This weekend got off to a great start with my son’s football team wining their playoff game. The Drexel Hill Raiders Pee Wee Varsity defeated the Chester Panthers 7-0 in a well played game. We don’t yet know who we are playing in the semi-finals. The rest of the weekend end was spent recuperating from being out in the cold at the game and doing some grocery shopping. I did continue gluing pink foam down for the basic shape of the mountain and tunnel. The mountain will act as scenic break for the layout.
After a false start a couple weekends ago, I finally installed my new workbench and actually did a little modeling. Haven't had a work area for a couple months. Also hit a train show, and managed to bring home some bargain booty, including an autographed book, a Cornerstone kit for a buck, and some cars and trailers (goody more weathering).
After no progress for over a year, I finally got back on it this weekend. I ripped out a road I build with Walthers Road kit, since it was full of little bubbles. I recreated it with joint compound, and it's still curing, so I won't know the final result until it's sanded down. I fixed the stuck turnout by sliding an Exacto knife under it to loosen it, and putting a few drops of alcohol on it. After cleaning it out, it works!! Thanks to all the suggestions on the thread I started. I also made a little progress on the fire station, and finalized my other structures. There's a little scratchbuilding in my future!
As I suspected, I didn't have a chance to work on any models this week. My clinic on Sunday went well, however, and I got a lead on a used Canon DSLR for cheap from a friend at the meeting, so I may have a new toy to play with soon. Also, I got to talking with a layout building buddy about his experiments with a couple sheets of wood. We were a little worried about the helix subroadbed we're building after hearing of the troubles another local modeler had with 1/4" plywood warping. My friend stood a piece of the same type of plywood in a storage area for a few days and found that it had very severely warped after just a short time. He then replaced that wood with a piece of 1/4" Plyfloor, which is what we've been using on my layout. After leaving it for the same amount of time, the Plyfloor showed almost no warping at all. We think that the 5-ply layers of the Plyfloor helped keep it straight while the 3-ply plywood couldn't keep as straight. So, we know what we're going to use from now on. If I can get to it, I might try repeating the same experiment in my basement.
I started installing and carving the foam riverbank. This is the first time I have used foam for scenery and I must say I'm liking it more and more.
I installed decoders in two Kato Mikado's. I also worked on the addition to the JJJ&E. I also worked on my TrainBlog and added this tutuorial; Making flowers trackside in N scale: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/blogs/viewblog.php?userid=3206 Stay cool and run steam......
I spent the Thursday--Saturday visiting and photographing assisted living facilities here in Albuquerque. Jeanne's mother, 93, is ready to give up her home in Florida and move here, where she will be much closer to her four daughters. When she was here in September, the other three daughters (and their families) flew in and had a blast. Since I know a few others on Trainboard are facing this issue, here's what I found. At the top end, Albuquerque is about $2000 less per month than California. The margin is probably even greater at the mid- and lower-end facilities. While money is not an issue here, location is. We visited each facility twice, and one facility three times. The second visit really helped confirm impressions. I watched eleven hours of football on Sunday.
Completed all the cutting of lumber for the final phase of benchwork construction. It took me abot three hours non stop to measure and cut up the remaining lumber needed for the benchwork....ooofda. I will be working in very very small chucks during the week (busy with Army work and I have to work on my computer system). This Friday and Saturday I plan on installing the backdrop supports, laterial supports and hopefully I can get some foam board installed.
I have been working on benchwork the last few weeks. Yesterday, I finished the majority of the wood work. All the bench work is ripped plywood or ripped dimensional lumber. I was able to salvage a lot of the previous pine boards and reuse them. The bench work is 1'x4' modules, or 2'x4' modules, bolted toghether with 1/4" carriage bolts. Looking along the wall, back toward where the new yard is going to be. And back in the other direction .. the wall lenght is 39' .. The lower level and upper level separation is 15" Next, drilling holes for cables, and painting the bench work.
