Speaking of painting... I needed a little extra room to paint and glue, so I took a scrap bit of plywood and put it on my garbage can. It makes a neat, temporary workspace. For a chair, I use a five gallon bucket (a page out of the Minnesota ice fisherman's playbook). And here are some of my painting tools. I got some food containers from work to use as paint trays, and then bought some cheap, "bendy" straws that I cut into shorter lengths. Why? Well... Even though I clean my brush frequently, I don't want to cross-contaminate between colors, so I use the sections of straw like an eyedropper. I dip the section of straw into the paint bottle, then cover the top opening with my finger, thus creating a vaccum seal that holds the paint in the straw. I then move the tube over to the container and then lift up my finger, breaking the seal and allowing the paint to drip into the tray... and not on the workbench. Where'd I learn a neat trick like that? My 11th grade chemestry class in high school. (See, kids, it pays to pay attention in science class!!!) THANK YOU MR. RUNKEL (my chemestry instructor)!!!
And the final bit of progress to update you guys on... The "gandy dancers" were at work, again. There was a conflict of space between the grain elevator's grain bins and the oil distributor's buildings, so I decided to remove the spur track next to the grain elevator that I was going to use for unloading tank cars, and move it to a corner of the layout. Here you can see where I removed a section of the curve to accomodate the new trackwork. And here's what the new spur looks like. The main building with an oil tanker used as mockups as I try to figure out where I'm going to locate another scratchbuilt structure... an unloading dock for the tank cars.
So, as you guys can see, I've been a VERY busy boy for the past month or two. More pics and postings to come as progress continues. I will, however, leave you with this parting shot of my Assistant Road Foreman, Elwood, who dropped by to inspect progress on the layout... "Get back to work!" Yes, sir!
More building, more painting... pics to come in a while. Order goes in the mail tomorrow for the ballast. So, as members of my generation would say, "I'm gonna get my rock on!" Also have the first sheet of scribed styrene that will become the deck for the passenger depot platforms. So, I think I'm going to work on them tonight and get them ready for final instalation. Progress, progress... PROGRESS!!! I am a happy man! :mbiggrin::mbiggrin::mbiggrin:
I'm priming and painting the legs and lower framework of the layout right now. Want to get the layout up on its own feet and off the work bench(es). This will make wiring the layout much easier. So, that's more or less what I've been up to. And, Just out of curriosity, can any of our railway enthusiests across "the pond" in the UK assist me in obtaining an item (well, three... need one for the RF&L, one for myself and one for a friend of mine)? I'd like a certian blue box to make a "cameo" appearance on the layout. If you can help me out, please send me a PM.
Time And Relative Dimensions In Space... Yes, I mean THAT "blue box..." http://cumbriansky.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/29lxswp.jpg (Couldn't resist including a picture of Karen Gillian with it. Couldn't find a good pic of Catherine Tate with it, though...) Hornby makes a 1:87th scale model of it.
So, I went down to work on the RF&L this afternoon, and I heard this odd noise... a mechanical grinding noise and the sound of time and space being warped and twisted in a wierd... wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey sort of fashion. Not unlike the sound of keys dragged across the strings of a piano frame. Odd things dealing with Time And Relative Dimensions In Space... And then I saw this thing sitting there... A mysterious, blue box. Not sure where it came from, it seems to have apparated out of thin air. Now there's talk around town of a new Doctor in town, a man named "Smith." THE DOCTOR IS IN DA HOUSE!!! Litterally. The TARDIS has landed in the middle of what will become the Thuwald (pronounced THAW-walled) Funeral Home. I've heard that Ms. Evelyn's cooking has achieved a local and regional reputation, but I didn't know it had reached a level of intergalactic and interdimensional fame! Now, to find a figure of a man in a tweed jacket and a redheaded young woman...
Hmm... I don't remember Bill & Ted wearing tweed... And you really have to look out for that redheaded young woman: She might be a real pain in the neck! (appropriately, the artist is named "Munch"!) You could probably have a Scream of a bridge scene, too....
A most excellent reference to a most excellent adventure. ** Does "air guitar" riff ** Ouch! Yes, I could see how that could present a problem with the young lady. However, I don't believe either Miss Pond or Miss Noble exhibited such behavior. As for the "scream" bridge idea... you have the [rusty] gears turning... Although, speaking of Donna Noble, that does give me an idea for that... http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/..._Dp/doctorWho/2007_additions/doctor_who30.jpg That would make the non-Whovians scratch their heads! :tb-tongue:
Well, guys... I have some mixed news for you... Bad news first: I didn't make the deadline. Ran into too many last-minute technical issues in the process of building the layout. So, it didn't go up on the block for this year. That is NOT to say that it won't go up for auction. IT WILL! Just... next year. On the upside, this will allow me to not only build a better quality railroad to put up for auction, but will also allow me to put a finished layout on display and generate more interest in the project than what I was able to do over this past year. So, I'll continue to build and detail the layout over the next year or so, and will keep you guys updated as I progress with things. THIS PROJECT AIN'T DEAD YET!!! IT WILL DERAIL CANCER IN 2012!!!
Well, I haven't posted about the RF&L for a while... because I haven't touched it in a looooooooong while. I needed some time to think about the issues that led to me NOT making the deadline, and I think I've got my bearings now and am going to get back to work to correct the problems and get the layout finished and ready for auction for this upcoming Relay for Life 2012. So, back to work it is...
Glad to read you've got it rolling again. I've never had this kind of deadline, but have missed shows. Frustrating!
Frustrating would be an understatement. Some would say I bit off more than I could chew. (I might be inclined to agree with that...) But, as Rober Burns so aptly observed, "The best laid schemes of mice and men gain aft aglay (often go awry)." Now, I shouldn't have much trouble meeting the new deadline... ** Crosses fingers for luck **
Ha ha ha! I have quoted that same phrase so many times.... Too many of us seem to forget we are mere mortals. The best of which pick themselves up and go at it yet again- As you are doing. :thumbs_up:
I Can Has Baldwin VO-1000s? Well, The RF&L fleet has just increased by two. I found a great deal on two more Stewart Baldwins, so I snapped them up. That now brings the RF&L roster up to three units. This will also now allow the operator to run a double consist to haul heavy freight trains on the main and use the single unit to switch the industries... if so desired. The "twins" will be painted in Milwaukee Road colors and the lone unit will be painted into Chicago & North Western livery. I'm even toying with the idea of equipping the C&NW unit with ditch lights, a rotary beacon and a sound unit. (Overkill? Maybe, but one of the reasons I'm building this layout is to introduce people to the hobby and dispell the stereotype of it being a bunch of "toy trains.") Anyway... thought I would pass that update along. Oh... The new control pannel is almost finished being fabricated, so, that will help move things along by getting all the switch machines wired up! Progress... ... or something that resembles it! More updates to come.
Quick update for ya... Was busy the last few months working four (yes, FOUR) part-time jobs, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to tinker with the railroad until now. Came home one night to inspect the layout at the beginning of March, and found that the track had WARPED! Apparently in the sleep-deprived and harried state I was in trying to get the layout finished last year, I overlooked one very important and fundamental rule of thermal dynamics... (Yeah, I know you guys can see what's coming...) ... this fun little property of metal to expand when it gets warm/hot. And, when I soldered the joints for the tracks... I soldered ALL the joints and neglected to leave a few open to provide for expansion/contraction. So, yeah... I had some VERY warped track on my hands! Fun, huh? Good thing I hadn't ballasted yet (OR BETTER YET... ACTUALLY AUCTIONED THE LAYOUT OFF LAST JULY! Imagine what the winner would have thought to go "play with the trains" and had a model roller coaster instead of a railroad!!!). Anyway... Working on fixing the trackwork and finishing the wiring. Fun times, fun times... More to come.
