It was really only a matter of time before the search for Sylvia Meisner became more serious. Oh, not that folks haven't been serious already, they are. They're serious about a lot of things like taking care of all the visitors to Maple Valley that arrive, literally, by the trainload every day. They're serious about …
Continue reading Scandal at Maple Valley – Episode 13: Sylvia Meisner’s House
In case you haven’t been following the news in Maple Valley on a regular basis, I will fill you in. Sylvia Meisner disappeared nearly a month ago. Several people saw and spoke to her one day, she was gone the next. In fact, figuring out who the last person to speak to Sylvia actually was …
I can't stress enough that you can do this. Believe me, if I can paint backdrops and have them turn out half-way decent, you can do it too. In Part 1, I included a list of the paint colors most often used for painting backdrops. All of the paint is acrylic, which cleans up easily …
Continue reading How I Painted Backdrops for My Model Railroad – Part 2
First, let's get this straight. I am not an artist (and maybe you'll agree when you look carefully at the photos of my backdrops.) The only time I have ever taken an art class was in the 7th grade. Mr. Nagle gave me good grades for my drawings but my interest in art didn't grow. …
Continue reading How I Painted Backdrops for My Model Railroad – Part 1
I don't know anything more frustrating than having a beautiful model railroad but not being able to keep train cars on the track long enough to enjoy it. Face it, you can have glorious scenery with incredible detail down to the smallest blade of grass. Your livestock looks like it could stampede at any moment. …
Quintin O'Dillmotte's alarm clock screams at 4:30 a.m. He wants to be the first one up, the first one on the streets, making sure everything is ready for the Maple Valley Independence Day Celebration. He is very proud to be the chairperson of the planning committee for this great event. Overcoming the crape paper disaster …
The last train out of Maple Valley left the center of town at 9:00 p.m. Many visitors stayed all day to help us celebrate the start of tourist season. We expect all of the trains to be full today and all available tickets tomorrow are gone. Two big celebrations within three days means a tremendous …
Quintin O'Dillmotte has been working very hard to bring our town to complete readiness in anticipation of the Maple Valley Independence Day Celebration. Erasing all potential reminders of the crape paper disaster of last year is more important to him than planning for this year. So far, talk about a repeat has been minimal. Everyone …
A Coffee State of Mind 