Tonight I was able to spend some time on the walkway. The scribing is done and I've drilled 31 holes with a .8mm drill bit. Then I cut 31 pieces of 030 styrene rod. Each piece was cut 3/4 inch in length and I began putting them in one by one. I used a depth gauge to set the stantion height and let the rod run long through the hole. Once the plastic weld took hold, I cut off the excess from the bottom. As you can see, I'm a little more than half done. The other side has fewer rods to set so I should be able to finish this phase tomorrow. Will probably not get to the railings until next week. As always, thanks for checking in. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
You are keeping really busy lately! Do you have a time frame for a first official and full fledged operating session? If so, be sure to have the video cameras going!
We keep talking about it, but every time we get close something gets in the way. My guys are not getting any younger and health is becoming a hurdle. About a month ago I had Doug and Rey spot and retrieve cars and bring them to Renton. That went very well. I'm still concerned we need another passing siding, but we won't know if that's true unless we try it as is. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Normally I'd like that post, but I don't want to send the wrong message to a buddy. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
After 10 days in Virginia enjoying the in-laws, I final got back and set to work on the bin walkway. It started with setting the final height of the posts. I cut a piece of styrene tube just under a scale 42 inches high. You can see it here on the right. Then it is just a matter of putting the tube over each post and trimming off any excess. This process is important that you take your time. Getting the tube seated properly is the difference between the correct height or not; you'll see what I mean later. Once that was done I started with a trim piece to give the front edges a uniform look and to cover any imperfections that developed along the way. I started by bending the piece to fit the most complex angle and then gluing it in place. Once done it needs to be set aside to dry thoroughly. After about 20 minutes I came back in and started gluing the edge to the rest of the walkway. I glue about an inch at a time, then place a 123 block against it to hold it in place. Then it's rinse and repeat until done. Last night I added the railings. The process is slow but steady. First step was to rough up the rod to get a better adhesion once glued. I put a dab of plasti-weld on both pieces, usually working two at a time, and worked my way to the end. Once I got close to a bend I grabbed the rod with tweezers and formed the bend, then came in and glued it in place. Here is the nearly complete walkway being test fit between the bins. It looks good so far, actually needs a couple of tweaks on the far left edge as it appears the posts are too high there. As I said earlier, the post trimming stage is very important. I'll let that sit in place until tomorrow. Then I will decide if I can live with the railing issue. If not, I'll pull the last couple posts, drill them out and put in new ones, this time at the correct height. We'll see. The final item is the middle railing, I normally use 010x020 strip and as fate has it, never checked if I had any before starting. So we wait. Thanks for checking in. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
