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

[mcjaco]

Adding insult is the usual problem with true reds, like we have with models. Reds are transparent, and it's taking three and sometimes four coats to get full coverage. Lesson learned is we should have done a gray first. But it's too late at this point, we're committed.

Amen to that.  The wife picked out a cranberry for our new front door.  I've put on three coats, and need at least two more....sheesh.

Back in my pro painting days, I had to repaint a red hallway in the local police department.....it took two coats of primer, and seven, yes SEVEN, coats of an off white to cover it.  I see red, when I see red.

[C855B]

The railcam is up and actually viewing trains: http://www.railfancentralia.com/railcam.html.

Don't everyone jump on at once - I have the video stream limit set to three viewers while we're shaking things out.

Same caveats as before. Requires QuickTime, works best in Firefox.

[Ian MacMillan]

I am liking it quite a bit. An audio feed of the local rail traffic might be nice as well. But I like the view and large display. Very nicely done.

[Hornwrecker]

Nice.  Got it to work with Linux in the Chromium browser; even saw a train on the cam.

[C855B]

Thanks, guys. It's the the HD resolution that makes the big image possible. "Regular" network cameras are only around 400 lines or so, and get real grainy if viewed in more than about a 4" window. I was pleased/surprised that in the morning light you can actually make out engine numbers.

Ian, I had given some thought to putting a scanner on the audio, especially given all the chatter from NS and BNSF needed to coordinate the junction. It probably won't happen for a while, tho', since the audio port is in the camera head, and that would mean more time 14' up on a ladder and needing three hands to fumble with everything. What I might do is turn on the mic to catch the huge variety of horns we get here and especially the great Doppler echoes we get off a building just to the right of the frame. I'll try it, but since it's on the camera body which is sealed up in a weather housing it might be too muffled to be worth bothering with.

EDIT: I just turned it on. No trains in the 10 minutes since doing it, but the audio of passing vehicles seems reasonably clear. But now I remember why I didn't turn on the mic - there's a blower inside the weather housing. I think it's temperature controlled, because I didn't hear it tonight, but I sure heard it during my last test of it. We'll see how it goes.

[C855B]

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Wow. Even the forum software is scolding me for not posting an update.

Anyhoo... a vid-cap from the railcam this morning:



I would suppose that the outside building work is going to stop for a while, yes? Actually, the cold starting in mid-November put a damper on outside stuff. Painting wasn't going all that well, anyway, so it was time to hang it up for a bit.

Nearly no progress inside since last report... maybe some electrical, including finishing the track lighting in the studio. Losing the help (Phonsie) pretty much stopped anything requiring an assistant capable of heavy lifting. Unfortunately, that includes finishing the slatwall in the studio, so we haven't wrapped-up that end of the building yet. I have a new helper on tap, but he has his own restoration project. Since we're both defending our buildings against the cold snap, I haven't wanted to bother him unless I was in a bind. Also, it doesn't hurt (...well, actually it does hurt! ) that I tweaked a shoulder during all the outside work, so any time I do anything requiring effort overhead, I regret it for two or three days. Maybe the snow, cold, etc., will encourage recovery by keeping me at my desk doing things like...

...finishing the track plan. I'm flailing around at the moment trying to give Cheyenne enough capacity (see previous posts!) to terminate the longest trains out of L.A. It also dawned on me (  ) that I had no switch leads in Cheyenne. Fouling the mainline with switch jobs was not going to be happy in multi-operator sessions. Green River is going away, but I haven't decided whether to turn that run into a Sherman Hill scene keeping the peninsula intact, or to shorten the peninsula into featuring Curvo only, then wrapping Cheyenne around to a north-south orientation and maybe getting the space we need. Rearranging all of this would help me with the dissatisfaction that the upper deck branchline is currently too short for interesting operation. Even a 2-8-0 or RS-3 needs a little bit of space to stretch its legs between switching tasks.

I have been testing "avant-garde" benchwork construction. The direction I'm headed now is foam-on-steel, and probably sheet styrene for the fascia. I decided that given long, long experience with wood, veneer laminates and tempered hardboard I would go with humidity-stable underpinnings. Also, doing lightweight but very rigid structure would allow construction of large segments of the layout before the building interior is completed, making it easy(ier) to move the finished sections into place once their space was done. Getting to layout construction now, even if just partial benchwork, needs to be done soon for the morale boost. Like the rest of you following this thread, I think that not enough train stuff is happening. We need to move in this direction and stop getting bogged-down in the getting there.

[C855B]

Isn't this cold weather wonderful? (NOT!) 

Went to work on the layout building this morning to be greeted by:



My first lesson in ice dams. Fortunately the leaks inside from the dam were in clear areas, although one was only three feet away from my server cabinet. It looks like the rear guttering comes down as soon as things dry out enough to put ladders up, as this area of the building will be the last to get insulation above, if it ever does.

The second pic is of a water main break in the street next to the building. You'll recognize the two street barriers from the picture in the previous post. If you go to the railcam this afternoon you might just catch the city folks working on it.

[Ian MacMillan]

I have heat tape running in "Z"s on the roof edge and then through my gutters and the down spout. Seems to work well in keeping away ice dams and build up.

[davefoxx]

If you can insulate your ceiling better and decrease the heat loss through the roof, you can minimize or even eliminate the ice dams at the eaves.  The gutters aren't necessarily your enemy.  As attic spaces go, insulation and venting are very important.  Keep that roof cold, and there'll be no ice dams.

DFF

[C855B]

If you can insulate your ceiling better and decrease the heat loss through the roof, you can minimize or even eliminate the ice dams at the eaves.  The gutters aren't necessarily your enemy.  As attic spaces go, insulation and venting are very important.  Keep that roof cold, and there'll be no ice dams.

Yes, I know that. Unfortunately, this area of the roof over the workshop area is dead last on the list - if ever - for insulation. I had planned on keeping that space unconditioned due to the roll-up door. The heat under the roof at the moment is escaped heat from the finished areas since they're not closed off from the workshop yet.

I seemed to have solved the immediate problem in another way. I shut off the water and winterized the plumbing, and cut the temperature in the finished areas to just warm enough to keep the paint inventory from freezing. Much less heat up top, so the snow melt leaks went away. I'm still going to mull removing the gutters in the back. As far as I can tell, the building didn't have them in its 40 years prior to us, and maybe we simply upset the balance of nature.

Ian's heat tape idea is a thought, but unfortunately heat tape is not a permanent thing - you really should replace them every 3-5 years since they get weather-worn and UV attacks the covering. I wouldn't mind this on the house, but 14'-16' up? ...I dunno...

[Ian MacMillan]

I wouldn't mind this on the house, but 14'-16' up? ...I dunno...

Mine is about that high up, but I don't have a steep pitch so it wasn't that bad once I'm on the roof. I have one of those nail down V brace fall arresters that roofers use.

[C855B]

Yeah, almost! But not as steep a pitch, and asphalt shingles for traction, too. We have metal on the studio building, so those nailer braces are out of the question. We also put metal on the house last year. It has a relatively shallow pitch and I've been up on it twice since the new roof - the slick really grabs one's attention, that's for sure. I'll pay professionals to get on the studio roof - I ain't goin' there. 

[Ian MacMillan]

Come on! You only fall once! 

[MichaelWinicki]

Come on! You only fall once! 

And the fall-part of it isn't so bad. 

[C855B]

Work on the GC&W has screeched to a halt. I had been trying to rough-in the wiring for the layout room lighting, but the cold chases me off every time. We have been spending so much time defending us and the building against the brutal cold that I have no choice but to throw in the towel for a while. I'll be winterizing the plumbing tomorrow for the second time in a month and shutting everything off. And it gets even better next week, with forecast lows well below 0°F. Incredibly annoying now that I have the time to devote to it, retirement and all.

Hopefully the deep freeze will let up later this month, but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe I can convince Robyn to help straighten-up the "project room" here at the house and I can get a few things off the list. And at least I can still tinker with the track plan.

I'll report back when there's something worthwhile.