Evening guys,
Kind of a cloudy out here but the sun was out too for a while.
Hi all, Just got back from seeing the doc about my shakes. He assured me it is NOT Parkinsons [my primary fear], its just another annoying little sign that I'm getting old.
It comes and goes, directly related to my stress level - and I've had plenty of
that as of late!
Great news that it isn't Parkinsons. I'd love to practice your remedy, but the trainroom [my garage] has been colder than usual because of this bitterly cold winter, so now I'm dealing with kinks in the track in some places.
Say Ken: I'm glad to hear your fear was unfounded. All too often we tend to think of the worst case situation as a kind of defense mechanism, I imagine, as our minds run a-muck a bit. It's normal for that to happen, I do it too. I/we just have to grab hold of ourselves, so to speak, and realize that it's our own thinking is creating the nervous condition which can be due to various other reasons.
Possibly you need a release from the stresses at home such as exercise or just getting in touch with a buddy and cracking a few jokes as laughter is good medicine.
Also your body could be lacking one vitamin or another. B-12 is supposed to be very good for nerves and most older folks, like me and maybe you need extra Calcium and maybe more Iodine too?
Your layout situation: It sounds like you soldered your track in too many places and it's contracting and kinking with the cold weather. So you may need to either unsolder some of your joints or cut some new joints to allow your track to contract without kinking. I have that problem too and the reason I don't solder any joints but I have some large gaps here and there when is so cold.
Expansion and contraction can be a real problem, I remember earlier during the summer heat I had to go around with a razor saw and ReCut joint sections that I know I also cut once before. That's why I mentioned to others on here to only solder every other joint if using 3' flex track lengths and then leave about about at least 3/16" gap, UnSoldered, if laying track in the winter so there is room to expand in the summer heat or you can butt the rails fairly close if laying in the Summer, again without soldering various joints to allow for contraction in the winter.
I wonder how the Real Railroads handle that situation as it must affect them too? It's amazing that ready laid track, Atlas and others doesn't run into these problems too but I guess there are many more joints and possibly they all have a bit of space built in?
Here is my end of the day photo, NP steam running over the Mississippi in Minneapolis, MN
View attachment 48781
Say LG&SM: Neat shot of the old train crossing the Mississippi.
it only took 9 months.
. Going to the dentist for my annual check-up Wednesday Afternoon.
