Working the layout - time to party

I was only home half the week, during which time I finished the electrical (had to re-do a few places because I miscalculated on my Peco Electrofrogs). Because of how I am laying out module 2, I needed to at least jerry-rig a temporary closing of the passing loop on module 3 so I can actually run trains. So at the end of the party I'm woefully behind schedule, but the nice thing is I've gotten in a steady rhythm, so I know after the party ends I'll continue...

 

Week Six Report



Not looking good folks. I basically got nothing done this past week with the exception of getting a bit more cork roadbed down. Just had too much stuff to do.

I'm gonna have to join Pete and go ahead and bail on this one. I don't even want to bother with posting goals for Week 7 because I already know what I'll be doing every night between now and next Monday morning. Sadly, none of it involves model railroading.

HOPEFULLY, in what would be Week 8 if this party were to continue on, I'll be able to make up for some lost time as I'll have my wife's show behind her and I won't be so tied up helping to prepare for that. This upcoming week is going to be nothing but that though.

Y'all take care and get lots done this last week. Great party Rick.

 

I got alittle something done this weekend

 

Mike the pics look good.

Alan, I think the next layout party might be early summer (last time this period stank... I think most people are out enjoying the loss of winter and don't work on their layout). I didn't run a party in the late fall, so we're one party behind, on a bi-annual event. So I'm thinking of sneaking three in this year.... it helps me get things done.

 

Well, this is just a fantastic hobby! Rick, I took you up on your party invite, not thinking I'd get much done. I now have almost all my track laid and a lot of it is ballasted already. I have some ground foam down as well as some dirt and grass and some weeds between the tracks. I have done a limited amount of train running and, so far, at least, all the track seems to be OK. If I can get some pics this afternoon, I'll edit this post and attach them. Thanks for the invite to the party!!

[ 25. February 2004, 03:58: Message edited by: Bama Red ]

 

Well Bamared (Rick),
I see we are two Ricks here, and almost the same hair colouring to boot. If the party helped you get something accomplished that otherwise might have not advanced as quickly then the party worked.

To all,
It is always tempting to extend the parties as I have done in this one. But part of the fun for me is the "specialness" of the party. Its kind of like Xmas, if it were every month, it would be a chore instead of a joy. So by limiting the party, there is more enthusiasm for it. Some have been here for multiple parties.

This party will be 7 weeks long. The first party I threw was for 8 weeks and it died a natural death at 6 weeks; so that encouraged me to keep them shorter.

Don't forget there will be a thread (seperate from this one) asking for critique's both good and bad. Me adding the announcements of what week we were in was a result of critique from the last party, so negative critique is helpful.

 

Well, despite my attempt to bail, the weather turned really nasty here in NM (hooray! hooray! rain! snow!--we need it desperately here, folks), so I'll take the time to post two pictures.

The first is the completed accelerator complex:



The other is the new decking on the harborside:



I don't have time to write a report; see full details on the N Scale Trainboard.

Pete

 

At the end of Week 6, I have all my track down except for one turnout. I have to take the Dremel with cutting disk and cut out some track to put in the turnout. I have about half the ballast down, along with some ground foam, dirt and grass. I also managed to build a 4'X2' combination test track/DCC programming track using the Kato Unitrack K1 kit - it works great. And best of all - I bought two, count 'em, two new locos: an Atlas TrainMaster and an Atlas GP-38. The TrainMaster came with a decoder and I installed one in the Geep.
Here is a shot of the Knoxville Yard area:

The Farmer's Coop and a local farm in the Washburn area:

The two mains go to the left of The Ridge - the spur to the right services the Coop:

The bare hills area in the background is the Woodland Scenics "Scenic Ridge" layout:

My workbench/test track/programming track:

 

Well I have bought alot of track and I will buy more tomorrow but I was able to do the track laying today on half of the layout to make sure the design I did will fit correctly and looks. Here is three pictures from tonight and the first scetch is the old design. I have moved the yard to the lower right part of that drawing. I have also incorporated the reverse loop into my layout again since I am going DCC.

 

Time has run out of this layout building party; thanks for everyone participation. If you are like me, you didn't get everything done, but you have a solid base on which to continue. Some of you lucky guys made your goals; good for you.

Some asked me to extend the party, but from experience it usually dies its natural death as this one has. People seem to get motivated to work, then slow down or stop. Anything beyound 6 or 7 weeks, usually doesn't last.

I would also like to keep these parties "special" and if you continue them to long, they lose their uniqueness.

Thanks for the participation.

 

Thanks Rick!!


Great Party. I got my original goal completed quickly and have went way beyond. I surprised myself. Can't wait till the next one. Jeff

 

I did not meet my goals, this time but I must remember the old Chinse poverb

The adventure begins with taking the first step

I have taken a few more than the first step and can look back and seen where I have been
and look ahead to the adventure that lies before me. Thanks for the view.

 

Sounds like the common theme here; I didn't get as much done as I hoped, but we are making progress. And having fun in the process which is what it's supposed to be all about.

I spend a lot more time than I figured on the East Yard; I spent a lot of time troubleshooting and correcting wiring issues when the 'logic' didn't work the way I'd planned it. But it seems to work fine now, so I've begun ballasting the yard. Next step will be laying out the siding to the warehouse and the ramp for trailer loading on to flat cars the way it was on the prototype.

I've added a few pictures from the East Yard area that I had been working on during the "party". The layout isn't very photogenic just yet so this is all I have for now.