The title of this post, Ùr a’ Tòiseachadh, is Gaelic for "New Beginning". This will be a hint that the HOn3 Denver & Rio Grande Western as discussed in this blog has been dismantled. However, as the title indicates, a new HOn3 layout based upon the D&RGW and the RGS will be constructed!
My wife and I decided to move to Western North Carolina upon our retirements. We found a location in which to build our new log home (http://grandviewpeaks.blogspot.com/), which has a large basement that can easily accomodate a much expanded Colorado Narrow Gauge layout. The house has been completed, and I anticipate construction on the layout will commence by November 1. Meanwhile, I am working on other small modelling projects.
My first project consists of changing the couplers on all of my rolling stock from Kadee 714s to Sergent Engineering's scale coupler (http://sergentengineering.com/). These couplers are operated by a magnet inserted between the cars, which lifts a small steel ball, releasing the knuckle. The advantage to these couplers is that the "coupler bounce" has been eliminated, and the appearance is more prototypical. I will post photos of converted rolling stock shortly.
