Time to Think Again

It has been over a year since I wrote the post, Time to Think.  There I pondered what to do with the space I have been blessed with; a garage.  Since then I have determined that space is not so good for model trains.  In fact, it needs more work than I realized even though it isn't a bad space for a workshop and storage.  It will be a fine place to build Halloween props each year, work on home improvement projects or generally make a mess I wouldn't make in the house.  In fact, I built this year's NMRBO diorama in that space and the Pine Branch Park railroad has lived there since we moved in.

Can you find the diorama in this image?

But the trains can't live there much longer.  The winter was indeed cold and damp.  No leaks in the roof, but seepage from the concrete floor needs to be addressed eventually.  The summers have been hot and dry but thanks to our evening lows the mornings are pleasant and the garage can be used for a few hours.  If the weather is mild and the evening breeze picks up it is downright enjoyable with the garage door open (and a cold beverage!).  The spiders aren't too bad, nor the dust, and so far - knock on wood - no sign of rodents!  Still, it is a hostile environment for vintage craftsman structures and rolling stock!

So where will the trains go?  As I mentioned in my post "New Digs", this house has a second living room we call the den.  There I'll be sharing the space with my son's computer desk, a bookshelf with display cabinet, and a TV area.  The bookshelf was built last fall and just in the last month I installed new lighting.  My son's computer area is well established and he regularly plays VR games in that end of the room, wildly swinging his arms, working up a sweat!  The workbench has been moved to make room for the trains.

Percy enjoys his new bed atop a Helmer cabinet between my workbench and the sliding glass doors overlooking the back yard.  We both enjoy the natural light and the view.

 
All that remains before the trains come inside is to build some legs for the railroad.  In the garage, both this one and the last, it rested on metal shelving and that will remain in the garage.  In the den it will need legs with wheels; not that it will be rolled around that often, but it will be convenient for photo shoots and cleaning.  Beneath the benchwork will be space for rolling carts.  These will hold paints, supplies, tools, etc. that don't fit in the Ikea Helmer drawers at the workbench.

I'm also going to make some shelves to go over the workbench.  The lowest will include a section of cork board for tacking up instructions (or maybe a metal strip for magnets).  As I've used this smaller bench I have discovered the need to set large plan sheets and even smaller instruction pages...somewhere.  Now that the cat is sharing the space, there's really no good place to put pages of plans.  My desk lamp seen in the photo above will be relocated and strip lighting will be attached under the lowest shelf.  This will not only give me a few more inches on the work surface, but the shelf will provide a place to attach a camera looking straight down onto the bench, should I decide to shoot a video or two.

Hopefully all this will be accomplished in September because October will be for building new Halloween yard haunt props and that time will be here soon!  Feel free to leave comments or questions down below and thanks for reading!

Covered Wagon

With apologies to Luke Blackbeard; it's not that kind of wagon, but the resemblance is there if you squint.

This was my attempt at creating a dust cover for the railroad.  Yes, there's a 4'x6' HO scale railroad under that sheet.  I say 'was' because I have scrapped this idea altogether.  Getting the sheet up and over the hoops then off again would have wreaked havoc on the poor occupants of the town below, knocking down trees and sending people and autos and maybe even locomotives to the floor below.  That will never do.

Here are the wire hoops, minus the sheet.  Had the sheet been easier to put in place I could have shortened the hoops to cover the ends fully.  But that wasn't the only problem.  The end hoops were being pulled inward by the weight of the sheet.  Reinforcing the hoops somehow would run counter to the simplicity and ease of operation I was shooting for.  This idea, in theory held up but in practice, wasn't sound.

Finally, here is an image of the brass tubing I used as a hoop guide to keep the wire from enlarging the hole over time.  Removing and installing the stiff wire hoops was not difficult.  However, with four hoops evenly spaced, two of the tubes ended up in streets and one in a future parking area.  Sure, I could place an auto over the hole, but I'd have to move them each time I wanted to install the wires.  Not ideal. 



So what to do?  I called in my wife and we put our heads together.  After a brief brainstorm we arrived at the same conclusion.  I will build a lid.  The lid will contain lighting.  LED lighting.  I will install pulleys and a winch to raise the lid and it will become a valance.  Yes, I know, I detest valences.  This one will be different.  Hopefully.

A Tiny Control Panel

Okay, just the parts for now:

Lauan plywood scrap leftover from benchwork construction, cut on my scroll saw.  An old terminal strip and a DPDT switch.  This will be assembled and attached to the "Power Plank"(trademark pending) as a means of selecting either the DC throttle or the DCC system, both MRC products.

I'm finally getting around to ticking the boxes on the tasks required before I can begin scenic work in earnest.  Yes, I know I could probably paint track, rout out ditches, even ballast or put down some roads or grade crossings or many other projects now, but I'd like to get these preliminary things done so they're not hanging over my head waiting.  Truthfully they won't take long and I'll feel great knowing they're done.  Besides getting the throttles sorted neatly on a board and making it easy to switch between them, I also wanted to get the trim attached and fascia painted, and build a cover system built to keep dust off the railroad.

Framed!

Notice anything different?

Look closer...

Closer...

And here's another corner:

The railroad has been framed!  Finally.  The 12 foot long trim strips have been laying on my garage floor for FAR too long.  The color is my favorite, Mudstone.  I had the Home Depot color match a quart from a sample I brought in.  These images make it look washed out but it is really much darker in person. 

The concept I am developing is that of a picture laid on its back with the three-dimensional interactive painting rising out of the frame.  I debated on whether or not to consider it a plinth on which a sculpture is created, but that doesn't suit the concept.  The frame around traditional paintings serves to isolate the world of the painting from the world of the viewer whether in a gallery, restaurant, office, or in my case, garage.

This frame is complete - there will be no throttle doo-dads or operational whatsits attached.  To my mind that's just visual clutter, no matter how useful.  (My garage is already cluttered enough!).  DCC fortunately reduces the need to rely on a massive control panel of switches and lights.  That said, there will still be a panel for the throttle power supply and controls for lights; it will be on a separate board on a shelf beneath the railroad.

More on this concept in later posts.  I am not the first to pass this way, but not many have...

Miniature Benchwork

In preparation for building the framework for my next layout, the Pine Branch Park, I decided to try something I'd read about before; building a model of the model.  I enlarged my plan to a scale of 1/8 inch equals 1 inch, or 1-1/2 inch equals a foot.  This allowed me to cut thin strips to represent 1 inch wide material that I could handle without much trouble.  The overall size of the model at this scale works out to 6 inches by 9 inches, keeping the whole thing within a regular sheet of card stock.

Here's what I came up with:

Glamorous, ain't it?  Okay, so maybe it won't win any awards but it has served a very important function.  It showed me a few pitfalls and mistakes I might have made - these are easier to correct and far cheaper in card stock than plywood.  For instance, I want 1 inch flanges on the outer sides and 2 inch flanges on the inner members.  It was also fun to see flat sheets of card become a surprisingly strong framework.  The card stock is glued with Titebond II wood glue.

I will be using 1/4 inch plywood for the actual framework as well as the top.  I hope that by using girder construction for the frame I can avoid the eventual warping that comes from dimensional lumber exposed to temperature and moisture changes, as well as produce a light and strong frame that can be easily handled.  While I won't be moving this railroad as much as I would a portable module, I will be moving it eventually and early in the construction phase may be tipping it on its side to do wiring and turnout control work from the underside.