Hi Everybody.

For those who may remember, I had previously kept a blog that talked about building a portable version of the Monument City Terminal Division. That layout, which focused on Wicomico Street in Baltimore, MD, was intended to give me something to build and operate while I got around to finishing my basement to build something more permanent.

Well, bad news and good news.

The Bad News

The bad news is that the portable layout was intended to allow me to run trains until the room was actually finished.

That didn’t happen.

Even when it’s on wheels, a 2′ x 17′ layout just can’t be out of the way enough to allow for the construction of walls and installation of foam board insulation. So the Wicomico St. version of the MCTD had to come down in February as things were really ramping up.

The Good News

There are actually a number of things in the good news bucket.

• The portable layout served its purpose, mostly. It was fun to build, gave me a little extra construction practice, and even hosted an operating session or two. I just couldn’t keep it around as long as I would have liked.
• The project to finish the basement is well on its way. Framing is complete and insulation is in. Drywall is next.
• I’ve nearly finished the track plan for MCTD 2.0. That was a challenge in and of itself, and I’m sure I’ll spend a few blog posts down the line discussing how I got from blank sheet of paper to final plan. It was a long and winding road (cue The Beatles), both literally and figuratively.

So About Starting Fresh…

With the sun setting on the original MCTD, and rising on a new version, it seemed a good time to start talking about the new layout. And it also seemed to make sense to start a new blog to be the medium for those discussions. I will probably also create a Facebook group for posting photos and so on. I’ll pass that information on when I get there.

So I hope you’ll join me for the ride. I think it will be fun.