Good late afternoon at 5:45 Pm, fellow track layers and spike drivers,
Hi Flo & Francine, How are things down at Jeffreys' Dinner today? I'll have some black coffee and some of that Pot Roast sure smells and looks good!
Per Wunderground Weather: Partly Cloudy, 75.7 °F - Feels Like 78 °F;
Wind are from the West at 1.1 mph;
Hum-i-dity is at 51%;
Barometer is at 29.95 in/Hg
I've had something happen yesterday evening that I feel very lucky about. I headed into my Garage/TR to again continue work on building another Right Hand curved turnout. My mind was doing that and I had the soldering station setting on top of the work table and needed to plug it in to the extension cord. As I'm doing that I look over to my Left to see the batteries and charging units I plugged in the day before still pluged in! Normally they are left charging about 4-6 hours. OMG were they hot but I could touch them so not really extremly hot but more than enough so I quickly disconnected the two of them and the little transformer units which were even hotter and set them on another table to cool. That was a close call I don't care to have again. That's what happens when I get too distracted, a warning to me!
Then I went to working on continuing the building of the RH turnout, I had ground down the the tapered lengths that make up the actual point of the frog and had them soldered in place but something didn't look right as I stand at this high table and I couldn't quite figure it out. You have to realize I'm using Dark Brown Weathered NS code 70 rail, it's this DB color on all four sides until I use something like a track cleaning eraser to scrub it shinny which I had done to the bottom but not the rail head. When I solder this second leg on the right of the frog point the day before, late at night it didn't seem right but it did solder in place. I have previously tapered the two inner surfaces so they from a point and tinned both inner surfaces which as well as the bottom. Well, as careful as I tried to be in holding this second rail of the point down with a small block of wood to solder it while trying to push it up against the other tapered surface I some how got it cocked so it lay on it's side at about a 45* angle. LoL and I don't drink either except for coffee or water lately. Well the Track foreman came along and saw what I had done and fired me on the spot. Great, just when when I was starting to make ahead too! Well I corrected that and got rehired, don't tell the line superintendant, Ok
So then I decided to run some trains on my Point-to-Point layout at present which amount to about 60' of track and nine mainline turnouts for some diversion. While I try and lay my track so the rail head are fairly even things don't always work out that way but being that it's a Class 1 or 2 at best RR things are in need of repair and money is tight. So as I'm controlling the little 2-8-0 Consolidation loco pulling three shorty Old Time passenger coaches with my Quest Radio controlled 'DC' hand throttle I'm watching the engine and cars bump along as they hit uneven spots and negotiate the difference in rail heights here and there. It's quite enjoyable and as I make more progress things are falling into place fairly nicely. fairly soon I have a mine line and two more passing sidings to make use of.
Looks like I'll need probably 5 or 6 more castings with what I have in mind. Nothing outlandish but hopefully dramatic looking. I already have "Chet's Peak" in mind. If WS makes mountain climber or repelling figurines (HO), they will be having a home soon. My land surveying crew is probably getting nervous.
I was going to go kind of "big" around the portals. The more I came and went in and out of the room it occurred to me that the south portals (with mountain on the left) is one of the first things you encounter when entering the room. If I was to make that too big it would potentially hide half the mountain. So, I'll just go for dramatic effect on the north end where "Chet's Peak" will be.
One thing I have learned quickly is this is not like laying plaster cloth on cardboard ribs like the "make it look easy" videos would have you believe. I still maintain this is more of a chess game. Although I may be free-styling the railroad, I am still quite attentive to realism and know enough about geology to know when to put a lid on it and not get too wild.
Lesson #2 - hydrocal sets REALLY quick. Don't try to mix a double batch unless you are prepare to throw down pretty much all of it at once.
I'll fall back on POP for more of these monster casts this morning once I wake up some more.
"Chet's Peak" on "Palmer Mountain" is days away.
E.
Eric: A couple of things to consider in making/working with the castings:
You don't need to make them any thicker than you want so they won't stick out so far;
You don't have to pour the material in all the areas of the mold, just mold a portion of a rock casting;
Molds are easy to make with a few choice rock surfaces and some liquid latex rubber material. Clean the rock surface you want to mold and only paint enough to give you a bit of a depressed area to pour into, even if only an 1/8" deep;
Also consider that an rock face similar to what your appearing to make might not even need a tunnel portal as it could be hewen out of solid rock if it looks too solid. Better to make thinner rock castings and have some dirt and smaller rocks that appear to be falling down to give rise for the need of a tunnel portal. Just my opinion.
Batten down the hatches boys! The mid-east coast is about to get flushed!! Hurricane Joaquin is heading somewhere between Hatteras and NYC, most likely the DELMARVA coast. If it comes up the bay,,well there goes Central Absurdistan, right into the inner harbor!! (that may not be a bad thing!)
Louis, head for higher ground!!
We're ready, with pickups, ropes, and chain saws, along with flashlights, lanterns and plenty of T.P.
Might be a good weekend to pass time in the basement!!
State Line Jct./B167.7
www.wmwestsub.com1800 × 1151Search by image
Another WM Challenger passed George's Creek Jct. but this one is downgrade, passing the State Line Jct. interlocking tower/office. (Bill Price photo)
Karl: Do you have any idea what the Yellow steps and two hand wheels are for?
That was work related travel last week, my wife came along and she had the vacation on that one. My real vacation is next week, headed for the Black Hills and Medicine Bow National Forest;
Not to say I am not getting any dreaming in, picking out structures for the new layout:
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Also, working on the track plan and room layout!! Almost too much fun!
Say David: Is the third picture a FSM kit or from another mfg? It sure has a lot of added detail ! Even the forth building looks to be a nice kit as well.
Evening All,
I did some more weathering on my new GP7 today and worked on the pool today for several hours since Saturday we have 4 kids coming to the house (including grandkids) at 10 AM and then MOH is taking them to Jo-Ann's for a class on carving fake pumpkins at 4 PM. Of course I am going to a train show Saturday morning (authorized by higher authority-LOL) with my Dad. Thinking about going to see the Martian tomorrow. I read the book and it was excellent and I like Matt Damon.
Here is a picture of the sand around the sanding towers. Not sure if I like it.
I hope everyone has a good night.
I like Matt Damon too.
Your yard scene and sanding towers looks very good to me but Joe is the guy that knows about the amount of sand that covers the ground!
Curt: I think your sand tracks look good. Perhaps more sand is in order. Railroad class A Laborers (the ones who fueled and sanded locomotives at major terminals), were quite sloppy when sanding. Most sanding facilities resembled beaches (with dirty sand). Your entire engine terminal looks very good.
Say Joe: Thanks for the info!
