News Flash!

Sawmill Construction will commence later this month. I have acquired the fine set of CHB castings, now by Sierra West, courtesy of my brother, TNT Southern Division.

Room Preparatiuons are not moving as quickly as I had anticipated. It will be a little while before I can commence construction. Oh well!

As many of you know, I was a longtime resident of Houston, Texas. My brother and I had long formed the team of TNT. In 2001 I married a Canadian and moved to the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This didn't break up TNT, it separated it into two divisions. The Northern Division is comprised of...me!

Layout Considerations
My train room is currently a small spare bedroom. When I moved to Canada, I asked my wife if there would be room in our house for me to build a layout. She said, "Of course! I wouldn't want it any other way!" Currently my train room is a small, 9'x 9' bedroom. And currently it is a catchall for storage from my recent move here.

Layout Concept
I have decided to buid my layout in On3. That is to a scale of 1/4"=1'-0" and with a track gauge of 3 feet. I chose this scale/gauge combination because I think it is big enough to see and detail, and the track gauge and curve radius' is small enough to have a moderate layout in a small area. I am growing to like the style of the Northwest logging operations. There were many shoestring operations that had a tight budget. I like the idea of barely surviving, do what they can, attitudes. Currently I don't have a specific company in mind to follow as a prototype. For that matter, I don't have a specific location chosen either. Right now I think a freelance approach will serve me well. I can change later if I decide anyway.