Tetsudou Musume Container Collection vol.3

As part of my ongoing efforts to get my children more interested in my little hobby, I got my daughter this set of Tetsudou Musume Containers Collection 3 (I had previously got her the Tetsudo Musume Figures).  Of course, my son's interests are more towards engines (although much more towards Xbox), but my daughter does enjoy the anime style and is learning to draw this way.

Of course, for 'dad', these containers are a cool and unique example of model railroading in Japan!  I have to admit, I think they're pretty cute as well!  I also have to say, the 'kid' in me really likes the TomyTec 'collection' boxes.  I've also done their building collection in addition to a car collection, and its a lot of fun to open up these boxes to see what surprises await!

The printing on these containers is satisfactory...close up views of the color images reveal the 'pixelization' process of the printing method used.  They are just plastic shells...no bottoms and extremely light.  I debate whether or not I should also get some TomyTec flat cars and set up a little train of these....maybe someday!

Of course, putting these on flat cars means I need to get my layout up to shape!  My current project is wiring to some of the new extension areas....I am hoping that this weekend will be the weekend I can put some trains back on the layout after spending a long time in their boxes! So off to work!

Downtown Graffiti and Railway Cut

As we all know, every major urban area with a railway will usually have two things....a below grade route for the trains and graffiti!  As part of my effort to move my trains further back from the edge of the layout (by simply attaching 4" or so boards to the edges) I've been able to add some features that weren't in my original plans, and make formally boring areas of the layout a little more interesting.

The graffiti decals are primarily from a seller on eBay, and overall I think they look quite good.  I still need to do a bit more weathering on the walls to hide the decal edges.

The bridge in the upper photo is a Tomytec bridge which will be appropriately weathered and...uhh...likely 'tagged' as the kids say these days.

Cathedral Update

I mentioned earlier my decision to move my cathedral and I got a lot of good suggestions and encouragement!  I'm glad that I noticed this and I really like how the new placement is turning out.

Note that of my different ideas at the time, I went with none of them, and instead put the cathedral in at an angle to the rest of the city blocks.  I think this looks the best of all the other possible combination!  Still need to detail and weather  my styrene sidewalks, connect the wiring for the church lights, add street lighting and other stuff, but overall I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out!
Along the backside of the cathedral property where the tracks run, I bought some of the Greenmax walls that I think will look really good when they've been painted and weathered.  I also got the Greenmax tram station kit for the tram line terminus adjacent to the church.