hon30critterI got the pattern made for the sheet cork that will be used in the service yard.
Dave, do you mean you are building the yard on a single piece of cork?
I have done that on a couple of N scale layouts, and it worked fine.
Neither of my HO layouts had a proper yard... never enough room!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190Dave, do you mean you are building the yard on a single piece of cork?
Hi Kevin,
Yes, that's the plan. I want to have the yard ballast covering most of the ties so using a flat sheet will save a lot of ballast. I could have put the service yard straight onto the foam but I didn't want to have to deal with the grade changes. One of the leads into the yard from the mainline is quite short.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
You will have to excuse me if I don't post for a while. We are headed out on vacation next Wednesday so I will only have my cell phone until August 6.
hon30critter We are headed out on vacation next Wednesday so I will only have my cell phone until August 6.
Have fun Dave.
My daughter gave me an old Microsoft Surface to take on vacation, and without it, I would "go dark" when away from home too.
I don't like doing much on the cell phone.
This thread is now over 60,000 views and 1000 posts! I'm sure that the vast majority of posts are mine, but the number of views is astonishing!
Thanks for your interest!!
I got my new work chair for the layout assembled. For the price it looks pretty sturdy. It is very comfortable and the height adjusts easily.
I also got the template for the cork for the service yard pinned down. I had to make one minor modification. It will only require two and a bit sheets of cork. I bought four so I will have lots left over. I will probably use the excess as a base for the station platforms.
hon30critterThis thread is now over 60,000 views and 1000 posts!
This has been an enjoyable thread to follow. It has kept my interest.
Thanks Kevin!
Hello guys!
I'm back from a very relaxing vacation so I'm ready to get on with laying the cork and track. When I got back today I spent some time looking at the cork turnout pads that are now firmly glued in place. They don't line up as well as I had hoped but I don't think that will be a huge problem. It should be 'easy' (famous last words!) to fill things in where necessary. However, in hind sight, it would have been less work to just cut the regular cork roadbed to fit the turnouts just like so many of you advised me to do. I may scrap the rest of the precut turnout pads. What the heck, it's only money!
Cheers!!
hon30critter It should be 'easy' (famous last words!) to fill things in where necessary.
Dave, I have never made a mistake so big that I could not hide it with scenery!
All that matters is the top 1/64".
No worries.
It made me happy to hear you enjoyed your vacation.
SeeYou190It made me happy to hear you enjoyed your vacation.
Actually we over indulged throughout the whole week! Too much good food and too much booze! By the end of the week Dianne and I had decided that next year we will lean things out a bit.
The highlight of the week was when Dianne and I presented a very sizable cheque (Canadian spelling eh!) to our son and daughter in law so they can replace their kitchen. They were a bit lost for words. I, on the other hand, was talking my head off suggesting all sorts of options and designs that they could put to good use. Eventually Cole had to tell me to stop talking about kitchens!
Once again I apologise for not having posted for a while. I have no layout progress to report. To be perfectly honest I have lost whatever will I had to work on the layout. The reason is that we are trying to finally settle my parents' estate and it has not gone well. I won't go into detail. Suffice it to say that I am caught between two parties who haven't seen eye to eye for years. The whole mess has me deeply depressed.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel but I don't know if it is a freight train or not. Hopefully things will be settled by September. Until then, please don't expect too much from me.
Dave,
The only thing I expect from you is to take care of yourself. No rush to work on the layout. If you find it stress relieving, wonderful. If you find other things are working, wonderful. Do what you need to. Model railroading will fall in line where you need it to be.
Chin up!
Mike
Water Level Route Dave, The only thing I expect from you is to take care of yourself. No rush to work on the layout. If you find it stress relieving, wonderful. If you find other things are working, wonderful. Do what you need to. Model railroading will fall in line where you need it to be. Chin up!
That is why you set up a trust, no arguments and tax advantages too.
rrebellThat is why you set up a trust, no arguments and tax advantages too.
Hi rrebell,
You make things sound so simple. Our lawyer, who has been practising estate law since 1978, said ours is the most complex case he has ever seen despite the fact that there were trusts involved. My dad did things the old fashioned way. A shake of the hand was good enough. Unfortunately the law doesn't see it that way. It has taken eight years to sort out the complications.
I find your comment to be too little and too late, and a bit condescending, even though it is correct. You have no idea what my family has been through. Your comment is like rubbing salt into the wound. I guess that's my depression speaking. Having said that, I hope that others will heed your advice.
No offense intended.
Having spent a good portion of my career providing estate planning advice to my clients, trusts are not necessarily the be all, end all. Estate documents are only as good as the family dynamic permits them to be. You have my sympathies, Dave. Hang in there and hope for the best.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks Rich.
Sorry, I relize that the advise dose not effect your situation but I was warning others to get one and as a side note, there are different types of trust.
rrebellSorry, I relize that the advise dose not effect your situation but I was warning others to get one and as a side note, there are different types of trust.
I apologise for the tone of my response. I should not have said what I said. The whole estate settlement experience has been extremely bitter and demoralizing and I made the mistake of letting my bitterness speak for me.
Quite frankly, the situation has put me off doing anything for a while, including working on the layout.
I'm going to take some time off. Apologies to those of you who have been following the thread.
Take care everyone,
I finally got back to the layout on Wednesday. Unfortunately I started by taking a step backwards but ultimately it will be for the better. I decided to rip out all of the precut cork turnout pads so I can lay the cork for the turnouts using more traditional methods. Part of the reason for my recent dallying was that connecting the precut pads would have required a lot of fussy cutting and fitting to get the roadbed lined up properly because the pads don't quite match the geometry of the turnouts. I'm going to simply use the split cork strips to follow the through route and the diverging route. As someone mentioned, filling the gaps should be much more straight forward.
I'm going to waste a lot of money by scrapping the precut pads. Oh well, live and learn. If anyone wants the pads send me a PM and I will ship them for free. First come, first served. There are a number of unused pads as well. Please post a note here that you have sent me a PM.
Hi Dave. Glad you are 'getting back on track'.
Sometimes things do not work out as planned and a restart is needed.
I am sure now everything will come together..
Looking forward to see the progress.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
I got the rest of the cork turnout pads up. In the process I discovered a couple of things.
One is that carpenter's glue sticks really well!!
The second is that it sticks even better to Woodland Scenics Foam Putty!!!
I know, I know.... you don't need to rub it in. I'm going to switch to cheap caulking.
Hows the rest of your life doing?
rrebellHows the rest of your life doing?
Thanks for asking!
I'm doing great! My knees and back are still very painfull when I am standing or moving but I'm not dwelling on that. It is what it is.
My parent's estate has finally been settled. It has only taken eight years!
I'm having a ball helping our son and DIL come up with a plan for their new kitchen, and I'm working on having our 'pantry' (former broom closet) replaced with modern pull-out shelf units. Access to the current pantry is a PITA.
Best of all is that I have started back at the layout.
Dianne and I just proved how strong my rotating benchwork is.
On Saturday our town had a day where you can put any surplus items out at the curb for others to take for free. Given that the layout has taken up most of the free space in our garage, the only place that we could put the surplus stuff in order to organize it was on top of the layout. We stacked about a dozen boxes of stuff plus a complete stereo system on the layout and it didn't flex at all. I think that proves that my design is indistructable, just like the charactors in the Marvel comics!
Our community members were very helpful. They took 90% of the stuff. The garage now has a whole lot more free space!
Dave, watching your video of you rotating your benchwork, I was confident it was solid. Nice to get confirmation of that though!
Hello everyone,
I'm going to be honest. I can't get my butt in gear on the layout and I am tired of feeling guilty about it. I'm going to take a break (as if I haven't already!). I have no idea how long. Sorry to disappoint.
If you don't have anything else in mind, I recommend binge-watching "Burn Notice". Works for me.
Ed
hon30critter I'm going to be honest. I can't get my butt in gear on the layout and I am tired of feeling guilty about it. I'm going to take a break (as if I haven't already!). I have no idea how long. Sorry to disappoint.