Thanks Shamus. To answer your immediate questions, the shay is a Bachmann 70 ton and the layout will have a Colorado/Utah mining theme. By the way, how does one copy an image directly to the thread (like everyone else does) rather than relying on a hyperlink?
A little about myself: I've been interested in model trains since I got my first HO Tyco set at age seven (I'm 33 now) for Christmas. I moved onto N scale and built a small 4x6 layout during junior high but left the hobby for many years due to high school, college , sports, girls (not necessarily in that order).
After I got married, I started having interest again to get back in the hobby and was always deeply inspired by Malcolm Furlow and John Olson's work with narrow gauge mining layouts. This is my second attempt at a layout since getting back into the hobby. My first layout was unfinished and had to be torn down a couple of years ago because I moved to Houston.
My current layout is an HO Utah/Colorado D&RGW-flavored shortline in standard gauge with a mining theme. It is an 18x3 dogbone with reversing loops at each end. The working title of the railroad is the "Mammoth & Eureka Railway". Mammoth and Eureka are both small copper mining towns in central Utah. The naming is sort of an homage to my grandmother who was born and raised in Mammoth. It is now a ghost town with few relics still standing but neighboring Eureka still exists.
As one can see from the photos, I still have a long ways to go but half the joy of model railroading is actually building the layout. As I progress, I'll continue to post more pictures.