Trains, (no planes) and Automobiles

For those who don't get the title reference click here.

Sadly, none of my terrain will ever look this good!

My Beloved Wolfy and I skipped town for a weekend to go and visit her sister and brother-in-law in Nashville, TN. Its an easy 5 hour drive (unless its pouring rain the whole time in which it was a miserable 7 hours back on Monday). They were nice enough to advance our birthday presents and put us up in a hotel suite that was well out of our price range (birthdays, anniversary, Christmas...and any other special occasion they want to lump in there is fine with me!). 

The 2020 Nissan Altima we rented for the weekend...yeah, could I afford one I'd buy it (and that's coming from a guy who's driven Dodge Rams for 20+ years).

On Saturday we spent most the day at their house just chatting about whatever, but eventually Wolfy and Mandy wanted some 'sister time' and so I accompanied Micheal down to his hobby room where he showed off his latest model train work-in-progress.  

Completely different from the last time we visited, and nearly twice the size (if not more), I was truly impressed! Indeed, I was drooling so much I took far too few pics (hell, should have taken some videos of the two separate switching stations in action). He also gave me a primer on the use of weathering powders which he is a big fan of and I've been meaning to try out. 

We also discussed the advances of 3D printed terrain, and swapped manufactures that we like for potential future purchases. Whilst discussing the hobbying points, I pointed out that his work station was too terribly organized and offered to destroy it to be more in line with mine. Curiously he declined the offer. 

So whilst the girls had their time we geeked out in the basement. Here's the few pics I did take:

As you can see, still a WIP.

The interior of the right most brick building in the previous photo. Note the light beyond the right door at the far end, it is on an engine that had just rolled out. 

This ought to have been a video of it rotating this engine to it's next track. 

Looking into the window of the building into the opposite side of the prior photo. 

This little scene was probably my favorite part of the whole setup. According to Micheal, it's everybody's. Something of which he's immensely proud (and rightly so!). 

On a different note...for several years now I've had a penchant for hiding minis in family members' homes. My grandparents had gotten the lion's share of these endeavors (it's good to keep em' on their toes), though my mother and father in-law have as well. Whilst my grandmother treats it as a game that she pretends to not like (whereas I'm pretty sure she does), Wolfy's folks have proudly displayed their mini since finding it a few years back. 

As such, I felt the need to leave behind a deep cover operative (the pink haired mini from that ill-fated project) in Nashville. I had hoped to hide it in the train set up, but was never able to be left alone with it, thus I found another location within the home. However given how immaculately clean their house is, I fret that she will be located all too quickly...