Ten wheelers running just fine after a decade

[p51]

Maybe I'm risking a jinx, but oh well...
On August 12, 2014, I ran the very first movement of a locomotive on my layout, using ET&WNC # 12 on a small section of the layout with a spur in place. My friend Robert Scott and I started laying track from one end to the other and had maybe gotten 4 feet of mainline in at this point, on plywood bench work. I didn't have a lot of confidence in my modeling ability at the time, having been out of the hobby for many years. I didn't think much would come from this other than a way to have fun running my own trains instead of waiting for op session on other layouts.
Within two years of this photo, scenery was in place and I've been improving stuff ever since.

Ten years later exactly, here's the same locomotive. This area is more of staging area with scenery. But had someone told me the layout would be in almost two dozen magazine articles, three commercial videos (including a Blu-Ray) and many dozens of visitors over the years, I'd have told that person they were nuts!

It's been an amazing journey to get to where it is today. I am continually surprised at how well my work has been received over the years.