Train project Week 1-2 & 3 recap and update

[ranchero]

Most of you are probably not aware of this poost i have made for the past 3 week another board so i figured id post here as well. I have been donating my time , effort and some money to build the good folk at the colchester Adult day program a small layout. The adult day program is for lack of a better term, a babysitting place where older people with disabilities or severe illness can get the proper nursing and stimulation. Most of the folks over there have mobility issues , motor skill problem and a lot have alzheimer , MS and a host of degenerative diseases. about a month and a half ago, after talking with the people in charge, i set about to start this project, quickly dubbed : the train project. For this project, i have received and still receive weekly, donation from regular model railroader as well as from dealers, hobby shop and assorted model railroad businesses. It has helped tremendously in every step of the way and i thank them for their time and donations.

now this will just be a quick recap of the first 3 week of work. i posted picture in my yahoo album if you want to see the progression. heres the link

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rancheroemail/album?.dir=/d2abre2&.view=t

WEEK 1
first off tuesday, while over there to scope final dimension for the project, i was dealt a big blow. While i was told the room is never used, I was told my original plan was too cumbersome . After talks with the various people in charge, I manage to appropriate a area roughly 4 by 6. while it severely restricted what i was planning to do , i did not let it crippled the project.

Wednesday, a quick stop at the home depot first thing. by noon, the basic frame was built an 2 by 4 legs were ready to be fitted. After lunch, i assembled the frame and bolted the legs. after checking with a wheelchair bound patient, came to find out the layout was too high by half a foot. dissambled the legs and a quick trip outside to saw the legs to a more appropriate height. i finished the day by reassmebling the legs and screwing the top on leaving one part only partly screwed

Thursday, started monday by inpsecting and making sure everything was fine. started to plan track using plan i drew with RTS. After much fiddling i manage to add a spur. The track plan is a kidney shaped oval with 1 spur deserving a industry to be determined and the other 2 spurs form a small yard, long enough to host about half a dozen cars. the highlight of the layout is an 18 inch long pony chord bridge. after i was satisfied with the layout of the track i sawed the lake portion and started to lay cork. I used pins to hold everything in place and yellow carpenter glue to keep everything down. i checked with section of track to make sure alignement was kept trhoughout. while the glue was drying, i'd prepare the next section of track, fitting joiner and cutting to lenght the extra tie here and there.
after lunch i got ground throws from local hobby shop. tacked the track in place temporarely and called it a day

Friday, took picture this morning of what layout look like so far. using an old tyco powerpack, hooked up power and had the first run thru.engine stalled in one spot but the bright boy took care of that trouble spot. let train run for almost an hour with no hitch. finished installing the ground throw. spike the track and soldered large section leaving gap for expansion. an elderly lady kept me company most of the morning and made some suggestions ( and just some general observations) the train going round and round and going over the big bridge is quite a sight for some of the wheelchair bound patient and one window is conveniently placed for perfect railfanning...

plan is now to have track wired and ballasted by next friday. I keep wiring to a very basic minimum, the spurs are isolated as to enable the parking of engine on the sidings.


WEEK 2
Tuesday: after drilling a few holes and soldering some rail joint to get my juices flowing, i set about to solder the feeder and the dead spur wire. the works goes easy and i leave plenty of wire . I dont have the powerpack i got off ebay for cheap so i have to use my spare old Tyco to try everything out. by noon i have train running again and everything looks and sound good. Start ballasting... i lay ballast in short 12 inch section. I use woodland scenic stuff ( generously provided by WS) along with their ballast glue. by alternating 12 section of ballast and skipping 12 inches i managed to get about a quarter of the ballast in 3 hours.

wednesday: waiting for powerpack to get here.. more ballasting, about 2/3 done. When i get home, big box greets me. guess whats in there ;)

Thursday: wired up the powerpack and went on to lay more freaking ballast... almost done except for the turnout area. During afternoon i take a quick trip to Home depot to get a sheet of 2 inch foam. Also stop by walmart to get some carving supplies. i get a stiff 1 inch wire brush, a hand held cheese grater and a couple of small paring knife. getting back to the project, i finish ballasting ( took me 2 hours to ballast the 3 turnouts) . i start with the fun stuff of pilling foam and gluing it in big chunks.

Friday: spent part of morning cleaning the turnout and getting train to run again. cleaning the rails again of any glue residue. I start by gluing the big piece thats going to form the big hill. the high humidity today means i wont be able to do much except glue and wait. The part i glued yesterday is ready for carving though and i got nuts. The wire brush makes quick work of shaping and except for the pink dust, its relatively clean work. its easy to control the bru***o make deep cut or to get a erosion line. the cheese grater helps smooth out the rough shape and makes a nice even surface.

gotta say, mission accomplished for a second week. Plan for next week is to get hill area carved, plastered and get about 4 square feet of scenery/structure done.

WEEK 3
tuesday: After a weekend of drying time, start to shape the basic foam form into the mountain area. I use 2 kind of steel bristled brush. a long handled one that get basic shape in and a short handled one that work good for detail work and more intricate carving. for rounding off the mountain cap is making sure everything clears nicely, i also use a handheld cheese grater. shaping foam this way is a great way to produce a lot of pink dust. i work outside and i still end up looking like a pink fuzzy cotton candy ball.

Wednesday: final shaping of the foam and gluing in place. i start to mix plaster to cover the mountain. i plaster because id rather stain the plaster than paint the foam. i also prefer to feel of plaster for rocks. plaster goes on surprinsingly fast and by noon im out of plaster and got about 3/4 of the plastering done. a quick trip to walmart enable me to finish all plastering. while im doing plaster work i also shape the road and deal with the lake bottom.By 4 pm all the pink is covered.

Friday: carrying a big box of trees along with the 2 assembled and painted buildings. start by vacuuming the layout to get those stray bits of plaster. first order of the day is ochre stain. i dilute it about 2 teaspoon in half a cup. this stain goes on all the plaster work. it gives it a really "western" look as is much like the hills and rock of arizona or new mexico. The second stain is burnt umber in the same ration. This i work more like a wash, only applying to area of intricate carving to shadow. the last stain is a more opaque black wash. I saved this one for last so i could control the gray area and not vice versa. this last stain really start to tie everything together. once all the plaster is stained, i start to apply the ground foam. i use the WS scenic glue, brush a coat on, apply the foam, spray with wet water and add more glue then move on. the tree are easy to plant in the foam. i use a little poker ( a plastic fork) to make hole and glue them in place.

By noon i have 2 wheelchair bound helpers. One man has very limited motion and a small vocabulary due to a recent stroke. when i mentionned ill have him handle the throttle next tuesday he perks up and give me the biggest smile

before leaving today, one of the quadrapledgic lady comes over in her motorized chair to wish me a good week end. While she needs a special communication device for speaking, theres no need for it when she come over and clearly enunciate :"thank you for the train" one of the nurse almost fell on her bum hearing this woman talk. I guess thats one of the nice reward out of this entire project. hope you guys enjoy these update. they truly are a pleasure to do. thanks again for all the guys that donated.