We are back from what was hopefully a busy and productive weekend. Let's see how it all turned out. Saturday: was as predicted. The rain came in, mid morning which did nothing to slow my progress. After watching a few informative videos on line regarding woodworking, I was off to the garage. I spent the morning setting up the shop and making inventory of Module Mk.IV. For this new lightweight version, the dimensions are the same as before, 48 inches long by 18 inches wide. The big difference is that the module is made up entirely of Birch Ply with just a simple flat top. The end plates are actually to FreeMo standards and are made from 3/4-inch ply, while the sides and inner stringers are 1/4-inch ply. Since the module is completely held together with furniture grade wood glue, the inside of the two 1/4-inch ply sides are routered 1/8-inch deep by 1/4-inch wide so the stringers lock in. It took some time to engineer this and I have documented everything as I have at least four more modules to build after this. By Saturday night I had this. The middle 1/4-inch stringers are 3-inches tall and will butt up against the 1/4-inch plywood table top. I need room for the folding legs. Sunday: More videos on woodworking, followed by more time in the garage building jigs that will be used in future construction. I started working on legs which are made from 3/4-inch ply cut 1.75 inches wide and 1/4-inch ply cut 2 inches wide to form a light weight but none warping L girder style leg. The legs are 46.5 inches long and when set up, will have the layout sit about 50 inches high, also FreeMo standards. "Wait, Jim! Your buddy and your current modules sit at 54 inches!" Never fear! At the end of the L leg is a 2-inch by 2-inch 3/4-inch square with a hole and T-Nut centered and glued to the bottom of the leg. This holds the adjusting bolt, but I have designed a small 4-inch adjuster leg to allow me to connect with Bill's modules. So Sunday I worked on engineering the legs. Everything is just dry fit now to leave room for adjustments and documentation. All in all, it's coming together better then I had expected. The rest of the day was spent with Ang and a nice quiet dinner and some visit time with my daughter and her boyfriend. So how about you? What did you get accomplished this past weekend? Let us know. We'll assemble again on Friday the 13th! Hmm, perfect for the month of October eh? Until then, stay safe, have a great work week and as always... High Greens!
Module work there is clean as a pin. Good job Jim. This weekend I spent getting track down at the eastern approach into Albemarle City. 15' siding, east and west bound main lines, passenger siding at the station, freight approach into Albemarle City, and the last leg of the "wye" into the staging yard. Also cleaned up most of the benchwork on the opposite side of the room making way for more plywood and track.
The plaster pour went relatively well, on the rock face next to the tracks. A bit of mad scrambling for paper towels during the first pour - and a minor cleanup after hearing that dreaded sound of a thick liquid hitting a carpet - but the rest went well and I found the result quite satisfactory when the sun came out between two rain squalls and lit it up at just the right angle. I ran a train by there to check out clearances and all is fine!
We had this little visitor named Nate down on the coast this weekend. So Friday evening and Saturday morning were spent clearing out the yard and porches, fueling and icing trucks and coolers (right before the ice machines in the harbor were removed to prevent storm surge damage) and boarding up the south facing windows (which we were already getting bids to replace).Saturday evening was spent with the family waiting for the hurricane, and sunday was mostly the reverse of Friday with the added "bonus" of lots of small and medium sized branches to pick up. I also got started on a major Honey Do Sunday - a shed on the west side of the house for the wife's kayak and my coolers and shrimp boil pots. Oh, and I have parts coming as part of my slow creep toward a TP-56 kitbash as recently seen here.
Glad you came through the storm in decent condition! I have seen video of that "TP56" switcher. Very cool! I would love to own one of the real units!
Thanks @BoxcabE50. Several of the casinos east of us in Biloxi took water in their parking garages, and beach side piers were heavily damaged. US 90 (runs along the beach here) is mostly reopened, and CSX started running trains again late yesterday after completing the necessary bridge inspections.
February 22, 1953 was the only time that the Pacific Electric ran a PCC on the Santa Monica Airline. Fortunately for the Pacific Electric fan, there are at least two pictures of this, one at the West Hollywood freight station and one at the Santa Monica freight station.
