Force Majeure!

My kids like to play Zombie Apocalypse on the front lawn. I thought it was just them shooting imaginary zombies with imaginary guns. However, today Canada Post tried to deliver a turnout control from Shapeways, and must have run full-tilt into the apocalypse:

Staging point throw bars

Tonight, I finished all the staging point throw bars. This followed the same springing scheme I explored with a proof of concept a couple of weeks ago. As I was finishing the last one, I thought to myself that not only was I in danger of almost knowing what I was doing, but that perhaps […]

Thoughts on Shipping

The RAMMA thought experiment continues. If I were to construct a micro-layout for the show in Sedan next fall, how would I get it there safely? The Rexroth option, while interesting, sounds awfully expensive to me. Also, I would still need something on the sides to protect the layout. Then, looking at some other foamcore-based […]

Staging Yard Closure Rails

Last night we completed the closure rails in the staging yard. Also, Andrew prepared all the springs and throw bars for the switches. Tonight, I prepared the remaining points, ready for soldering up tomorrow or on the weekend. It was a good point to clean up and take a quick photo.

Parked

Before he left this evening, Andrew convinced me that it would be cool to see a train run on the other half of the layout. The only thing stopping it was a layer of glue and paint on the rail heads (I can hear you laughing, dead-rail people). So, I found a scrap of Arborite […]

Thoughts on Shipping for Pembroke 87.1

So far it’s just a thought experiment, but Dave Doe recently put me in contact with Maurice Hopper, who, it seems, is a bit of an expert on building layouts that really travel. When I mean travel, he doesn’t bung them in the back of his estate wagon and cruise out on the interstate. No, […]

Staging Frogs and Stocks

I just finished soldering down the frogs and stock rails for the staging yard. So now it is a little more apparent what it looks like. I had hoped to be finished last night, but some misalignment in the mid-way crossover required a night’s sleep. Well, it’s done now, and I think it looks good […]

It’s not the hours, but the minutes

Yesterday was one of those days when the rest of my life took over and there wasn’t any time for the trains. Or was there? I had fifteen minutes from 7:30 to 7:45 while the Boy was playing on the iPad (he gets 15 minutes a day) and the Girl was watching him, and I […]

Del Rosamond’s Photos

I would have to go through my notes to see just when I met Del Rosamond. It was in ’96 or ’97, I think. I called him up out of the blue from the Champlain Trail Museum, where I had been doing research, and they had given me his name. “Sure, come on over,” he […]

The Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder

Today the boy and I set up the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder (SBRG) and in relatively short order, ground all the frogs and points for the staging yard. I thought I had described this machine previously, but I can’t seem to find it, so here we go again. It’s just as well really, because some […]