Joe, do what's best for you. I have broken ribs and vertebrae, I understand. If you feel like modeling, build a simple structure or weather a freight car...if you don't feel like doing anything, watch TV. In the end, you're the only one that you have to answer to.
Joe. Wow-sorry to hear about the wreck. I'm on a stick myself at the moment. Best wishes to you and the missus,Paul.
Thank you guys for the well wishes, it really means a lot!!! Not doing very well today, a lot of pain in my back and legs. I have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday, September 25th. September 24th is my wife and I 36th wedding anniversary. We spent our wedding night on the Queen Mary in Long Beach CA in the captain's quarters and received a tour of the ship and a brunch the next day. Seems like it was just yesterday. Time flies when you're having fun. Cynthia, my wife, is going to paint the background on my layout and some of the buildings, she has a really great talent when it comes to painting. She usually paints T-shirts and has been doing this for a couple of decades. One craft show she sold over $1,000 worth of T-shirts in one day and $500 the next day. We didn't have to take very many shirts home, she almost sold out. It took her about three months to prepare for the craft show. She also won several blue ribbons at the Tulsa State Fair. Joe
Joe, your layout is beautiful. I have had back surgery for a burst disk, just take it very easy and do all that the physical therapists advise. Have had broken ribs as well, ouch I really feel for you. Don't take too many pain medications, try to manage pain by listening to it and not doing things that make your back hurt. Never ever use pain meds to do things through pain, you may not feel it in you head but your body is telling you that you are inflaming tissue and aggravating the injury. Period end of story, that is how a human or any animals body functions. Nerve endings are triggered by EVENTS. Pain meds make it heal slower is my experience versus listening to and respecting ones body and its signalling system.
That is SO TRUE Ken!!!! Those damn pain killer TV commercials. Take two of these and you can go back to chopping wood for the next 6 hours and feel no pain. Of course you're not going to feel any pain but you're causing damage for the next 6 hours!
Last night I started making trees again for a couple of hours. Altogether there was twelve trees made, don't know where to install them yet but it won't be hard to figure out. Tomorrow I plan on installing foam for hills on modules 05, 06, 07 and the north end of module 08. Joe
The official name of my layout is "Boston Mountain Sub-Division". Would one of the administrators please change the name of this build thread to reflect the above name. Thank you in advance!!!
My latest project is to install foam for hills and mountains on modules 05, 06, 07 and 08. It's not finished yet but will try to complete later this evening. After that the next step is to blend the foam to remove the rough edges with a keyhole saw. Joe Modules 05 and 06 Modules 06 and 07 Modules 07 and 08 Stanley 15-206 Keyhole Saw (Lowe's)
The other day I finished the stack up of foam on modules 07 and 08. Now it's ready to use the keyhole saw to blend the foam to smooth it out. I have some rock molds and will put the castings in appropriate locations. Joe
Here's the X-rays of my back, it shows two rods and four screws from the side and back. I had the surgery on September 10, 2018. My back is feeling great and the only problem is my legs with a mild pain, especially the right leg. Joe
I bought some material to make a curtain to replace the closest door that was removed several weeks ago. The curtain will hide a staging area in the closest, just need to make room for the ROW on module 01. May have to widen module 01 in order to get it to fit, probably only two inches should do it. Joe
I got a burst of energy Monday and decided to work on my layout. 1. Hung up the curtain over the closest opening. 2. Painted the track on modules 05, 06, 07 and 08. 3. Glued down some foam on modules 06, 07 and 08. 4. Cleaned up the train room a bit. All in all it was a good day, it felt good to get a few things done. The next major project is to install wiring on modules 04 thru 08 and start adding ballast to the above modules. Joe Edit: Sorry about the photos, I had problems loading them.
The other night I installed a curved turnout and one section of flex track. Will post photos when I get more done. Also bought a couple of rotary wire brushes, pack of rotary cutoff discs and two mandrels for the cutoff discs for my Dremel. I now have all of the tools and materials to install feeder wires. Joe
I had about 20 minutes before dinner to work on my layout. Applied two feet of ballast to two tracks on module 06 using six medicine dispensers loaded with Woodland Scenics ballast that is mixed with three parts Buff and one part Medium Brown. Now I'm off to Lowe's to buy a couple of tubes of caulking so I can install more roadbed on modules 02 and 03. Joe
Those back x-rays look painful. Hope you continue to get better. Glad to see the nice progress on the layout!
BNSF Fan, thank you for checking in on me. I have no back pain whatsoever, it's great!!! The only problem is my legs hurt sometimes but not as bad as they used to. They are getting better as time goes by. My doctor said that the pain will go away after a year, just keep walking. That was the only rehabilitation he wanted me to do. Had the surgery on September 10, 2018. For a long time I couldn't work on the layout itself but did stay busy with side projects. Now much better and have been able to get back to work on the layout. It's about time. LOL Joe
I had a few minutes to work on modules 03 and 04 this afternoon. Decided to move the curved turnout about six inches because it was on the joint between 03 and 04. Also installed a section of flex track on 03 mainline. Hopefully will install more track later tonight after dinner on modules 02 and 03. If all goes well will install the siding for the grain mill on modules 03 and 04. Joe
It's been a very productive day, installed roadbed and track on modules 02, 03 and 04. This encluded the spur to the MFA grain mill, REA depot and mainline. The next step is to install track for the passing track. It won't be long before module 01 can be loaded and after that work on modules 09, 10 and 11. They will cross the room using one inch PVC pipe for supports. Joe Module 03 Module 03 and 04 Module 04 MFA Grain Mill Module 03 Module 03 Module 04 Module 04
