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At the Chattanooga convention, I bought a Lehigh Valley Models interlocking tower kit from Dave. Blum The tower is now situated on my layout, labeled "PU (Putnam Hills) Tower." It sits at the junction between the electrified NH&N division and the steam-operated NY&NE division on my NYW&B. I did make some changes to the kit. Instead of using the kit's stairway components, I built a Kaw Valley stairway kit and attached it to the model. I also dug some individual peel-'n'-stick shingle strips from my stash of extra stuff and applied these to both the roof and the tower's "waist." I have also built three station benches from old Building & Structure Co. white-metal kits; painted four portable passenger steps, the kind that conductors place at the bottom of vestibule steps for passengers to get on and off the train; and started work on a set of four Model Tech Studios telephone booths. In between these tasks, I managed to dig out an Overland basket-case Reading camelback 2-8-0 that I bought at a fantastic price from the River Raisin boys years ago. Its rehab is now nearly complete; it just awaits a pair of eccentric rods from SSL&S, a decoder from NCE, and a paint job. My catenary has now been tuned up to the point of not causing any more dewirements, so the pans are now "up." A lot of foreign-road diesels are being mothballed as the electrics take over. Pictures will appear soon... Dick Karnes
