Lake wales, Florida model railroad club?


I use to live in Arcadia,Fl. until Oct. of 22. I sold my house 3 days after Hurricane IAN & closed a week & a half later & moved out 3 days after the closing. Was there from Sept. of 1971 to Oct.13th 2022. I now live w/my Sis in Covington, Ga. My trains are in storage in Florida. I only brought personal stuff that fitted in my 2011 Nissan Cube stacked to the ceiling. I gave away thousands of Dollars worth of Equipment to 3 close Friends not including the large group of Metal Sculptures to the local College campus that I donated in 2021 that I had made from 2012 to 2018. I use to go to Train Shows in Plant City, Lake Wales, Bradenton, Palmetto, Sebring, Ft. Myers, Venice, Englewood & Sarasota. There were 5 of us MRR'ers that made all the shows every year for about 15 years between Sept. & May. Miss those days. My wife & I had been married for 62 & 1/2 Yrs. before she died in Jan. of 22.
Condolences on the loss of your wife.

You seem to have everything in hand regarding your next project, is their a particular era you model ?
 
I was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer in Aug 2021 I was torn between ho and n scale but since I developed neuropathy ho seems better since my fingers are numb
 
I was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer in Aug 2021 I was torn between ho and n scale but since I developed neuropathy ho seems better since my fingers are numb
WOW! sorry to hear that, I take it your managing the symptoms ok.

Yes HO would be easier for you N scale is very small I looked at that too, but decided as I'm quite clumsy OO and HO would be less expensive in repairs.

Have you decided on a particular side of MRR you like, running trains or switching operations ?
 
Condolences on the loss of your wife.

You seem to have everything in hand regarding your next project, is their a particular era you model ?
I like all of the Modern Stuff in Diesels. My Logo is GAP Railroad which stands for Gulf-Atlantic-Pacific that way I can run all lines in any direction. I have a lot of the Older Engines too. I mainly like NS, BNSF, Southern, etc. On my Last layout I had engines for Alaska, Calif., Canada, NYC & everything else. Just before I moved up here I had just made some old Engines into Dummies. About 11 of them. I took the old Pancake Motors out & added enough weights to compensate for the motors being removed. I then took the plastic wheels off & the wheels that had rubber tires & installed the Brass wheels out of junk engines. That was a learning experience in itself. I also added Kadde #148's to all of them. That too was another learning experience but they all came out just like I wanted them. The Contractors are supposed to start on my Building this coming Monday. It's been raining for 2 days.
 
I like all of the Modern Stuff in Diesels. My Logo is GAP Railroad which stands for Gulf-Atlantic-Pacific that way I can run all lines in any direction. I have a lot of the Older Engines too. I mainly like NS, BNSF, Southern, etc. On my Last layout I had engines for Alaska, Calif., Canada, NYC & everything else. Just before I moved up here I had just made some old Engines into Dummies. About 11 of them. I took the old Pancake Motors out & added enough weights to compensate for the motors being removed. I then took the plastic wheels off & the wheels that had rubber tires & installed the Brass wheels out of junk engines. That was a learning experience in itself. I also added Kadde #148's to all of them. That too was another learning experience but they all came out just like I wanted them. The Contractors are supposed to start on my Building this coming Monday. It's been raining for 2 days.
How long is your housebuild likely to take?
 
3 months or more.
Not long then really, that's pretty fast in anyone's book I assume you'll have a dedicated train room, it must be quite large seeing the amount of locomotives and cars you still have, how long do you estimate to do the layout build ?
 
WOW! sorry to hear that, I take it your managing the symptoms ok.

Yes HO would be easier for you N scale is very small I looked at that too, but decided as I'm quite clumsy OO and HO would be less expensive in repairs.

Have you decided on a particular side of MRR you like, running trains or switching operations ?
I think I want switches and at least two trains running
 
Not long then really, that's pretty fast in anyone's book I assume you'll have a dedicated train room, it must be quite large seeing the amount of locomotives and cars you still have, how long do you estimate to do the layout build ?
The whole building will be the Train Room. I have to fit in a small shop in there someplace. The tables will be 3ft wide & a 24" away from the wall. So that leaves me a little less than 8ft down the middle. The tables will be 40" high. I know I will have a lot of Track left over, maybe for an under the layout build w/a 4% or less Grade. I figure it will take an all around 3 or 4 days to get the whole 38 Banana Boxes full of a train layout shipped up here by the Guy that has them in Storage for me or I will have to go down & get them myself w/a rental truck. Anyway I figure it will take me about 3 months to come up w/a Nice useable Design. My little shop will probably have to be built under the Train Tables w/a roll out workbench & then shelving on the wall for all my supplies. I have always kept up a good supply of parts to repair just about anything. I will post pictures as I go along w/ some Video's. Just before I sold my house I had put loads on 55 Flat Cars that I haven't had on the rails to test them. I had a nice Video on FB running my 55 Coal Cars full of Coal before I moved up here. I have always scratchbuilt almost all of the commercial buildings on the layouts including Train Sheds, Turntables, Dist. centers, etc.
 
I use to live in Arcadia,Fl. until Oct. of 22. I sold my house 3 days after Hurricane IAN & closed a week & a half later & moved out 3 days after the closing. Was there from Sept. of 1971 to Oct.13th 2022. I now live w/my Sis in Covington, Ga. My trains are in storage in Florida. I only brought personal stuff that fitted in my 2011 Nissan Cube stacked to the ceiling. I gave away thousands of Dollars worth of Equipment to 3 close Friends not including the large group of Metal Sculptures to the local College campus that I donated in 2021 that I had made from 2012 to 2018. I use to go to Train Shows in Plant City, Lake Wales, Bradenton, Palmetto, Sebring, Ft. Myers, Venice, Englewood & Sarasota. There were 5 of us MRR'ers that made all the shows every year for about 15 years between Sept. & May. Miss those days. My wife & I had been married for 62 & 1/2 Yrs. before she died in Jan. of 22.
Hi Larry I have lived in Fl. for 55 Yrs. I know the shows you mentioned, miss going to the Deland show. I live now in a small town near Lake City. Should you need a place to work on a layout I could use help. Also there is a house for sale in the community, might work for your new layout.
 
Hi Larry I have lived in Fl. for 55 Yrs. I know the shows you mentioned, miss going to the Deland show. I live now in a small town near Lake City. Should you need a place to work on a layout I could use help. Also there is a house for sale in the community, might work for your new layout.
I now live w/my Sister in Georgia & I', getting a new Train Room Built right now that is supposed to be finished in about 4 weeks. Here's a picture of it right now.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN3463.JPG
    DSCN3463.JPG
    180.3 KB · Views: 63
  • DSCN3464.JPG
    DSCN3464.JPG
    181.9 KB · Views: 57
  • DSCN3466.JPG
    DSCN3466.JPG
    181.4 KB · Views: 54
The whole building will be the Train Room. I have to fit in a small shop in there someplace. The tables will be 3ft wide & a 24" away from the wall. So that leaves me a little less than 8ft down the middle. The tables will be 40" high. I know I will have a lot of Track left over, maybe for an under the layout build w/a 4% or less Grade. I figure it will take an all around 3 or 4 days to get the whole 38 Banana Boxes full of a train layout shipped up here by the Guy that has them in Storage for me or I will have to go down & get them myself w/a rental truck. Anyway I figure it will take me about 3 months to come up w/a Nice useable Design. My little shop will probably have to be built under the Train Tables w/a roll out workbench & then shelving on the wall for all my supplies. I have always kept up a good supply of parts to repair just about anything. I will post pictures as I go along w/ some Video's. Just before I sold my house I had put loads on 55 Flat Cars that I haven't had on the rails to test them. I had a nice Video on FB running my 55 Coal Cars full of Coal before I moved up here. I have always scratchbuilt almost all of the commercial buildings on the layouts including Train Sheds, Turntables, Dist. centers, etc.
I decided this week to order an 8 by 10ft. metal & wood Storage building to put behind my train room building for my MRR Shop. I will put an A/C in it & overhead shop lites(LED's). I'm going to have it wired for electric & I'm going to super insulae it w/Foam Sheets. Add shelving, a Bandsaw, bench Vice, Tool boxes, a Chop Saw, wirewheel on a 1/2hp motor & a few other tools.
 
I decided this week to order an 8 by 10ft. metal & wood Storage building to put behind my train room building for my MRR Shop. I will put an A/C in it & overhead shop lites(LED's). I'm going to have it wired for electric & I'm going to super insulae it w/Foam Sheets. Add shelving, a Bandsaw, bench Vice, Tool boxes, a Chop Saw, wirewheel on a 1/2hp motor & a few other tools.

It will be nice to have a separate space for a workshop. Leaves the mess in there and not the train room.
 



Back
Top