Lee University

November 2006:  Nonaville Complete

It’s been quite a trek since December, 2003, when I started the initial work on this layout.  Some of the work went quickly and some was quite time consuming.  I think my favorite task was the farmland scene and when that was finished I began the scenic work on that long stretch of town road by the big concrete elevator.  True, I did some edge work around the layout during that time, but most of my creative energy was spent on that final stretch of highway.  Admittedly, the decisions of what exactly would be in this section didn’t come to me as readily as all the rest . . .

	Maybe I should have named this, the “Plans-are-always-changing” Railroad. As I worked on the fuel and sand facility behind the elevator, I realized that I needed to make this last roadway more industrial and commercially oriented. My original idea of a strip mall didn’t seem to fit with a train yard at its backdoor!
	Welcome to Nonaville. Obviously, a thriving little town, if you consider all the local organizations featured on the welcome sign.  Another good indicator that rural America is alive and well!
	Here’s a view from the Nonaville Yard looking toward the far-off Mine Peninsula in the distance. My engine facility, in the foreground, is not authentic by any means, but rather meant to be contextually representative. (I admit, I don’t know much about this area of “traindom” - It’s OK, you can say it. It’s obvious that I don’t know much about “train-anything” - So sue me. I just know that playing with trains is fun, it helps me relax and keep my head on straight and it keeps me off the street so I don’t hang around with fashionista hoodlums and bad-boy motorcycle gangs! . ) ( !?! ) . . . Roving bands of carousing AARP Segway riders? . . .
	Perhaps on my next layout, knowing more than what I presently know about the equipment I have, I can plan better from the very beginning and give the scenes a fuller semblance of reality. But then, again, my granddaughter has yet to ask whether the train scene is authentic or not. She just wants to count the “yellow” cars as they go by. Me too.
Every time I see a model of a sand house, I always wonder, “ How do they get the sand in the bin?” With that in mind, I “dreamed up” a sand conveyance for supplying my model sanding house. I kitbashed the Walthers Bulk Transfer conveyer kit for this scene. I cut off the semi circle under the above ground conveyer and made that particular conveyer stationary. The track grate for unloading was sliced from the underground pit and turned to head into the pit area rather than across at a 90 degree angle as manufactured. The corrugated building that comes with this kit was placed with the manufacturing plant across the track, as was the chain link fencing supplied with the kit.
Both these sanding towers came with the Sand House Kit from Walthers. Other portions of the scene are kits from Woodland Scenics and Stewart Products. As I mentioned in the June update, I had to once again pull up and reposition the tracks in this area of the layout to help “fit” the scene.
“Modern workmen” from Preiser round out the site. With the completion of the sanding and fueling facility, I moved the large elevator and “mercantile” next to it toward the 7-11 store, leaving room for several “business” additions along the roadway.

Trains:  Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Page 1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH, 2007 – A Break In The Action