Tuesday Tip: Do What Excites You - and a brief announcement...

Valley Local Conductor Bernie Edison approaching the callbox at Middletown Yard at the end of Miller Street to call the Hartford Dispatcher for clearance and orders to return northbound from Middletown to East Hartford Yard to tie up for the day.

You'll Make More Progress If You Do What Excites You

Look around your layout and find something that you're really in the mood to do - and do it! Of course, if you're already in the middle of something else and the "next" step "MUST" be done, well, you probably have to do that next, naturally.

But one of the consolations of having too much a large-ish layout, is that there is ALWAYS something you can find that you're actually in the mood to do. So do that! 

I think it can be really that simple.

Case in point: The photo above is a snip from a larger prototype photo of Middletown Yard taken by Kent Cochrane from the Arrigoni Bridge. I've always loved this photo since it not only shows a nice overview of the yard for modeling purposes, but it also shows the end of Miller Street, which is - if there is just one - THE signature scene of the whole layout (more on that scene here).

And, a close look (possible when you zoom in and blow up as I have here) reveals some cool details: a rare photo of Valley Local Conductor Bernie Edison (one of two I have), as well as the callbox he used to get northbound clearance for the local, the pole it's on, the callbox, the barrier at the end of Miller Street, etc.

Replicating photos and details like this is what REALLY excites me. So, instead of my usual sense of "overwhelmedness" when looking at the layout project I've bitten off, I decided to tried taking the much smaller bite of replicating this scene.

So next time you're at sea, not quite knowing what to do next and getting overwhelmed... instead of turning off the layout room and heading to the TV, just find one, small thing you can do that you're in the mood to do - whether it's snipping "airhoses" off of KD couplers, weathering a car, adding a few more pieces to a kit in progress, or even just gathering together the things you need to replicate a scene you love (which then often actually leads to your starting to replicate it!).

That's really the epitome of #DoOneThing which I spout on the Valley Local Facebook Group (and which, giving credit where due, is a variation of Tom Jacobs' #AnHourADay). If you just #DoOneThing, you'll find that progress just naturally happens. And if you find something that excites you each day, then doing that one thing will keep you regularly moving forward, despite any setbacks.

Which leads me to my (hopefully) brief announcement . . .

As I mentioned on the FB group early this morning (and since many of you aren't on FB I'll repost here), on Sept. 29, I was diagnosed with bone cancer. I just completed my fourth treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Hospital (DCFI) in Boston yesterday. After each treatment, except for short 30-45 min naps here and there, I’m awake for about 3 days. The sleeping pills aren’t helping much, but the end of my first cycle (8 cycles during this first round) is this Friday, so hoping they can get me dialed in with some better meds.

That’s the bad news - and the reason why you may see me mention Boston and DCFI from time to time.

Which is a nice segue to the good news. I’ve been under close monitoring for this since July 18 of last year. They knew it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when.” So they caught this at the earliest possible moment, I’m at the world’s best hospital for multiple myeloma, asymptomatic, already in a clinical trial, and the prognosis is good. And other than not sleeping much for three days of every week so far, I’ve had no bad side effects. We’ll reassess after completing the 8th cycle late May/early June next year. I actually consider myself very very blessed under the circumstances.

AND I've been making a lot of lemonade out of the lemons. During each treatment, I Google "historic diners between Boston and Providence" for lunch afterwards and have already discovered a couple...

And, in addition to the diners, I get to visit one of my favorite hobby shops every week now on the way home (instead of just a few times a year) - and sometimes even happen to see a friend I haven't in a while...

With Ray Arnott at AA Hobbies in Warwick, RI

Another place I get to visit regularly now, is the oldest continuously operating steam powered cider mill in the country . . .

B.F. Clyde's Cider Mill, Old Mystic, CT

So, actually, LOTS to be grateful for - in addition to the notable layout progress made possible by the insomnia induces by the crazy meds %^)

But that’s enough of that and I won’t mention it again since you’re here for the Valley Local - so let’s get to it! Here's how the scene is shaping up - compare to the photo at the top of the post . . .

That's not Bernie Edison, but an HO scale, resin printed version of my friend Chris Zygmunt, who is actually a conductor on the Valley Railroad (aka Essex Steam Train). He's certainly more formal than Bernie, with his full uniform and all, but he definitely helps recreate the scene I'm after. Rix telephone pole, a call box from an Atlas line pole kit, and a scratchbuilt road barrier begin to flesh things out. A "No Tresspassing" is next (barely discernable in the photo - it's located behind/to the left of the barrier & you're looking at its side since it faces the street).

But that'll be the subject of a future post, as I try and catch up this here blog with what's currently going on with the Valley Line - so stay tuned!