with a close-up of one of the schematic track diagrams on the fascia.