IM BACK!!!!

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

After a VERY long break from the forums for awile, its starting to get colder, and the hot rodding and car season is starting to come to a screeching halt! Time for me to start working on the layout again when im stuck indoors, and chat to everybody here again in the coffee pot and elsewhere. I hope you guys didn't think I died or anything, its just that I have been busy with other forums for my other interests.

For all who are wondering, Im starting on a new layout. The first one in my basement, everything started to rust. Half of my track has pits all over it from sitting in my basement for a year. All my accesories were so dusty. Working on a layout placed entirely on pink insulation without plywood in the sandwich was a p.i.t.a., I couldn't get anything to anchor with it! The second layout will be like a postwar display again, with it crammed with accesories on spurs, connected with a big loop. It will be in the corner of my room, with plenty of space to store all my toys.

My Postwar Lionel Repair buisness has gone really good!! Im estimating I made about $1000 on it profit. Have gotten repairs from many places, Utah, Oklahomla, Washington, New York, Maine, Florida, Cali, andf here in Wisconsin. I have about 3 returning customers that keep on sending me there trains, sometimes unanounced! My $12 an hour is attracting alot of the customers. Im really trying not to make a fortune off of the buisness, just that I enjoy seeing the Lionels running again, and being as clean and shiny as ever.


Jerry

[Buckeye Riveter]

Glad to see you back and the business doing well.  As you can see there have been many changes to the forum.

[Anonymous]

Hi Buckeye, great to see you again. I bet Tom, Chief, Jim, and others will reply also in the near future. I browsed the board a little after it changed.

[ChiefEagles]

You've been gone????  We didn't miss you.    Yes we did.  In fact Jim A was asking about you several days ago when we were chatting on the phone.  Glad to have you back.

[daan]

Hey Jerry, I also had a long stop on the posting here.. During summer the trains are shut down and I'm working in the garden and riding motorbike.. Just now and then, on a rainy afternoon, the trains are back into business. Trains are indeed a nice winterhobby!

[csxt30]

Back Jerry !!  Train season is upon us !! Lots of guys with hot rods on here now, too  !!

Thanks, John

[Anonymous]

It's great to see you back, Jerry!  I'm glad to hear that your repair business is doing good!

[ChiefEagles]

Back Jerry !!  Train season is upon us !! Lots of guys with hot rods on here now, too  !!

Thanks, John

Those from Ohizo are old hot heads [not rods].

[Anonymous]

Jerry,

          Welcome back!  I wondered what happened to you because I didn't see you posting.  Glad to hear that your repair business is doing so well.  I'll keep you in mind for when I get another project.  Good to hear from you again!

[Jumijo]

Good to have you back, Jerry. I thought you had moved on to cars and girls, like most guys your age.

I'm very glad to hear that your repair business is doing so well!

Please keep us updated on your new layout.

Jim

[brianel027]

Jerry, I may have to do an article or long thread on styrofoam layout construction. We've had some rough weather here in NYS this past year. There was some severe flooding back in June due to the heavy rain. Many folks lost everything. My roof started leaking rain water heavily right above where my train layout was. I moved trains, but the layout itself took some damage.

So I went to the lumber yard and got on the cheap (or free) busted, dinged and reject pieces of insulation styrofoam and am currently building a new layout entirely on styrofoam. It takes some patience and some planning ahead. I scavenged almost everything off the old layout. On the new one, the 027 track is held down like this: first I made slugs of wood cut to fit beneath the metal tie of the 027 track, then I use a piece of carpet tape to hold that down. The track gets screwed into that using the Gargraves track screws I have always liked.

I had been working at a store that went out of business. Not much money but a job. They threw out tons on stuff, of which I was welcomed to take. Many of their instore signs were on nice heavy black styrene plastic and I use this too as a base to adhere things too. My Lionel plastic yard lights are held to this... I cut a piece of the styrene a little larger than the base of the light, attach the styrene to the styrofoam surface with carpet tape, and then screw in the lights.

They also threw out foam core board which I use as bases for my buildings. I cut the foam core to the inside dimension of the building for a snug fit, glue the foam core toi the layout surface using Elmers Wood Glue and then the bulding goes snugly over the foam core board base, where it stays in place and yet is easily moved off.

So where there's a will, there's a way. I will promote the idea of styrofoam layouts even more now that I am doing one. They're lightweight, easy to move and can be done with a little extra attention, which in the long run will be worth it, especially if you believe you might have to move the layout.

Welcome back Jerry.... though I don't want to hurt your feelings but trains are way cooler than those other hobbies.... well in my book anyways!

[Anonymous]

Just came back from Menards getting a "economy"  panel of 4x8 3/8" plywood. I also got a 2x4 to make the last side of my table. The original 4x8 layout's main frame wwill be saved and stored, since i painstakingly cut every piece of it to exact measurements, and I do not want to cut it up! Someday I can reassemble it.

Brian, Looks like you had more paitience than I did with making the foudation out of foam. I will however be making landforms out of it by hot glueing it, than useing my other weller gun to cut it.

[1688torpedo]

Hello Jerry!   & Welcome Back!    I was beginning to wonder if you joined Groucho on his Worldwide Tour this past summer. Glad your Train Repair Business is doing well also. Take Care.

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The Doctor Is In !!! I am Very Glad To See you back !!!! Let me know when you want your stuff(send money first) and It will get shipped out.(it's only been about a year).

Till My Next Missive, I Remain The Humble Yet Strangly Evil Doctor !!!

[daan]

@Brianel, when you use styrofoam for your layout waterdamage is also far less then with wood. The foam will not suck in water. If you have a leaking roof again, only the surface will be damaged and the layout can easily be re-used. In floods it will float, but when that happens the layout is probably not the biggest issue..

A few things though, bare foam insulation board can not stand direct sunlight for longer periods. The foam will fall apart due to ultraviolet light. (not that I have any proof, but I got it from a insulation specialist making roof insulation. He sais that when using foam, you should shield it off from direct sunlight.) Secondly, if making a big layout using a foam board you can't climb up on it. Also sound will be louder if the insulation is not used as a layer on top off the plywood but as tabletop supported only at the edges. Also some insulation (polyurethane) is very environmental unfriendly since it can't be reused in other products when you throw it away.

Foam is indeed on of the best materials to work with, easy to cut, glue and work with, easy forming, good sound damping and solid without the need of special tools. A simple knife, woodglue and some imagination is enough. It doesn't sag or bend when in contact with moisture and it is even sturdy enough for benchwork so ideal to use in moist conditions. It also doesn't shrink when temperatures go down.

 

 

[Anonymous]

Dont worry Dr. Fu, Ill get it when I make a few extra repairs!! That F-3 repair, that was "gurantee work"  where he said I screwed up with the cleaning on the trucks of the first pair of  F-3s he sent  me. I know he wasnt joking, because he sent me a rag with all this dirt on it. Well, I told him he would get a repair TOTALLY free for me screwing up. Now its all packed up.

[phillyreading]

You say it's getting colder where you are at so you must be up north somewhere, north of West Palm Beach FL that is, right now it is only getting a little cooler down here, can stay outside longer.

Nice to know that somebody likes to repair the postwar trains. If I get stuck can I give you a call?  I have a couple of 224's steam locomotives, one is a 224E(prewar) & the other is a 224(postwar), both still run good but don't pull a lot of cars like most postwar stuff. Also have a 249E & 2225T tender with a few frieght cars that is a set from 1938, the cars still do what they were designed to do, the 3659 still dumps using the uncoupling track, also a 2653 hopper & a 2657 caboose.

Lee F.

[ben10ben]

Jerry,
It's great to see you back, and I'm glad to hear that the repair business is going well. You must be making people happy if they keep coming back to you.

Considering that it's 36 degrees today in Kentucky, I'd hate to think how cold it must be up there in Wisconsin.

Good to hear from you!

[laz 57]

JERRY,  welcome back, glad to see your train repair business is doing good.  Keep em chuggin.

laz57

[mickey4479]

Welcome back!  Do you do service on Lionel with TMCC?  I have a Lionel PRR consolidation that has a one chuff per revolution with a cherry switch I think.  I have seen some info about installing an additional cherry switch and putting magnets on the wheels?  I don't have a clue how that would be done.  Frankly, although the 1 chuff per revolution is a little goofy, it is a great puller and I don't want to mess up a good loco.  Any thoughts, send me a note.  Thanks.