Gibbon, Cozad & Western - "The 100th Meridian Line"

[up1950s]

Pole , is that to be replaced ?

[C855B]

Nope. The "street" (yard) light was disconnected years ago and I'm not a big fan of them, anyway. I had the utility remove it, for which they demanded quite a ransom. I would have happily applied the business end of my chainsaw, but it was their property and the top still had live 220V to it.

We have two city street lights in front of the property, so chasing away the dark isn't an issue.

[Specter3]

Yeah, that is definitely an improvement. And The city folks must be estatic over your new look.

[C855B]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, the vision is coming together. There will soon be a nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah with the prez of the local C of C, who had pooh-pooh'ed the whole deal when he and the city development director toured the hulk as we discussed our plans. Can't say that I blame him, the downtown area is littered with well-meaning projects that didn't make it past the first 20% of the rehab job. I guess this is the nature of small towns with a shrinking commercial presence.

We haven't blown the budget yet, at least on paper, but we soon will. The new roof saw to that. Additional unplanned work is now ripping down all the existing drywall, and completely new insulation all around rather than filling gaps. Fortunately that's not increasing the expense by much over the original budget (Robyn and I do the drywall work and insulation), but it is pushing completion out some more. I'm also flailing around a little with the lighting plan in the layout area.

The new layout space arrangement is proving a challenge since we blanked that northeast door. Technically speaking I get more usable floor space out of it along with a rear safety door, but space for the stairs to the observation deck are impinging on key LDEs. When I get my head in a better place with a couple of issues I'll upload the revised trackplan for comment and advice.

[Specter3]

Can the stairs come up from the center area and leave the wall space for layout

[C855B]

Maybe. I tried various approaches with that in mind, and so far they create need for yet more aisle space. I was also told last night that the revised plan wasn't going to work because it created a traffic path through the studio area and killed nearly 150 sq. ft. of otherwise usable space. So at this point I more-or-less have the same space as before, just flipped 90°. At the moment I'm trying to reconcile eliminating the direct emergency exit and have the escape path through what will be double doors into the workshop and then out. That will fix a problem with awkward benchwork around the steps and deck supports.

[GaryHinshaw]

What is the function of the observation deck?  Is it primarily for viewing the layout, or does it also serve to access to some upper story space?  Is it primarily for public use or private use?  Does it already exist, or would it be new construction?  If it's primarily for private layout viewing, I would be sorely tempted to scrap it, and use a ladder for those few times when I wanted a bird's-eye view.  But I don't especially enjoy bird's-eye layout viewing.  YMMV.

Nice progress on the building!  Put a few cane rockers on the porch and you could start an Amish-style restaurant.  I can already smell the fried chicken and country ham.   

[C855B]

The obs deck is intended to be a public space, a platform for watching the 1:160 trains below and the 1:1 trains passing behind the building. A railfan two-fer.

[GaryHinshaw]

That sounds nice.

[Specter3]

What about access from outside to the 2nd level? A nice deck with an outside stairwell for the public access? Yeah, it would be unusual, but it seems like you are talking about a lot of layout space. Maybe a metal pre fab wrought iron spiral staircase on the inside? With outside stairs that would be where furniture and stuff would reach the second floor.

[PRRATSF]

I've been following your progress since day one. More of a stay on the sidelines type but replying a little more lately. What you and your wife have accomplished is awsome, always look forward to your updates. Specter 3's comments about the obs deck, and an outside viewing platform have great potential. It would add nice place to hang out after a hard day inside modeling. I went back to the begining to see if there are any windows in the back. For outside viewing what are your plans?

Sam

[C855B]

Gosh... thanks, Sam!

Yesterday we made a supplies run to STL in the big truck, to pick-up a bunch of "slatwall" for Robyn's studio. It's going to look sharp. Today was finishing the rough plumbing for the work sink in the studio area. Priorities are now scrambled a little because of the colder-than-usual weather. We got caught with a lot of insulation removed in areas being reconstructed, so I've had to partition areas with temporary walls just to have spaces that can be warmed with portable space heaters. My biggest concern at the moment is temperatures in the teens vs. plumbing, not to mention areas warm enough to work in.

Anyway... the deck. Unfortunately, an outside deck isn't possible, at least not where we have a good view of the 1:1 trains. We had the property formally surveyed (I think it was mentioned), and the side facing the tracks has a mere 2' between the building and the property line. Even if we had more land back there, any deck supports would still be too close to the street. There are currently no windows in the back, but we have already ordered 12' of windows for the view from the deck.

[As to an outdoor area... I should mention that in the grand, grand, long-term plan, we are going to promote the idea of a railfan park to the local foundation which is a huge benefactor of public recreational space. This foundation owns the land next to the tracks that was the former location of the IC station, currently vacant and uncommitted. It is catercorner from our property. I'm all but certain they would jump on a cohesive plan to develop something like a Rochelle or Folkston.]

I have come to terms with the layout space consumed by the safety paths and deck access. The deck itself was always planned to be over some of the layout, so that's not an issue.

Layout-plans-wise, currently I am wrapping my head around double-decking the layout on the north and east walls to create a light branchline operation, something I wanted but which seems to be getting squeezed out of the mainline planning. I'm trying to figure out how to manage the connecting grade change without relying on a helix.

[packers#1]

That sucks about the outdoor deck; if you want any help with convincing the council, my dad's hometown (which I'm headed to Friday) has a small "railfan park" beside the track with a bench and some trees. This town (Latta, SC, if you want to google it) has two rows of stores split by the tracks with a neighborhood on each side. I could snag a pic or two of it Friday, if you want.

One other thought; could you get the insulation work done next, or is that out of the budget/not feasible because of more wall work?

For the grade connecting the two levels, would you have enough room to hide the grade rise behind a backdrop, or use it as a background to mainline tracks in the foreground? Something like a river valley, with the mainline at river level and the branch further up?

[C855B]

Yes, please! That would be great. We'd love pictures of as many railfan parks as we can get. We were planning our presentation with four key photo groups: Folkston, Rochelle, North Platte... and then shots of the almost constant gathering of foamers we get around the station and main crossing in town. If anybody reading this has pictures of the park at Horseshoe Curve to share, that would be great, too. The "elevator pitch" is that this is nothing new, railfan parks are everywhere if you look, and it's a tourism draw. Nothing huge, just a nice deck with a pavilion roof and electricity, and gravel parking... similar to Folkston, really. Restrooms if they feel inclined to throw money at it. The prerequisite, however, is getting our building completed at least to the point where layout construction is visible, as we need to demonstrate fully that we are unlike the "blue sky-ers" they usually find around here, with grand plans but no ability to execute.

Unfortunately the insulation work in most of the space comes after several other reconstruction tasks, including the windows in the back. There are internal studwalls to build (or rebuild) first, and they come after removal of mezzanine floor joists, which comes after the HVAC ducting is run, which comes after a small but complex concrete pour in the studio, which comes after... and so on. Fortunately most of this is just us and one contractor, and we're keeping mostly in sync. I have a PERT chart in my head that I don't want to even think about putting down on paper - it would be overwhelming to see all in one piece. So far we're successful in eating this elephant one bite at a time.

Thanks for the thoughts on the branchline. There are a couple of spots where such a visible grade would make sense, my challenge is having them make sense within the context of the prototype paraphrase, and room for a wye junction. Considering each leg of the design is ~40 feet, a 2% climb could net 10 inches of rise, more if I throw in a bunch of curves.

[Hornwrecker]

Here's some info on the Fostoria, OH railfan park.   I'll have to look for my pilgrimage photos from Horshoe Curve.  I was there for opening day. (makes sign of the Keystone) 

http://trainorderpix.com/FostoriaPark.htm