Thanks to
host Tom Washburn and his lovely wife for hosting us yesterday for a
first-time layout open house at their beautiful home in Burke,
Virginia. Our visitors enjoyed the Washburn’s gracious hospitality and
their very nice spread of cookies, snacks, and beverages. Visitors were
treated to, among other features, a look at very well built
bench work consisting of old school construction, solid open framework,
cabinet grade plywood and Homasote for the track. This was a great
opportunity to see the "bones" of a layout before the scenic cover was
installed. Tom had installed DCC control for this iteration of his
layout. The track work on Washburn was superb; Tom mentioned that his
open house deadline prompted him to tear down his HO scale layout and
re-build it for his greater enjoyment. Tom also mentioned he would be
game to host another open house in 1 – 2 years. He appreciates the
progress that a deadline promotes.
We
learned that Tom is a retired military officer with the Provost
Marshall. Tom proudly displayed the Potomac Division Certificate of
Appreciation he had received by mail prior to his open house date.
Thanks
to Reston’s Nigel Philips for serving as greeter.