NMRA Civil (Cont’d) & a New Moon

Without the printed guidebook for making my 90 degree crossing, I encountered some difficulties trying to proceed, relying on some rudimentary photos and diagrams.

But before abandoning this part of the project and reaching out to fellow NMRA members for assistance, I did manage to make the easy outer portions.

The challenge is the interior square with its guard rails and where to make the insulation cuts. That’s the guidance I am waiting for.

But on Sunday, I attended one of our virtual clinics — this one on lighting effects on a layout. And the clinician, John Sethian, who is amazingly talented on this topic, introduced us to a product I was not familiar with — an illuminated moon about three inches in size. He uses one for a moon effect on his layout landscape. I thought I’d do the same.

I propped the moon up between the wall and some flat backdrop rocks overlooking the town of Eureka. I obviously have to play with it some to obtain better effects — or improve my photography.

But I like it. Here’s what the moon looks like.

As you can see, it is quite authentic looking with craters and dark spots.

There are two light settings — pure white and a kind of yellow glow. It is powered by a USB connection and supposedly will run for hours before needing a recharge. The hand shape stand comes with the product. I bought it through Amazon. It’s called Mydethun Moon Lamp Moon Light Night Light for Kids Gift for Women USB Charging and Touch Control Brightness 3D Printed Warm and Cool White Lunar Lamp(3.5In moon lamp with stand)

I’ve thought about supergluing some clear fishing line to the moon and then suspending it over the layout. But that might make recharging problematic so I’ll have to think more about how best to deploy it.

Still, it’s nice to have a moon over Eureka.