January 7John Purbrick has installed some white LEDs in the building he has been working on in Middle Heights. The LEDs are unfortunately quite a bit bluer than most white LEDs, though not quite as blue as it looks like in the picture. They are very bright however, and cast neat shadows out the windows. John says: “I got the LEDs on sale at the Target store when they were selling off leftover Christmas stuff cheap. I didn’t notice that it was a Blue Light Special.” Tom threatened me with violence when I said this in the clubroom. Update: John McNamara contributed a yellow plastic report cover, of which a small section was installed as a filter for the lights in the building. It’s not perfect, but it’s a big improvement--a reasonable match for fluorescent light. Now that there’s light in the building it’s in need of furniture, and we had some little tables and chairs in garish colors, so that’s what’s in there. Someone said, “How 1970s”. January 12The Digital Widgets factory, which literally dates back to before the Flood (in our old clubroom) has been rehabilitiated by John McNamara and installed adjacent to F-Yard, and now has a properly constructed siding with a few weeds to suggest the right level of industrial activity. January 14 With help from a visitor named Sid, John McNamara worked on the hillside above the river scene. More plaster cloth was layed on the carboard shell, and a mounting frame was installed for the lower tunnel portal. Other aspects of the scene were also discussed. John Purbrick configured a new block and a dwarf signal to go with it at the western exit of the freight yard. Here’s a picture of the signal. It’s a bit small, so there are two. The new block gaps aren’t very photogenic. And the ballast needs work. January 18 Trolley wire has appeared, all the way to the far end of the trolley loop. Well, only on one track, and in a temporary manner for now. The wire is tied off to a lead block in front of the Gifford City police station. Unfortunately for the MITCo crew, the block is likely to be ticketed and towed before the work is completed.