Hello everyone,

I'm new to Big Blue and have enjoyed looking at all the great work that is going on here.
After a few false starts I have finally started the Southern Pacific's Burbank branch in ernest. I grew up in the neighborhood in the 70's and 80's so that is the era I will be modeling, with a little liberty taken to include a Packinghouse industry and maybe a trestle.
I'm keeping a blog of my progress at:

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So come on over and see what is taking shape on the 2X13 foot HO Burbank Branch line.

Thanks for the inspiration,

John Bregoli

John,
Looks like you're well on the way, but there is help here if you need it.
A blog is one thing, there is community here.

Welcome. That looks very interesting!

Welcome to the Gauge!

Looks like your well under way with your layout

It might be a good idea to post your progress on this forum as well though, I have a feeling you will get more comments/questions/help if you need them if you post a layout progress thread here on the forum as well as updating your blog. Most people will forget to go back to your blog, but here they will see every new post you make on the forum and continue to follow your progress. Just a suggestion though

Thanks guys, I will be posting new pics and short descriptions here, with links to the new detailed blog posts. Also any specific questions, I will detail in this forum; I don't want to double my internet upload time. Thank you for your comments and hope this will be an acceptable format for everyone.
Thanks,
John

JohnyBotto Wrote:Thanks guys, I will be posting new pics and short descriptions here, with links to the new detailed blog posts. Also any specific questions, I will detail in this forum; I don't want to double my internet upload time. Thank you for your comments and hope this will be an acceptable format for everyone.
Thanks,
John

Sounds like an idea to me John At least with a post on the forum, the members will be reminded to check your progress. I look forward to seeing some more of your layouts progress, your off to a great start

Welcome! There are some nice layouts on this forum, and a few are similar to what you are doing. You should find this place very helpful .

Johny Botto!

I think you'll find us like family here, but keep in mind that a lot of us can't read and we like pictures! Now, we might be able to forgive posts tha have links, because links ar red and when you put the cursor over them they have a line under them and so we know to click on them to go somewhere else.

However ... if we are going to have to click links to find out if you've been "workin' on the railroad" or just hangin' in front of the tube with your homeys, then you ought to put a link over there and send some of those people over here to see what a close knit, friendly, helpful model railroad community is like! There are some very skilled modelers here, there are some electronics wizards here, there are young guys here, there are older guys here (I'm not sure about any modelers of "the fairer sex",) and we are all here to help and encourage each other.
So ... ... don't be a stranger!

Welcome aboard! Glad you could join us! We'll be looking forward to updates on the Burbank Branch!
Ralph

John,

Welcome to the group!!
I am new to this great forum too and think it is the best overall group I have found on the internet. It seems to be TROLL FREE :mrgreen:
I like what you are doing on your blog, I am working on a similar endevour for my layout along with some Free-Mo, looks like great minds think alike!!

Keep us updated on your progress and as they say Post LOTS of pictures!!!

John,Excellent track plan!

I was wondering what type of crossing protection are you going to use on the Victory Blvd crossing? The reason I am asking I don't recollect seeing a 4 lane boulevard crossing modeled before..A very nice touch.

Welcome to the forum, John. Looking forward to watching your layout progress.

Brakie Wrote:I was wondering what type of crossing protection are you going to use on the Victory Blvd crossing? The reason I am asking I don't recollect seeing a 4 lane boulevard crossing modeled before..A very nice touch.

Surprisingly there has never been much in the way of protection at that crossing, as far as I can remember. It is protected by two RR crossing flashers, one in each direction.
The model crossing will be protected likewise.

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Thanks you to everyone for the kind welcome, I think I will like it here.

I made some horizontal mounting brackets for the Tortoise switch machines. There is a printable full size template and description in the blog:

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