Sorry for the delay in updating our construction but it has been off and on for

the last several days. So, here are additional pictures of what has happened since

Page 4. Also it was suggested that we

"let us know more about the all the specifics you employ as you create",

We will attempt to do that as well.

First step we take each year is go enlist a 'thinking chair' where our ideas originate. In this picture, you will see my

thinking chair with the ugly brown pad on it. Of course I'm not in the picture (no wide angle lens). However my

granddaughter decided she also need a 'thinking chair' and thus, her's now sits next to mine. Yes, that is my chief

helper (Elf). I'm so very fortunate to have such a wonderful person to help me on the weekends. She is truly the

joy of my life.....and a good villager also. You will need to check back to see this year's edition of

'Snow Town'. You can visit her last year's display at THIS LINK.

Oh yes, you can see why the wife doesn't want any visitors this time of year. What a mess.

This upper level will be the ski area. The building in front is 'Smokey Mountain Retreat' and actually has smoke that comes

out of the chimney. The rocks are real and will be used in many places on the display.

Various positions for the buildings are tried until a final decision on placement is made. We position them, and then revert to our

'thinking chair' to decide if they need to be moved. You will note that more clouds have been moving in. We expect snow in

the very near future. Haylie and I had a lot of fun talking about the various things some of them looked like. What do you

see in them? Oh yes, 'Hog Mountain' is back. It's behind the white church. We will get a better picture on our next update.

This year there will be six or seven levels for the display. Some are raised off the buckets by using pieces of 2X4s that

are hot glued to the bottom of the board as can been seen in this photo. We have also decided on the location for the track.

There will only be one tunnel. We had thought about two, but that didn't fit into the overall plan. I ordered to tunnel portals

today which should be here by the weekend. I have an idea for this year's tunnel too that I will share as time moves along.

As usual cleaning the track and getting it train ready is quite a chore. Have about 2/3 of it done. The rest will be complete

tomorrow (I hope).

This shows part of the placement of buildings in the recreational area. The girder bridge in the lower part of the picture is

metal and purchased on an E-Bay auction. The river (with boats) will run from the larger bridge over the lake towards

the back to this bridge and to the side of the board.

We use a hole saw bit to drill the light cord holes in our boards. I have tried several types of bits however this one seems to

make less mess than others. I put my shop vac hose next to the bit when drilling to keep saw dust from going all over the

board. Some will drop to the bottom, but can be picked up with the vac and an extension hose. The buildings must be

placed before the holes are drilled, and the location of the buildings and holes marked. Once marked the buildings are

moved to a safe location and holes drilled.

Here you can see holes for light cords and street lights. The street light holes are drilled under where the brick street

sections are laid. Often however, they can also be brought up from the building cord holes.

This shows the final location of the buildings

The airport was moved to the mountain area. This was done because we drill smaller holes for runway lighting. This is an easier

location to do that.

One thing we have done each year is have lighting on different circuits. Here you can see the residential area lights on with

the yard decorations and street lights.

In this picture, the second level business district lights are on. Once cords have been installed on the next level, we will be

able to have all the business lights on one circuit.

We use an older type computer surge protector to control our lighting. This is postioned at the edge of the display and

will be covered with cotton batting with a flap that can be raised for access. One circuit will control the street, backing lighting

(sunset/sunrise) and lawn decorations. Another circuit will control the lighting for the businesses and another circuit for the

residential houses. This gives us the ability to give the illusion of businesses closed for the day and people at home. This

is great effect on making a video.