Honoring an Old Friend

As mentioned previously, I chose to move my Life Like country store kit down to Route 53. At any rate I decided to go ahead and complete the scene by adding a pair of Microengineering gas pumps, a gravel parking lot, some turf and trees. Not a bad little afternoon project.

Back in high school, I had a substitute teacher, Mr. Warren Teufel. Like me, he was an avid railfan and model railroader. He had an awesome Marklin HO layout in his basement and was always happy to lend advice and ideas. Even after graduating, I would see him at the library and riding his bike around town. But then I moved to South Carolina in 2007 and more or less lost touch with with Warren.

I was saddened to learn Warren passed away in fall of 2014. I had kept meaning to write him but kept kicking the can down the road and then, it was too late. I am honored to have been able to call Warren my friend and I decided it was fitting to name something on the layout after him . In that spirit I decided to name the country store "Warren's Dry Goods." Now I just need a bicycle to prop up outside.

 

In other news, I been working on some ground cover in the industrial areas by the brewery and cement plant.  This mostly consisted of black Woodland Scenics ballast with some course turf sprinkled to look like the occasional weed popping up. Even partially completed, it's really starting to capture that grimy, sooty look of the steam era. I'c actually excited to get the rails painted and siding ballasted.