First and foremost, although I and a diehard RED SOX fan, I simply must say to all my fellow baseball fans in Illinois and far removed, Great Job CHICAGO CUBS! The curse is lifted after watching one of the best World Series games ever! Well November is here, and with it come the cooler and shorter days, which means more shop time. For me, this is the last weekend to get work done on the modules before leaving early next weekend for Trainfest. I am now about 90% finished on these small centralized control panels which will make operations a bit easier. Originally, I had surface mounted the Tam Valley push buttons flush into the fascia with the intention of using black stripe tape to make a continuous track diagram, however that never really worked out. In the end, it made it a bit difficult to know which button threw which turn out. A few nights on the computer for research and digitally creating the diagram, a few weeks designing and building the boxes, then laminating the card stock diagram, mounting of the components and here we are. I built the mini control panels to be removable so transportation of the modules is not affected. The panels simple screw into the layout sides with the help of a T-Nut in the control panel box and a machine screw threaded through the module side and into said T-Nut. All of the Tam Valley servo controls have plug they plug into and will be labeled soon. So with this project all but done, I still need to install two more turnout servos and fix some track before next week. I really want to take care of all my track work this weekend. The other big to do on my list is the construction of at least three more buildings as well as paint them. If I get these two major projects done this weekend, I'll be a happy man. The major project I have for tomorrow is modifying Jess to transport all of this to Milwaukee. Alas, with my impending move to NH, I really don't need the Cherokee anymore so it is up for sale. It will be tight, but thanks to the rack I have built for the modules, it should be possible. Worst case scenario, if by Sunday night I see it is not, then off to the rental car business. So how about you? What do you have planned for this weekend? Let us know! We'll come back on Monday the 7th to see how we all did. Until then, have a great weekend, stay safe and... High Greens!
I see final ballasting touch ups and ground cover in my future. That's if the weather isn't too nice for November and I end up outside all day. Maybe I'll use that extra hour we get this weekend to clean track and run some trains.
Now that I finally laid down my streets -- I can proceed with ground cover. That's about it. Hope ya'll have an outstanding weekend, Wolf
