We had another great Open House! We were happy to welcome kids from 3 to over 80! Now we are off to study for finals, and then we'll do lots of stuff during IAP.

Andy Leiserson and James Knight installed two telephones at opposite ends of P-Yard. These are connected to the PC-based telephone system that Mike Newman donated some time ago. In conjunction with previously completed installations, the new telephone system, like the old one in building 20, will radically reduce the need to shout across the room during Open House.

David Maze did some line-side scenicing near where the mainline crosses the Whatahack River before passing the turntable lead. Andy Miller continued his work on the building that will form the back side of the Caveat Emptor department store. This building will face the mainline and the public. Ed Drozd worked on a nifty set of double doors that he is adding to the building next to Coca-Bubblie.

John Purbrick worked on the cardboard mockup of an addition to Andy Miller's REA / Amtrak Express building. This addition will be an integral part of the back of the building and will enclose the display portion of the P-Yard computer terminal. John McNamara painted a towel dispenser, sink, and toilet for the rest room in the roundhouse. He mounted the towel dispenser and drilled the sink for faucet installation. Ken Terrell performed further testing of the Acela train set that he ran at the Open House.

John Purbrick worked on the 'inside wall' of the Railway Express agency, to separate the building from the laptop monitor. Bill detailed the roof of the vegetable oil facility. Ed did some work on the 50th Anniversary locomotive, which was suffering of extra-paint-in-the-motor syndrome. Plus, he continued detailing the buildings around the CocaBubblie area. Malcolm continued work on the Berkmanville area. JP & Alvar found new blades for the bandsaw, which is currently bladeless :-( Alvar mangaed lots of finances. At the end of the night Stefano and Alvar ran their respective European trains: Alvar ran his high speed ICE train and Stefano an Italian Era IV locomotive which he super-detailed.

David Maze finished his line-side scenicing near where the mainline crosses the Whatahack River before passing the turntable lead. Looks great! He then prepared for scenic work within the residential area trolley loop (as opposed to the city area trolley loop) by making a scale drawing of the area. Andy Miller continued his work on the building that will form the back side of the Caveat Emptor department store. It is starting to come together very nicely. Ed Drozd worked on an air conditioning unit that is atop the telephone company building. He also assisted John McNamara in cutting and installing a Masonite underlayer for the roundhouse parking lot. This will boost the parking lot slightly so that scenic material can be easily added to the area. Ken Terrell painted some of his equipment.

David Maze did additional planning for scenic work within the residential area trolley loop and also got a tour of System3 from John Purbrick. Andy Miller continued his work on the Caveat Emptor department store. Mal Laughlin's "grading crew" extended the roadbed to the new Berkmannville, and will be making a few adjustments. John McNamara finished raising the roundhouse parking lot and did additional work on the roundhouse restroom. Ken Terrell painted some of his equipment.

John Purbrick brought in the latest version of the System3 IMP (interface processor) and its companion software on the PC. The new software has a slightly different appearance (occupied and available tracks shown as 3 pixels wide, powered blocks display both block and cab numbers). It also drives the little PC that Alvar installed as a control panel for P-yard; you can do assignments and throw switches from there if you can handle the tiny trackball. "Plus, of course, the IMP has flashing lights, of which we had far too few before."