Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Nice busy scene. Do you remember which figures those are? I like my figures to look like they've got a sense of purpose, and yours all seem to be busy, too.
I prepped the base for the siding down to the brewery, and put in the roadbed for the turnout and a short ramp down, since the siding will be just a bit lower, no roadbed. I did a quick installation of the turnout, too, but it will still have to come again out once I figure out what I did with the switch machine. It's a Peco, so it will be happy to sit there and let trains cross it until I can get the machine in.
Order up some nachos for the bar, Joe, and make sure nobody's glass is empty. Wouldn't want to burn anyone's tongue, would we?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good afternoon......I'll have a Strumpet Pale Ale and the lunch special, Joe.
Well...I made it, safe and sound, both up north and back home again! It was hard to see uncle in such bad shape and also hard to have the auction. But very worthwhile for me too.
With my aunt passing away about 5 yrs. ago, then my cousin (a stroke at age 48) 2 yrs. ago and now with uncle on his last journey.......It was truly reflection time for me! This is the end of the road for this family tie in that neck of the woods and with that, only the memories carry on.
Wow! You guys have been keeping Squeaky busy while I was gone! I love all the pictures.
Mike, I like your trees. Are they furnace filter? I still need to find a way to make MANY pine / fur trees.
Jeffery, I too, like the busyness of the dock scene.
Mr. Beasley, the brewery looks great. And I like the inside detail too. What a great idea...As long as you have the walk around layout, why not show off a little.
I'd like to say that I'm making progress on my pike....But it wouldn't be true. I've been gone so much lately that it seems that all I'm able to get accomplished is the "catching up from being gone"!
And then the weather isn't cooperating either.......Right now we have a high of 42 with a forecast for a frost and FREEZE warnings for tonight through tomorrow! That means that all of today will be spent in the garden and kitchen taking care of the tomatoes and peppers that won't withstand the freeze!
More latter....After the harvest.
Good afternoon to you all. Joe, I think I will have your Shrimp Special today and add a side of fried okra. Thanks
colvin... Glad you made it back safe & sound and am sorry to here about your family, I lost my Grandmother almost a year ago and it seems that I rarely see any of the rest of the family much any more. I really do miss my Grandmother, since I have lived just a block from them almost all my life. And, yes the trees are made from furnice filters, I have about 500 of them on the layout, I am thinking of removing some of them so the mountains will be more visible.
Mr.B I am with colvin, I like the brewery, I had never thought of detailing the inside of a shallow background building until you did it. Aren't these forums great.
I got the results back from the MRI on my back yesterday and I have a "Bulging Disc". They are going to try some Physical Therapy for about a month first, if that doesn't work then they will call in a Nuro Surgen, These people make a living cutting people. I am not wild about the idea, maybe PT will work.
I did get out in the train room this morning before my back got to hurting to bad and got the new Water Tower in place, Will post some pics later, for now I will have to go and lay down as the pain pills are starting to kick in. Later, Mike
Well by the looks of it, it's time to go home. After a rather long couple of days it will be nice to get home at a half decent time. Let's see that is 30 minutes plus or minus a couple of minutes in the car. Do I go home via back roads or the expressway? We'll play it by ear. It's Lawn Bowling tonight, might be a little cold though. Pretty soon flanel season will be upon us. Oh well. Best get going. I'll have a Scotch when I get home.
Bye for now.
GUB
MisterBeasley wrote: Nice busy scene. Do you remember which figures those are? I like my figures to look like they've got a sense of purpose, and yours all seem to be busy, too.
Howdy, Joe. Looks kinda quiet. Maybe the weekend will be busier.
Guess I'll have a Strumpet. I'll try anything once!
Nice looking bunch of photos, folks. You make me want to get going on something (other than rolling stock) that will be visible as a final product.
Mike, I hope your back will come around, but my experience with my son is that it will be a slow process. Keep your chin up, and don't let impatience push you beyond the pace the doctors want you to take.
Mister B, I think that Strumpet might be an acquired taste - one that I haven't acquired yet. I will say that it's an improvement on Olde Frothingslosh.
Funny that you folks are talking about the cold. The weather weenies keep pushing back their estimated, "First day with a two-digit high temperature." Now it's Tuesday of next week. I'll believe it when my patio thermometer indicates it.
In working out the electricals for Nonomura, I came on a 'Don't raise the bridge, lower the river,' situation. There is a reversing section in that zone, while the rest of it is wired with common rail. Trains using the main line side of the section's only turnout will have the common rail on the frog side. Trains using the branching leg will also have common rail on the frog side, since that requires the section to be 'reversed.' It suddenly struck me that I don't have to wire the frog to any contacts on the switch machine. It can simply be wired to the common rail terminal on the local terminal block. One less thing to go wrong! (I have yet to banish Murphy from the layout room - as a smear of too-fresh caulk on the floor can testify. Fortunately it was the credit-card spatula, not the piece of roadbed I'd just buttered.)
My resident gourmet cook just rang the dinner bell, so I guess I'd better be going. Se ya later.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Morning all, Joe bring me some your scramble eggs and bacon, and yes, black coffee. Thanks.
Jeffrey, as always, I love the retired steamer. I have not gotten a lot done this week, but I did get some things done.
Here is a pc of the water tower I weathered and got in place on the layout.
Here is one in B&W. I have done some experminting with B&W pics this week, Since the loce was in use before there were color pics, I thought it approiate to take some B&W pics.
And way off topic.... the newest addition to the family A regestered German Shepard.
His name is Samson and he is 4 1/2 minths old. I have been wanting a German Shepard for a long time and a lady that raises them came by on Wed. and ask if I was still wanting one. She couldn't sell him because of the white on his nose and simply gave him to me. He has already had all of his shots. I am very happy to get him, we are going to be the best of friends LOL.
Better go and eat my eggs befot they get cold. Mike
Check this out. I got this shot from the roof of the Midtown Consolidators shipping office.
Good afternoon...
Can't have a beer yet!! I'm at work, taking a lunch break and thought I would check in.
Great photos guys. Keep up the good work!
Check in with you this evening when I get home.
Another Strumpet for me Joe, and for anyone else with the taste for it. If the Pale Ale doesn't suit you, try the Lager.
Yes, Chuck, well I remember Miss Frothingslosh, but I prefer the Strumpet Gal:
Once I get around to it, I'll have a reefer and even a Jordan truck adorned with her lovely visage. I think the marketing types want to call her "Little Miss Strumpet." What do you think?
For historical reference only:
Morning, Joe. I'll have the "Patriot Breakfast," heavy on the Moss, with a side of Welker. Skip the videotape, though. I stayed up until the outcome wasn't in doubt (late 3rd quarter) but Monday morning came early. Keep the coffee coming.
This is the first layout picture that I really wanted to share, taken a couple of years ago with a film camera:
Since then, the scenery has grown up around it, and particularly above it, and I've learned some lessons about how to build subway stations. One of those was, "Don't overdrive your light bulbs!" 5 of the 6 bulbs in this old picture have gone to the big light in the sky, so I decided to replace them. I had planned for that, with access for the bulbs from above, and the job went smoothly yesterday. When I turned on the lights in the station for the first time in months, though, I discovered a problem. Those signs on the back wall that say "Saint Anne Street," 3 in all, had all come loose and fallen down.
This is a problem. The back wall is about 6 inches from the layout edge, and is protected by the vertical girders. The roof does NOT come off, so I've got to get those signs out and then re-attach them. It's too deep for needle-nose pliers. I've got one of those flexible-shaft things for grabbing things that fall behind furniture or through deck boards, but it won't hold the edges of the signs firmly enough. I even tried chopsticks, which worked better, but not well enough. Tonight, I'll try kitchen tongs, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to fabricate some kind of tool to do this job.
Well, keep up the good work, one and all. One more coffee, and then I'll hit the road.
Hi, Joe. Toast and coffee, please.
No, no Bushmill's in the coffee. I have some driving to do. I appreciate the thought, though.
Mister Beasley, I'm glad I came in before you left.
MisterBeasley wrote:Since then, the scenery has grown up around it, and particularly above it, and I've learned some lessons about how to build subway stations. One of those was, "Don't overdrive your light bulbs!" 5 of the 6 bulbs in this old picture have gone to the big light in the sky, so I decided to replace them. I had planned for that, with access for the bulbs from above, and the job went smoothly yesterday. When I turned on the lights in the station for the first time in months, though, I discovered a problem. Those signs on the back wall that say "Saint Anne Street," 3 in all, had all come loose and fallen down.This is a problem. The back wall is about 6 inches from the layout edge, and is protected by the vertical girders. The roof does NOT come off, so I've got to get those signs out and then re-attach them. It's too deep for needle-nose pliers. I've got one of those flexible-shaft things for grabbing things that fall behind furniture or through deck boards, but it won't hold the edges of the signs firmly enough. I even tried chopsticks, which worked better, but not well enough. Tonight, I'll try kitchen tongs, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to fabricate some kind of tool to do this job.
Now you know why I run my 2.5v bulbs on 1.6vac. With intermittent operation, they will probably outlast me.
Here's an idea you might try with your signs. Starting point is a standard 12" ruler with a nice flat end. Use some serious glue to attach a piece of the sticky end of a post-it note, sticky side out. stick front side of sign to post-it note. Apply adhesive of choice (double-side Scotch tape?) to back of sign. Press sign against wall. Use blunt end of chopstick to press down edges, ends and corners of sign. Pull ruler back while holding sign with chopstick.
I have been working on a major yard throat which, once everything is in place, will be totally inaccessible from above and only marginally accessible from the side. My solution? Design it to drop out from below. In fact, I just spent the last hour rigging up demountable brackets to the fixed structure and the frame of the throat, so that everything will line up properly in all three dimensions. A little more fiddling around should get it perfect! (A secondary advantage will be the ability to install under-table switch machines, and all the associated electricals, without standing on my head.)
An interesting thing I have noticed in the past, which may or may not hold true for this layout; whenever I provide for easy removability, once the final installation is made I've never had to remove anything until it was time to dismantle the layout for another move. OTOH, if I make something fixed in place hard to access, the gremlins move in and make whoopee!
And on that note I'll head out on my quest for distilled water...
See you later.
Recently I was given a plaster casting of a stone wall section.
I want more so I made a latex rubber mold.
I have plaster in the mold at this time. I'll wait several hours before removing the casting.
I'll have a tall tap Joe, and a round for the house too.
Well....I haven't done a darn thing of late in the Trainroom, but I do have all sort of produce harvested. Even have enough grapes for a 5 gal. batch of wine!
Along with all the garden work I've been working in the library and have just finished the cutting and setting of the slate flooring. It has been a labor of love of slate. I'll post a pic when I take the time to take one!!
All of that and running up to my uncles every now and again....and I have NO TIME!
Latter.........
Thanks colvin, Joe, I'll have a Dr. Pepper on ice, a little early for the beer, but I will have one later.
Not getting as much done in the train room as I would like, I do get there in the evenings and sometimes I'll have a beer and run the trains if I don't have to take a pain pill. I have started working on the scratch built barn, I have the foundition glued together. It consist of four 4" boardes "nailed" together with Elmers glue for the "nails". I am going to order the lumber in a day or so.
I started Physical Therapy on Mon. and had another treatment today. The Docs finally got the final report in on the MRI, I have 2 minor bulging disc and 2 bad bulging disc in the lumbar part of my back, and being there are only four there, that takes care of all of them. They are sending me to a Nuro Surgen on the 2nd of Oct. I guess I am in worse shape than we originaly thought. I guess that is why I cannot bend over the layout for more than a few minutes at a time. I go down in the shop and work on some scratch building for a while then I have to do something different for a while. I will probley be off work for another couple of months anyway. Being off work with pay wouldn't be so bad if I could do anything without being in pain. Oh well, I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
Guess I will go away from the computer for a while and let my back rest a spell. You all take care and most of all Take Care Of Your Back!! Mike
Stocks are flaky, bonds are flaky, real estate is flaky. Time to return to the Gold Standard. Joe, a round of Harpoon IPA for the good people. (Yeah, and give Mike, Chuck, Jeffrey, JB and the rest one, too.)
So, how do we measure progress? Over the last couple of days, I made progress without even touching the layout, the workbench or the LHS. Instead, I figured out how to put a small stock pen on my layout. With the completion of the brewery and it's siding, along with the replacement of the bad bulbs (thanks for the tip, by the way, my 16-volt lighting will run at 10 volts, and still be lighting the station when the trumpet sounds at Jericho) the "scenic frontier" on my layout is down to the right-hand third. Suddenly, ballast gives way to WS foam roadbed, flock-and-turf gives way to pink foam, and structures give way to beer cans, isopropyl alcohol and Elmers. And there is the old Suydam Swift packing plant...
It sets next to one track of the yard, squeezed into a tiny space with the track just starting to curve around it. It won't fit between the Atlas switch machine on the main and the siding, but, hmmm...., suppose I remove the switch machine and extend the throw bar a couple of inches, and then put the machine inside the building? Gee, the building fits now, and even better, the Atlas switch machine dons a Cloak of Invisibility. Now, I have room for a chute and a stockyard. (Who remembers the "packing plant" thread a couple of weeks back? I think it was on Layouts and Layout Building. Great discussion.) Amazing how busy a real packing plant can be. Lots of possible rail traffic, plus auxilliary stuff like icing the reefers. Old ice-bunker reefers are about my favorite cars, so it got me to thinking.
Now, the icing facility can serve 2 masters - the brewery and the packing plant. It was on sale at Walthers, but the next challenge will be fitting it into the ever-shrinking open space on the layout. I'm going to have to think about that one some more...
MisterBeasley wrote:Morning, Joe. I'll have the "Patriot Breakfast," heavy on the Moss, with a side of Welker. Skip the videotape, though. I stayed up until the outcome wasn't in doubt (late 3rd quarter) but Monday morning came early. Keep the coffee coming.This is the first layout picture that I really wanted to share, taken a couple of years ago with a film camera:Since then, the scenery has grown up around it, and particularly above it, and I've learned some lessons about how to build subway stations. One of those was, "Don't overdrive your light bulbs!" 5 of the 6 bulbs in this old picture have gone to the big light in the sky, so I decided to replace them. I had planned for that, with access for the bulbs from above, and the job went smoothly yesterday. When I turned on the lights in the station for the first time in months, though, I discovered a problem. Those signs on the back wall that say "Saint Anne Street," 3 in all, had all come loose and fallen down.This is a problem. The back wall is about 6 inches from the layout edge, and is protected by the vertical girders. The roof does NOT come off, so I've got to get those signs out and then re-attach them. It's too deep for needle-nose pliers. I've got one of those flexible-shaft things for grabbing things that fall behind furniture or through deck boards, but it won't hold the edges of the signs firmly enough. I even tried chopsticks, which worked better, but not well enough. Tonight, I'll try kitchen tongs, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to fabricate some kind of tool to do this job.Well, keep up the good work, one and all. One more coffee, and then I'll hit the road.
That's one of thosemoments, isn't it!
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that does dumb things like that!
Good evening all, Mr B.. I have never tried a Harpoon, is this something I want? What the He*l, Joe, bring me a Harpoon, and and a pizza, being that Mr. B is buying, I'll try it.
I wish I could do something on the layout without actually going in the room. I did get some scale lumber ordered for the barn, it will take 2-3 weeks to get it, but I will be ready when it gets here. I also ordered some GOW bulbs to replace the ones that have gone bad on the layout, and to add some light to the dark places.
Well I see Joe is getting my pizza out of the oven so I guess I better go. You all better have a slice while it is still hot. Later, Mike
Thank you, Mister Beasley. Ahhh, that's GOOD!
So, what's the status of the Saint Anne Strre station signage? Did the long sticky finger work as designed?
I had forgotten all about Miss Frothingsloshe. Of course, St Pauli has both Miss Frothingsloshe and Miss Strumpet beat - but they cheat! (They use Playboy Playmates, albiet fully dressed.)
My dropout section is getting interesting, what with brackets and alignment pins to make sure it goes back in EXACTLY the same place every time. I could probably have made it a lot simpler if I didn't have to align rails that depart it North, South and East - nine tracks in all, seven of them curved. Well, I have always enjoyed a challenge.
Mike, sounds as if your back is a lot worse than my son's. Having watched him, I can sympathize with you. Sick time may seem good, but forced inactivity is a (fillintheblank!)
Well, there's my designated driver. See you all later.
Thank you Mr. Beasley...I'll have a Harpoon
Other than domestics and work at the pool, all I did today was plumbing. Why is it that when ever you start work on existing plumbing (getting water to the library in this case) it always is a MUCH bigger project, complete with MANY and MAJOR complications, than anticipated?
Oh well, the plumbing is mostly done, I'll be able to "flush" tomorrow morning, and if all goes well I'll have all the tile down, sealed and grouted by weeks end. Maybe I'll even have some time to play with trains.
BTW Mr. Beasley. OK, so the stockyard will fit on your pike? But.... Judging from the photos (aerial views) I've seen and your comment about space, I'm thinking you are just going to have to go BIGGER!
Getting water to the library? I hope you're not putting a wet bar in amongst the mathematics books. Don't drink and derive, as they say.
Yes, I'm running out of space. She Who Allocates Space has hinted that I might be able to expand, so I've started planning first a thin shelf along the window wall, and then a wider loop to return on the other side. My plan would be about half staging behind a block and half finished layout in front. Long term, the engine house would move down to the far end, and the icing platform would be somewhere along the thin shelf.
Oops, I'm on top of the page again. I hope you've got more Harpoon out back, Joe, because the gang seems to be lapping it up. (No, don't refill the dog's bowl. He's had his limit.)
Regarding water to the library...A wet bar may not be that bad an idea!
Actually....The "library" is a 6' x 12' dormer that I've added to the north side of my second floor. Its intended space is / was that of a half bath (a stool and sink) and additional storage space.
Once built and paneled, realizing how nice a space it is, the thought was to divide the space equally and use the remaining 6' x 6' for all of our books and periodicals.
Yet to be seen...the room will have floor to ceiling shelving along with one or two tall file cabinets on the short wall. The remaining space, to one long side and above the old roof rafters will be storage.
Good luck on getting that extra space Mr. B. BTW, if memory serves; you have a collection of reefers. Right? Have you seen the new releases from Greenway products? Some look pretty cool.
Perhaps you would be interested in an August Meininger Brewing reefer from right here at the Colvin Shops.
And now...Back to work. I want to get all the grouting done today before I have to head off to work.
Howdy all...
Time for a beer! A really tall, really cold one if you please. And while you're at it Joe, set a round for the house too.
It's been a long day at the Dr. this morning, tiling all afternoon and then work at the pool....
After the mostly finishing the tiling project today (grout is down and I've been scrubbing like crazy...with much more clean up to come) I thought I would give a sense of what I'm up to. It's a far cry from the Trainroom, but the project is coming to a close for this season and then I can get back to the REAL fun. Playing with the trains!
The pictures are mostly self explanatory. So, I'll leave it at that.
Howdy, Joe. Since it's (close to) lunchtime, I'll have a Singha.
(There's a joke in there, but you'd have to be a Cricket to catch it.)
Colvin, that's some fine looking construction there. OTOH, to get my family's books and periodicals into a 6x6 space would take installing those moving bookshelves on rails my doctor's office uses for medical records. (I have to install another 32 linear feet of shelving just to catch up with my present shortfall!)
C&O fan came up with an interesting way of making whiskey barrels (DIY Whiskey Barrel thread.) If those screwhole plugs come in smaller sizes they might make reasonable kegs. That would be something to add to the interior of your brewery, Mister Beasley.
Las week it was hot enough to melt lead on my patio with a magnifying glass. Then a front came through, the thermometer broke and all the mercury ran out... Well, not quite! Still, the daytime high now is about what the dawn temperature was a few days ago, while the dawn is down to windbreaker (or flannel shirt) level. The good part is that the railroad room stays comfortable all day.
So, that means I'm getting a lot more done, right? Wrong!!! My son arrived with the cooler weather, stayed over an elongated weekend and left last night. Spent most of today napping (recovering!) Tomorrow---...
Meanwhile, back to the fun job of filing paperwork.
See you all later,
Friday at last. Coffee, juice, bacon 'n' eggs for me, Joe. Still got the day to get through.
JB, big projects and hard work like that fascinate me. I can just watch it for hours...
Chuck, someone on the Forum was asking about photos of your layout. I know you're not at the scenery stage yet, but do you have any in-process shots? I took a lot during construction of my layout, and I'm glad I've got those to look back on. It's funny to see a single oval of track with a subway car running around on top of the pink foam. Lets me see how far I've come since the start.
Warm, warm weather up here in New England. It hit 90 this week. Normally, we'd be covering up the tomato plants to protect those last few tomatoes from the first light frosts. Instead, I had the AC on Wednesday so I could sleep at night. It's also dry. We had a couple of light showers last night, but other than that we've only had a couple of hours of rain for the past 3 weeks. Of course, those 2 hours coincided with the town's annual Bedford Day parade.
I've cleared off my workbench for the Great Jordan Vehicle Project. Over the past few months I've been buying various Jordan kits as they've come on sale at Walthers. They seem to put one or two models on sale every month, so I've patiently waited and collected a variety of these. I printed out the Bob Grech tutorial on painting and assembling these kits, and now I'm ready to put together one "by the book." Then, I'll move into mass production and get the rest of them (7 or 8 in all) ready for the layout. After that, I'll do what I've been threatening all along - take off the diesels, autos from the 50's and 60's, and new-fangled rolling stock like intermodals, and get back to basics.
Morning all, Joe just black coffee for now. Thanks.
I know what you mean Mr. B, It about time Friday is here, been a long week with the Dr. Appointments all week, and even more on tap for next week but at least I will have a few days off. (Kinda like a real job?)
I also took a lot of of pics as I was doing the major part of the layout construction, but unfortuionally I never backed up the computer and it died taking all of the early pics with it. I now save them every week or so on a disc so I can avoid the same thing in case the computer dies again.
I did manage to get some activity in the train room this week. I got the cedar shingles and GOW bulbs in on Monday and got a new roof on Cody's Recovery and put in about 20 new street lights. I made the dark places and the area around Cody's Recovery look better. I am still looking for the scale lumber to come in, hope it will be in next week. I got the barn floor and foundation ready for the walls when the lumber comes in. I also tried my hand at disassembling and painting one of my Chevy PU trucks. See WPF when it comes up.
I guess you all are about tired of me ratteling so I guess I'll go sit in the corner and drink my coffee. Oh, Mr. B, I think Modeling only has one "L" LOL.
Later, Mike