Re: Layout problems... Ok we've heard the ones about cats knocking over trains, spiders infesting tunnels... now what else ya' got as far as similar things that have made your train'ing experience just a bit out of the ordinary??
Well, many of us have at one time or another experienced the wonders of mice inhabiting the rail empire. How about non-critter related? Such as the time a roof developed a massive leak right over the layout..... Should manufacturers make us N scale trains that are waterproof? Or that will at least float? Boxcab E50 [ 11. October 2003, 20:26: Message edited by: BoxcabE50 ]
I can relate to the leaky roof. That is exactly what occured to my 2x4 layout this past winter, when all that snow started melting. It is now warped a bit in the one corner and I have been discouraged since it happened. I now have to decide whether to leave what I have, with the natural 1% grade in the corner, try to somehow fix it with bracing or something, or just scrap it and start anew. Until then I have plans on doing an HO switching layout to occupy the time. BTW, after the incident, I did run some trains on it for a while until I discovered that the moisture from the roof, also attracted some ants who just happened to catch some free rides on my trains! The superintendant of the RR was upset and demanded that they pay for the rides or face eviction. Well, they refused to reimburse the RR for their rides so the RR Police were called in to perform a "Raid" Russ
On our N layout in the historic (1881) Lee Hall station in VA we were using some type of powdered scenery material that you mixed with water and applied to the base, shaped it, then then let it dry. Might have been Sculpt-A-Mold (this goes back to 1980 or so). Our regular meeting night was on Thursdays, but you could usually find some of us there on the weekend also. At any rate we had just finished one of the mountains that week, and by the next meeting the resident mice had chewed a hole into the side of the mountain. Evidently it looked like a nice cozy place for them to build a nest, and they didn't pay any attention to where the entrance (tunnel portal) was -- they just made their own.....8=) Needless to say, after that we stuck with good old Hydrocal or sheet rock "mud". I'll post some more memories when they float to the surface.......56 and holding........8=) eNjoy [ 11. October 2003, 23:29: Message edited by: dbn160 ]
Probably the worst railroad disaster I had was when I had an HO layout in the garage. We were renting at the time. We left for a two week vacation and the landord decided that it would be a good time to pull the asphalt shingles from the roof, replace and repair bad boards, and reroof the garage. Unfortunately, he didn't look inside to see if there was anything in the garage. He didn't put down tarps over our storage items or the layout. When the shingles were pulled, huge amounts of asphalt "grains" rained down on everything. (about 1/2" to 1" on the layout) Then in the midst of the project, with shingles gone, and some boards removed, it rained for two days. He didn't cover the holes. When we returned, everything was ruined. Old photos, winter clothes stored in the garage, and about $500 worth of RR stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't have renters insurance and the lease said the garage was storage "at our own risk." That's the last of my HO railroading...after that, I moved indoors and started in N Scale. We also moved out of that house shortly after. Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) Come see us on the web: http://www.pegnsean.net/~revnjeff
Eeekk!!! That is indeed a disaster! I'd think that the "at own risk" waiver was a little questionable with the landlord being so careless. Out of it all, getting you into N scale was a small up side to the whole mess! Boxcab E50 [ 13. October 2003, 01:39: Message edited by: BoxcabE50 ]
I found the solution to my CAT-zilla problem was a well timed flyiing lesson. Didn't hurt him but he hasn't been back to the mountain since. As to the other horrors, I've been lucky so far. just not looking forward to moving into a new house next year. The way things go, I'm sure I'll have massive landscaping to do.
Just before starting a job that required me to be away from home for several months, I decided to take down my temporary layout and put it in storage. Prior to dismantling it I decided to have some fun. I set up my least valuable engine and some cheep rolling stock on the track. My wife then put one of our ferrets on the layout. At first the ferret did not care too much, she just wandered around and sniffed the buildings. However, once I started the train up she went wild and started to chase the train around the layout. After catching it (and needles to say, derailing it) she decided it was not food and lost all interest, and began to look for a way down to the floor. On my new layout the cat decided to sharpen her claws on the pink board base. This was quickly halted by her own flying lesson. While she was unharmed by this lesson, it was quickly reinforced by the dog who though I was tossing her a new toy.
