A lot of time has gone by and not a lot has changed in the town on the GIRR Mountain Division. There have been some changes though. This town still doesn't have a name, various buildings call it Colorado Springs or Silverton, but these signs will be changed out someday when I decide on what the name of the town really is.

Another view from that same position shows the "back" side of the town with the still unfinished building block in the background.

I did add a Sheriff's office to the building block, it was just finished today. The sign says, Sheriff, B. Masterson ESQ.

I'd built this hotel from a PV sheet "kit" sometime around 2000, but it finally got a sign, the Notel Hotel.

This is a view looking from the other end of the town.

This view is a slightly different angle as my camera doesn't have a wide enough lens to capture it all in one picture.

I added the boardwalk and awnings to the bank building (which still needs a sign) and also built the boardwalk and awning for the sheriff station. I'm not sure what to name the bank, it might be the "Third Fifth Bank" because I keep getting phishing email for such a non-existent institution.

This was a Mack dump truck kit that I got years ago. The load is real Welsh steam coal that I got from a live steamer friend.

Later I also got a Mack log truck. I rusted this one pretty good, but the rust is too uniform, I'll have to mess it up a little more.

There is considerable activity in front of the freight station. What is notable about this photo is the mess of little foam chunks all over the place. if you look carefully, the fruit in the baskets is all chewed up. I had a REALLY hungry mouse in there for awhile.

This is your standard Aristo barn building with some Just Plain Folks figures in and around it. Some of the animals probably came from Michael's, a craft store chain with outlets all around the Los Angeles area. Their figures are pretty inexpensive, about $1 each.

My saloon is also a pleasure palace. A miner has apparently gone inside for a diversion and a couple of the ladies have stepped out for some sun.

There is a guard dog by the back door of the saloon just to make sure that nobody sneaks in that way.

At the recent Big Train Show, i bought six plastic trees from the Just Plain Folk booth. There were $9 for the smaller ones and $15 for the larger ones. After I got them home and got a good look at them, I wish that I had bought more of them. I could probably use 30 more. I "planted" them in the town and they really do make a visual difference, helping to fill in the empty spots.

Compare this picture the one immediately above. The town has seen some serious construction work. All the "ground" surfaces have been textured, all the track has been ballasted, a road has been installed, the trolly runs down the middle of it, more trees have been planted and the lift out building block at the rear has been finished. Except for a painted backdrop, the town area is FINALLY COMPLETE. It took 14 years to get this far.

This is a view looking from the other side showing the two new building fronts on the lift out access panel. The surface texturing is done with real decomposed granite, sifted and graded for size. The DG was dry spread and glued down from a pump spray bottle. See Basic Scenery Tips for the easy technique.

The bank finally got a name. I got hundreds of phishing emails from the "Third Fifth Bank" so I decided to at least define a place for them to come from.

Main Street is now complete. All the buildings on the left are simply fronts attached to a wooden frame. The whole frame can be lifted out to provide access to the back of the layout. There are also no roofs on these buildings so that I can stand up inside the building block and reach over the top to work on detail at the back.

The trolly line tunnels have been textured with plaster rock castings and dirt.

On top of the tunnels, there is a corral filled with cows, some wild horses and fruit trees. The cows were from Michael's craft stores for about $4 each. The corral is built up from balsa. The horses were from a local chain called The Dollar Tree. They were $1 each. The fruit trees are from Schneider's (Just Plain Folk) and cost $9 each.