Well we are back. Did you have a profitable weekend? Let's see how we all did. As predicted, Friday was a day devoted to the other woman, Jess and her wheels and tires. I drove to nearby rural Indiana to get her wheels and tires and on the way saw some neat current and ghost railroad bits. The drive, a little under two hours one way, was a nice break. Saturday: I met up with my buddy and fellow Trainboard member, Steve (Zinker) for breakfast in Tremont, Illinois at the annual Turkey festival. Breakfast was all you can eat pancakes and sausage. I still needed some parts for Jess and had made arrangements for a pick up in nearby Pekin. More cool railroad action was seen in this heavy industrial area. I met up with Steve again and we headed to our "not so local" hobby shop as we both needed supplies. As with any hobby shop visit, a fair amount of bull session must take place. Once home, I set to installing the new wheels and tires on Jess and instantly transformed her to a more suitable railfan vehicle! The night ended with dinner and a movie Sunday: We started the day with brunch at a restaurant that Jared may work at part time. His potential boss thought it would be a good idea to come in and see "what they do." It was a great breakfast and nice break. Once home, I started work on the Galesburg City Job. I started by installing a set of NJ International grade crossing signals to Henderson Road. Next I freshened up some areas with more static grass as well as added some static grass to the yard area of the first module. I then added some gravel to the areas where the grade crossing signals were installed as well as any other bare spots. I now hope to get the grade crossing detection system installed in time for Galesburg next week. EEK! So how about you? How did you fare this weekend? Let us know what you ended up doing and if any projects, big or small, were completed. We'll meet back here this Friday the 15th and start off another weekend of modeling. Until then, have a great week, stay safe and as always... High Greens!
Yep as predicted nothing done Friday and Saturday. Almost nothing done Sunday but I did force myself to open the train room up. I laid the track for the roundhouse. That was a pain in the butt. I was tempted so many times to just leave and do it another day (which means it would never have gotten done). Today I hope to get back inside the train room and start the wiring of all the tracks. Another thing I hate doing. Then I can start ballasting. After ballasting I can then start building roads and crossings. Then all the ground foam, plants, trees, fences, and the population. Then I can move on to the next section which of course will be heavily forested. I think I see more tree construction in my immediate future.
Continued on the control panel for my new N Scale road. Mitered for the hinges and got them installed. I'm leaving the bottom of each frame loose for now so that I can work unencumbered when drilling the many holes in each black laminate panel and adding the electronics. (The bottom of each frame is just press fitted for the photos.) When complete, I'll slide the panels in place and complete the assembly. Plus, if I mess up, I can simply chuck the laminate panel and start again with spares that I set aside. The center space is dimensioned for a Kato power pack. I'll stain it when I complete the benchwork, which I have not yet started.
How does frustrated sound? I have a shell which was acquired via Shapeways. They ALL need to be cleaned before anything else happens, which requires a solvent named "Bestine". Bestine evaporates incredibly FAST. My supply, a four ounce can, is about gone. (I have tried other methods. They DO NOT work.) This item is usually found at art suppliers. The store where I last got any, has closed. Nobody else in the valley has any. Rats. Can't do anything!
Saturday: -- recuperated from our visit to Disneyland. Did some research for Lark. Sunday: Since I received the car sides for the Coffee shop/lounge, I moved it up in the assembly que. I shortened the core and added the underbody details. Next -- add roof details and drill holes in the sides for the grab irons. Hope Y'all had a great weekend, Wolf
After a couple months of disappointing results with a Digitrax UR90 IR panel in the fascia I decided to try mounting it in a new Location. How about 6' high on the most likely faced wall while operating. Works great now, but I did have to remove the front panel so it would pick up more extreme angles. Even the UT4 throttle works great now.
