12th Anniversary of this Blog!

December 17th marked the 12th anniversary of this blog. In keeping with what has become a blog anniversary tradition, here are a few numbers, going back to December 2012*, first month I actually took notice of these statistics! For some reason I didn't do a post last year, so there's no 11th anniversary stats! 

I started this blog to create a diary of sorts that would document the building, rebuilding and operating my home layout. As of today, there's a total of 975,845 unique page views! That's an increase of 163,365 since the 10th anniversary post - roughly 81,700 a year for 2021 and 2022. 

As I noted two years ago, that's not as many new views per year as prior years, but while blog traffic isn't increasing much, it's remained fairly stable. 

Here are the top ten  posts from the past 12 months (you can find these by entering the post title in the search box to the right of your screen):

That's enough looking back - looking forward what do I plan for the coming year? 

First of all, I'm really going to make a concerted effort to upload videos to my YouTube channel on a regular basis. Two things have gotten in the way of video uploads in the past year - first of all I was really focused on getting several aspects of the layout complete. I also wanted to avoid a string of videos (and blog updates for that matter) that featured benchwork shots and nothing else! Secondly, and more importantly, I needed to work through the mechanics of doing decent videos. While my videography is far from perfect, I think have it at a point where it's at least watchable! So look for more videos in the coming year. 

And you can find my channel by searching YouTube for "CVSNE" or simply clicking the link HERE. 

What's the plan for the layout itself in 2023? 

I'd like to get some additional "open country" scenery completed - that includes finishing the river crossing area. Work is already well along with literally dozens of pieces of Central Valley girders covering my modeling desk! 

The other big planned project for 2023 is to upgrade/update, and complete a myriad of locomotive projects. So look for blog posts (and perhaps videos!) on getting some of those key players out of their boxes and onto the track! 

I'm continually surprised, thrilled, and more than a little humbled at how many people follow (and I hope enjoy!)  my various corners of the model railroad internet. 

In the meantime please accept Christine's and my wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year!