Good Morning All. Cloudy and 52° with off and on mist and drizzle. Not much change in the weather forecast until next Wednesday when it will cool off considerably.
Disappointment yesterday when the chimney sweepers did not show up. They got tied up elsewhere before getting to me. They also clean HVAC ducts. Their office manager offered me a 10% discount if I rescheduled for this morning. I told her OK, but they would probably have to dodge raindrops.
Otherwise yesterday was relatively good. I took out the mower and grass catcher and shredded up a few more bags of leaves for the garden compost pile and I split more firewood that I probably won't use until next winter. Sadly in a way, I have too many trunks and not enough branches.
Thanks as always for the comments and reactions to the layout progress.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I plodded on. Ballasted another 30" of main line and about 18" of the loading track.
You can see here the variation in color of the ballast that I use, as per the ATSF track that I used to see. Light gray on the main, gray blend on the passing siding and darker gray on industry tracks. I was told years ago that Santa Fe always used lighter ballast on the mains so it was easier for engineers/conductors to distinguish which track was which at night and in inclement weather.
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I placed the loading racks in place to determine fit and spacing. I then came to an unsettling realization.
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The tank cars were not symmetrical, if i lined up the racks to fit the walkways one way, they didn't fit when the cars were mixed in the train.
Bad picture, but I didn't know at the time. Brake wheel on the right.
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This one lines up, but the next car in line, brake wheel on the left does not. If it was the same orientation as the first, then no problem
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Note that as I mentioned last week, I do need to dust these cars off.
There's no solution other than to always have the cars in a particular cut facing in the same direction. Not that it really matters much, as I don't intend to have any walkways in the down position other than photo ops.
There is an option when building these loading platforms to connect them together to make a continuous platform by leaving off guardrails and stairways, but I could not do that because then the loading spouts would be too close together to line up multiple cars at once. Ethanol cars are 56' long while oil cars are 40'. Not a big deal except my industry workers will have to climb more stairs. I can't blame any of this on Walther's!!!
Dave B -
The track itself was put down three or four years ago. I am finally getting around the bend to landscape and try to finish up the area. I do not intend to complete the entire 24' x 2' area at one time, as it would overwhelm me. I am just planning on the first 15' for now with the Ethanol processing facility. On the entire layout, there are 12 spaces of this approximate size. I have 8 of them semi-completed, but the track is in place on all of them. Of course I will get distracted during this phase of the building and pop a small project in every now and then. I'll hit an obstacle or have a brain lull like I so often have.
Tom O - All of a sudden, I am again also seeing shortages and back-orders on some hobby supplies. This week, my wife went by the LHS to get me some Atlas LH #6 switches. They were out and didn't know when they were coming in. Quite unusual for them as they generally get cases of them at a time. Last time I was in there, they were out of Tomar metal bumpers and some detail parts. I am not really an Internet shopper so I haven't looked except for the bumpers which seem to be sold out at the few places that I looked. In the meantime I can use those plastic Walther's ones on background tracks.
Guy -
A bit chilly???
Mara - I am not done with the track yet. After ballasting, I usually highlight some rail sides with various shades of rust and brown, as well as adding oily streaks in the center of the track where appropriate. The rail tops will always be bright and shiny because it represents well used track. For now I am just concentrating on painting and ballasting. I could be getting more done, but I am taking a lot of rest breaks right now because my sciatica is acting up. That and the great weather lately has me doing many chores around the farm. I have been sitting at the workbench reading the latest issue of Model Railroader and painting detail parts.
Patrick - I'll try to remember later today to take some step by step pictures that might assist you with your ballasting. I find it easy and enjoyable. Only hard part will be holding the camera with one hand and demonstrating with the other hand.
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day as
Terry alluded to. Full Moon overnight which will still look full tonight.
Everybody have a great day. As the AWOL
Karl would say, "It's hump day".
