Greenbrier County in Wv is where i partly grew up. They got really hit bad. Pretty much got the whole county wiped out!! It had flooding before when i was young but not like i was seeing on tv. That really looked Bad! I had thought about moving back to that area but glad i didn't. I really feel for those who were caught in that mess. some of my family was in that. Haven't seen them or know them but they were there. Hope they were ok.
California is burning, but no more than normal. Kern has what 2 fires now. SB, Siskyous and a few others. "Trail Fire" up here on some of the most used most popular hiking trails in the country. Where trail running was invented. All along the middle fork of the American River. Thankfully whatever started it waited till the day after the western states endurance race (100 miles from Squaw Valley near Donner to placer county HS in Auburn.)
All fire agencies here in the Southern California mountains are on high alert. What with the fourth and those illegal fireworks.
We have several small fires here. Mostly lightning caused, but also at least one due to stupid, unsupervised children playing with fireworks. Last week a couple of idiot kids and their fireworks burned down the grandstands for a popular softball park in our valley.
Welllll... The time has come to see if the theory behind building THERR in an RV was a sound decision. Remember...We are renters and I had gotten tired of tearing down layouts to move if we had to. THE RV was built to solve that problem. Simply unplug it...drive it to the new rental...and plug it back in. No more rebuilding layouts for this old man. The house we have been renting for 6 years now is unfortunately being sold by the estate of the owner who passed away last year. One thing in our favor... This area was founded on the cattle industry and more importantly the lumber industry. Most houses around here where built with an area for the truck drivers to park thier rigs . There are no local laws prohibiting parking 'rigs'...including RV's outside the backyard. Fortunately there are few "HOA's" around town Soooooo...we are having our realtor hunt down potential new rentals...with RV parking a top priority. Time to make sure all the batteries are charged. Check the fluid levels. And see if those 2 inner rear tires will make the trip...or do I have to replace them. I plan on running trains up to the last second !! I will need some 'relaxation' time while moving. THE RV will be the last thing to leave the property
Hmmm. Sounds as though you won't be needing to move too far. Hope you find something quickly, and all goes smoothly!
Thanks guys.... A couple things I hadnt taken into account when moving THE RV: The drawers and the drop down panels at the top of the cabinets... I dont want the drawers flying open while driving nor the electrical access panels dropping open. Solution: I think I just might drill small holes down thru the layout in front of the drawers and panels and drop a 16d nail into each one. This should fix that problem... This leaves the cabinet doors...same problem...hmmmmm Solution: We have quite a lot of plastic 'totes' in the shed. They are storing everything imaginable. Some stuff I havent seen in ages ! They measure 27" long. The cabinet door faces are 30" from one side of the aisle to the other. I will just stack a couple of totes high all the way down the aisle. I may stuff some 'shipping blankets' between them and the doors. The doors wont be able to open enough for anything to come flying out We will see when the time comes.
Moving is never fun and I've done that more times then I care to count. Do hope everything works out for you.
Great idea about the totes. I was thinking baby-proofing latches and catches available at the hardware or big box stores.
While we continue to look for a place to move...I started on some new road work on the layout. For more then a year I have watched as the edges of the road 'curled'. I had used roofing felt. Lesson learned...check roofing felt off the list of possible road materials. Being in an RV that sits outside...the interior temp swings change by the minute. It can get over 100 in the summer. It can get below 0 in the winter. Everything...including the Unitrack has taken the temp swings in stride. The roofing felt is another story. Whether it was the cold that shrunk it or the heat that made the edges curl I am not sure. I just know its now all gone ! You can see in the picture below the edges and the curb area across the street from THE Park. It is all curled too ! Looks like I am going to have to rip out the parking areas and all the curbing for the bussinesses there to Now I have to figure what I can use to make my asphalt roads and parking lots !! Something that wont be affected by temp swings. Anyone have a layout in a non-climate controlled room...like a garage...that has found a suitable material to use that looks like asphalt ? Something that wont shrink or expand ? I am open to trying anything...anything but roofing felt
Well, the JACALAR train shed is not climate controlled, but then we don't get quite as many extreme swings in the Bay Area as you do, on a consistent basis. It does get quite hot, and can hit triple digits, but never as cold. I have mostly used sheet styrene. Just leave some gaps, fill those with ballast and glue and make them look like the utility companies have been digging trenches. There is also the foam board technique that Michael Rose has documented on his railroad. Have not tried it, personally, but he has done wonders with it.
I use premixed drywall mud, painted dark gray/black. Use a putty knife to put a thin coat on a relatively smooth base, like Sculptamold, outlined (masked) with blue painter's tape. Carefully pull the tape immediately after smoothing, using an X-Acto blade along the tape edge to separate the road mud. I sand the mud smooth and vacuum it. Paint the road or parking lot after it's fully dry, then add striping. The 1/8" stripes in this photo have since been replaced with 1/16", but you get the idea.
I use WS HO scale foam roadbed for my rural roads . Probably too narrow for your city streets though .
I have used a high grit sand paper for roads. Works out pretty good and the temperatures do not bother it. You can use chalks etc to shade them, and mark the lines with striping tape.
Incidentally, I discovered that foam will shrink during cold swings and expand during hot swings. Just like anything else it to can be affected by the temperature. So, how is the move? Getting-er done!
