I feel your pain, Rick. The search thru a lumber pile to find straight pieces is painful... From Reddit:
I don't know if congratulations is in order Today, the 19th of October, marks the end of two years in Idaho Country. And, I'm still not crazy about it. I've made some friends. We don't seem to get together like the bunch of us that got together in Big Bear Country. Just the nature of fine folk here. I have a Union Pacific train yard I can go down to... you know to watch trains. I can drive around it but there's no where to stop, without getting approached by...either private security or UP Police. It's only happened once, as I don't stay in one place long enough. There's no lookout or place you can look down from a bridge that is safe to do so. So, it's a flat-landers scene and for the most part the trains are relatively look alike. Never mind that UP doesn't make an effort to clean their motors. In reference to the Electric motors, that move them. Wasn't sure I was looking at SP from some time in the past. There's a stash of interesting motors and I haven't been able to get close enough to see what kind. MK and it's predecessor have closed down. Allegedly GE bought them out and moved everything over the border to Canada. The test track east of Boise-town is...what? We don't seem to know. The MK 5000 and according to a mechanic that worked on them. They put out 15 of them, mostly for SP. No idea where they are today. Wouldn't I like a N Scale model of one! Well, anyway. Now to use the almost straight wood I was able to buy and get the L girder on. The previous, warped one, taken off that truck load...LOL. It made a difference as in added rigidity to that section of layout. I should have done it to start with. If it didn't add rigidity, I wouldn't of messed with it, in the first place. Then it will be time to put the legs on, get it flipped over and tie the two sections together. Then the fun will start as I work to replace damaged track and finally get a main line back up and running. Thanks for all the comebacks and likes. Thanks for sharing this experience with me. Wherever it leads. More Later.
I love it where I am. Much safer than where I once called "home". But the hobby folks here, up north of you, are pretty much the same as yours. A good number of people in this pastime in my vicinity, but few ever seem to touch base.
Makes sense. Best description: Lone Wolves. A certain amount of security in being a lone wolf. There are two clubs in the area. One in Nampa and the other in Caldwell. They are a bunch of good guys and gals. I enjoy their camaraderie, that is when I'm able to go. I don't always find myself fitting in. The best way to put this is in Caldwell, they are more Toy Train Operators. Don't get me wrong I can play with the best of them but that's not my thing. The cost of membership is prohibitive, at least for now. So, I tend to concentrate on my own labors and model railroad. With it's rewards. Thanks for the comeback.
Hard to believe it has been 2 years since you made the move Rick! Time is just flying. I live in a big metro area and there's not a lot of that modeler interaction that goes on here either. Sadly, I think it's as much a change in the generations as it is anything else.
The one thing I've noticed about the people here in Idaho is they are self reliant, educated, and kind hearted. Which comes together to make some of the best ranchers and farmers. They can coax a crop of your choosing out of the ground and deliver produce that is amazingly delicious. They managed to set-up irrigation systems that deliver usable (not potable) water to most everyone here in Treasure Valley. Near as I can tell this has been a desert years before these fine people arrived. So, they have my respect. Having worked on a farm as a youngster it feels like home but when I look around it's not. BNSF Fan, I was looking at your stat's and noticed you have a lot of likes and few trophies/points. Not sure how this work but it had me scratching my head?? In the meantime thanks for the come back and the likes. I've got to get busy the air is clear and the temperature is perfect. Time for some woodwork. Later.
Did you celebrate with a loaded baked potato at Wendy's? One of the MK5000 locos ran as a lease unit for many years. It might be back in Boise. Most of the others ended up on the Utah Ry. The Caterpillar engines weren't successful, so they were replaced with EMD engines from retired SD50s or GP50s. Those locos are now designated as MK50-3. More recently, several of the Utah units went to the Kyle RR (a Genesee & Wyoming line) running in KS and CO. https://www.gwrr.com/railroads/north_america/kyle_railroad
Yeah, I'm one of Rick's lone wolf neighbors. Being a Z Scaler almost excludes me from being considered a real model railroader as most people think Z Scalers have a tiny 2 x 4 board, with nothing much to see. I live 30 minutes away in North Meridian, and have met with Rick for lunch and to talk trains, but I pretty much keep to myself as far as trains go, what with the Covid happening. I was planning on starting a T Trak Z modular club this year, but Covid has that on hold, so I have slowly been working on my modules all lone wolf like. At least it's good hear Rick is back at his layout, and I can follow his progress here.
Because the software glitched a couple of years ago. Since then it isn't working as it should. Charlie did something to it, I think that was late last year. But it has never caught up. If I wanted t take note of it, my total should be much higher, too. Here is the page on how it totals up: https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?help/trophies
No, I didn't. They changed up or down the potato's they are selling. Not as good as when I first got here. Never mind. Seems the monies are running on the short's this month. I have to be sure I can feed my colony of feline friends and it's going to be close. Ray is one of the very few who've taken an interest in what I'm doing and since I'm into small trains with wide sweeping curves and he is into authenticity and prototype train equipment. We then have both have something in common. That we both like. I do follow what Ray is doing. I want to get over to his place to see his modules. The last time we tried we both had a cough, Covid 19 was a threat and still looming on the horizon. Little did we know it was already here and creating havoc. So we decided it was best to sit it out. Ray isn't the typical lone wolf as he will take his modules to train shows to inspire others. Z Scale or N Scale is still Model Railroading. Do I dare say at a premium cost? Cost for both scales has been going up as of late. I spotted a set of Micro-Trains Heavy Weights/Standard passenger cars and then noticed they were Z scale. They are producing some nice stuff. Ray and I, we do talk on the phone, perhaps the safest way to get together because of the Chinese Disease. I wondered what happened to the MK's. I didn't think the MK engines would hold up. Just a hunch. I don't like the new paint scheme of the Genesee & Wyoming line. At all. But then nobody asked me. I prefer the old Utah Railway paint scheme. The history of the Utah R&R intrigues me. I hate change. Although inevitable. I need to get some breakfast and get this day started. Feline munchkins have been fed. Pee pads loaded up. Time to collect them and then clean out the honey pots. Then it will be time to get the L-girder installed. Didn't feel well yesterday so took the day off. Typical hay-fever stuff for this time of year. Our pollen count seems to be high. So far no signs of California smoke. They can keep it in their state as far as I'm concerned. Have a good day all. Oh and before I forget. Thanks for your interest in this thread. I'll try to get some more interesting pictures to post of the layout. Won't be long and I'll be shooting new pic's. Till then, later.
I appreciate the response. Now I have a better understanding. I'll tell you what... you and BNSF can share my trophies. My trophy case is getting heavy and I don't have room for my trophy trains.
Ha ha. Also, in my case, I have outrun the top numbers originally set into the software. So it stopped counting...
I can look forward to the same thing happening. Honestly it doesn't much matter to me unless TB backs it up by sending you a free special run car when you reach a certain number of trophies. Have fun!
I swear when I notice my cats looking at me, they are thinking to themselves "If my human doesn't add kibble to my bowl I am going to have to eat him... now just how am I going to be able to do that... Lemme think on that..." To my small feline pride if the bottom of the bowl can be seen in any way they think the bowl is empty and resort to the line above this one!
I can see that happening. I've seen the same look in the eyes of this colony of mine. My guess is they will bring in a mountain cat in to do the honor's. On another note, is b flat okay? The L girder has been fitted, cut and screwed in place. One more to go and photo's to take. After that come the legs. Not very pretty but quite sturdy.
Yep, I sure miss the Tuesday night Operations at the Gulf & Pacific Railroad! At least we got together several dozens of times, and have plenty of movies and pictures to bring back the memories!
Thanks John, what a surprise to get up to these pictures. What positive memories. You can't tell from these pictures that John A. is an avid Rail-fan and Model Railroader. Can you? He embraces Railroading, full on and no apologies. Never Sorry! The group is a collectic group of guys. Retired Navy, NHRA enthusiast (can you tell?) Mountain Man. The professional in the group was the second gentleman from the left Ron Core. He is a Conductor for BNSF and taught us a lot about realistic operations. The first person left to right, Greg, Ron, Stuby, and Steve H. Sadly Steve left the rest of us behind to fend for ourselves. He was the DCC Guru in the group. John Acosta and I managed to stay hidden in these pictures but he's the soul reason we are there. A shout out of thanks to you John. It was fun and I loved operating trains (not running them) on your layout. Plenty to do and we would seldom call it a evening early, unless it was extremely cold outside. It did that in Big Bear Country. Ice snow and sometimes during the fall we had fire. A real threat in that neck of the woods. Do you see the red flag? Right in front of Greg. We had flag-stops for the mixed freights that roamed the railroad delivering express mail, packages and passengers. On occasion Water cars were expressed to a town who didn't have a well. Are you seeing it yet? I miss all of you. At times regretting the move to Idaho Potato Flats. Okay that's enough, no it's never enough. Good times for sure. Saluting all of you.
