Tonight I got home at 4PM PDT and just finished my working session on the layout. I typically work for 2-3 hours and before I start I set a goal of what I would like to accomplish. I have been working a corner of my layout to completion so that I can begin to install my turntable and roundhouse yard area.
I then used a 0 size brush to hand paint about 10 feet of flex. Yesterday I painted the ties only, using Pollyscale Railroad Tie Brown, then tonight I used Rust to paint the rails and spike heads. Then I ballasted about 2 feet of track and installed a riser to provide better support to a structure. Then after the rust dried, I cleaned up the rail heads and ran some trains for awhile. Done for the night (then I end up reading and learning new stuff on the forum!).
How about you?
2 1/2 hrs. power routing 2 tracks through a single turnout, double slip, and double Xover (N/R), by just throwing the switches (DC).
Adding 2 (block) toggles will feed a switch controlled ladder (5 tracks) and a 2 track diesel fascility.
YES. I know you can do that with DCC. (but that's no challenge) That's just running trains! Half the fun is in getting there.
Sometimes I spend the entire day in the basement (retirement has many advantages). On the other hand, I may not go in there for a month.
Tonight I was down there for about 20 minutes and just picked up a few things. In the morning, I will run the vacuum cleaner on the carpet. One of my grandsons will be here tomorrow and we will be spending some time down there.
We will also be cutting some boards to put up a facia over the lights. I could easily do it myself but it so much more fun to have someone help me.
Next week, who knows. The weather forecast is for a chance of rain on Monday and Tuesday so I might get some time in the basement. If the weather's nice, there's always golf or bike riding or yard work or ...
The short version - I don't have a fixed schedule for working on trains.
tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Mastiff Dawg:
You layout looks good - well constructed too. Stay on course. #1 rule: ACCESS.
TIES should not all be the same color - they age differently. Use some jar lids with water based paint (they rinse out). Add some grey and white to the brown every 4th and 5th tie.
Drainage is not the same and ties are replaced as they rot. Brand new RR ties are shiny black with creosote.
Thanks Don (we seem to be on both forums tonight!) and Chuck, I appreciate the encouragement.
And Don, you are 100% correct. Tomorrow I will hit those ties and rails sparingly with a grimy grey/black wash to minimize the uniformity. Even when the rails are painted with the rust and the ties are flat brown, they do not look right, they need attention - a wash and some very carefully placed oily black should help. I'll perform some tests on some samples before I go full on the layout.
And the access is very critical. I have seen so many modelers "box" themselves out and the reach is gone. 30" is maximum for me, and I don't even like 30" - I really prefer no more than 24". Because my layout is up at around 52-54" high (inclusive of the risers, not benchwork height), I need to use a two step type ladder to manuever around, especially toward the backdrop area.
I'm stayin' on course cap'n!
Thanks again. More photos coming...
NOT / NEVER enough!
Yes, I could be out in the Trainroom now, but it's already been a 16+ hour day and I'm WAY too tired, it's WAY too late and I surely would SCREW something up!
In short, I spend more time in the Trainroom in the winter and much less in the spring, hardly any all summer and even less in the fall because of other demands for my time...But, I'm trying to do something (anything) about that!
So, with that rambling...About 10 to 20 hours a week in the winter and 0 (OK, maybe a few, but VERY few) the remainder of the year!
If only working for a living wouldn't get in the way of playing with trains...I could be a VERY happy camper!
Exact time is a variable falling between 2 minutes and all day.
Factors that come into play:
There's also the little detail that I frequently arrange two or three work sessions a day if the spirit moves me - or none at all, if it doesn't.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The Cedar Branch & Western--The Hillbilly Line!
At least 1/2 hour to an hour a day. My son shares the train room as his bedroom for now (the house eternally being renovated) so my job is to wake him up in the morning for school, and tuck him in at night. Usually we run a train while we're reading, or I'll work on decalling some cars or changing out couplers or something while he's getting dressed.
The big jobs usually take place out in the garage, where I fabricate sections of the layout, do the stinky things like painting and the messy stuff like sculpting foam. This usually happens when the wife has a long errand to run, or off and on while I'm working on some other project out there.
There's always something that needs to be done, each requiring it's own time frame. As Calvin Coolidge once said, "We cannot do everything at once, but we can do SOMETHING at once!!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Funny, when I dive in to get something done that I don't like to do I get more done. The motivation is to get to the next step. When I get into a project and figure out a system I go crazy and my sense of time falters. Most of the time even the little woman will pick and choose the time to disturb(ask me to stop and do something else).
I go through spells, but when I get on track its every ounce of time plus.
John
Mastiff dog:
A year ago (April?) an MR cover showed some very realistic code 75 trackwork done by a modeler-artist in Sweden, no less. By yumping yimminy!
He was modeling a town in the US Mojave desert to perfection. I saw a photograph of his model, and immediately said "I've been there!" (Mojave, CA). Even the cars on the highway had people in them.
His treatment of ties was astounding - worth using as a format - I'm sorry I cannot nail it closer. I went thru my available back copies.
loathar wrote:Some times an hour. Some times more. I love those nights when I get in "the zone" and look at the clock and see it's 3 in the mourning.
Same here. I usually work in the evening after the kids are in bed. Yeah, Lothar, those nights in the zone rock. You get a lot done then!
Brian
Time varies. I am a pastor, my office is in my home. I will typically spend a few hours in the office with sermon prep, research, reading, then go down to the basement and spend a few hours on the railroad. Obviously that time will vary from day to day, but I learned a long time ago to maximize my time with the railroad. Course it helps that the railroad, all three decks, are pretty much complete with track and scenery, so most work sessions are to redo something or add more detail. Sometimes I just sit and look for an hour.
Bob
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
I usually spend as much time as I can spare. During tax season, Im lucky if I just get sleep. I usually do in 2hrs assembly line work, one area, DCC stuff or decaling or painting or layout in a spot, I don't jump around it gets me all messed up.
Caso
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
It can be any amount of time. Sometimes I go up to the layout, tools in hand, and I put the tools down and spend the time running trains. Other times, I start running and end up tinkering with something for an hour. Today, I went down to the workroom and spent a couple of hours doing nothing but scratching the bogie mounts for my Atlas turntable pit-bash. Then I went and ran some trains.
Other days, all I've got time for is to paint the silver trim on some fire hydrants. It takes longer to find the paint and clean the brushes than to do that, but, sometimes there are days like that, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
There were times in the past where it was 10-12-14 hours straight.
Hauling rocks, dirt, sinking posts.
Nowadays, I re-ballast as needed, check track cross-level, ballast up and roadbed sags from the last storm, prune back the new growth.
It's nice to have one done that you can just "play" with as needed.
Ran trains about 9 hours Friday, couple of hours Saturday, and a bit of running in after overhaul today.
Hung some signs at the Ice Station.
Rebuilt a turnout a couple of weeks ago (guy who built it was one who believed in wood........not for long) and it functioned flawlessly at the Friday ops session.
Sometimes I work on trains, but not the railroad, restoring old and sometime really old pieces.
That is really enjoyable, to take something that was going to get pitched and have something folks can see run, and they KNOW what it is.
Gotta get back to that RedBall 2-bay......
I've been working on the benchwork since 10 February this year. I probably spend 2 1/2 hours most week nights and sometimes 6-8 hours on weekends. Here is a couple pictures.
Bill
Fortunately, my kids are train nuts too, so working on the layouts (1 mine, 1 for the kiddies) counts as quality time with the boys, too. The duration of my sessions tends to be limited by one of two things:
"Honey, are you coming? I called you to dinner 15 minutes ago!"
"Honey, it's way past the kids bed time."
Then again, when this happens, "Honey" usually isn't the word of choice. But I can almost always sneak in about an hour at a time, or 3-4 hours at a stretch on weekends before I get busted.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton