I placed two bus wires (two uncovered, heavy-gauge wires) under the section to be connected to the main track power, and then reconnected the DS44 stationary decoder to this bus. The barrier strip will provide the connection to the rest of the layout's DCC bus.

Before installing the track, I decided to cut and prepare the throwbars first. I drilled a hole in the end of the throwbar for the Tortoise actuating rod. I also cut the throwbar's copper surface so that the rails are insulated. This is always hard to do after the track has been installed.

The next step was to start weathering the ties.

And then, time for ballasting. I used my favorite Arizona Rock and Minerals' "Pennsylvania Railroad Part # 1051" mixed with some "Yard Mix".

I had previously marked off the areas for the two industrial areas, but the rest could receive some scenery. Normally I do all the track work before getting into the scenery stage, but I decided to do the scenery first this time; at least the ground cover. I painted the plywood with a basic brown tone. I then painted some areas with green.

I then glued mixed green and dark green Woodland Scenics ground cover. I also tried something completely different. I was cleaning up the shed in the backyard when I found a bag of Vermiculite having falling over and spilled all over the floor. As I was putting it back into the bag, I thought "hey, this would make for some good N-scale rocks"! As shown in the photo on the right and below, it looks very convincing. It will now become a permanent part of my scenery "techniques".