and spline roadbed, covering the splines with ½” Ten-Test,
a commercial paneling product. The track work was largely
complete by spring of 1984, with the exception of the city
of Wellington, which would be a later project. Wiring was
installed by May of that year, and the control panels in the
tower were wired up.
Opening for shows again
We planned to have our first set of weekend shows for
October of 1984. We wanted the layout to have a finished
look, even though it was far from that. We gave the layout a
plaster-over-wire-mesh covering and finished this with ground
cover made of dyed sawdust and chopped foam. Gwen had
been making trees throughout the construction phase, and
there were over 1,000 ready for planting. Over the next few
years many more trees and scratchbuilt structures were added.
As the night scene was being developed in 1987, building inte-
riors were installed, along with lighting. To operate the night
scene, Chuck constructed a slowly rotating drum. There are 64
micro-switches on cams of various lengths. These are wired to
the hundreds of lights in the buildings and street lights. Two
switches on the drum begin the dimming of the ceiling lights,
and after eight minutes bring them back up again.
Work on Wellington began about 1989, first installing the
benchwork and track, followed by designing and building the
structures, with completion about 1993. From then on, we
“... the night scene was
developed in 1987.”
