Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

[svedblen]

The rest of us just have to sit back and relax. The total weekly build quota has been fulfilled all the same 
Great work, MC! Can't wait to see your show setup.

[mcjaco]

Ridiculous.

[C855B]

... car is packed with first load so it's off to the San Mateo County Fairgrounds to dump & setup!

It is a shame that I am missing this by a week. We will be in San Mateo next weekend. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Seriously, you're an animal!

I wish I was 1/100th as productive.

[eric220]

Seriously, you're an animal!

I wish I was 1/100th as productive.

Amen to that.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I wish I was 1/100th as productive.

Or 1/160th? 

Thanks for the props.
I don't think I work any faster than anyone else.
I just don't sit around going "hmmm, I wonder if I should..."
Which means I have a bunch of stuff around the layout that could be a lot better 

But you can always rip stuff out and replace with something else.
So why not just "get 'er done"?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

And if you think I'm "industrious", then you should check out Nils.
(He's the blurry dude with the sunglasses on his head)
He's build the first 1/2 of a 24'-long Davenport, CA cement plant and lumber mill module in the past couple weeks:





The Cement Plant section isn't even built yet!
Many of the structures have magnets built in to stay in place.
Very cool styrene structures.
But I'm hoping he'll start a Layout Engineering Report thread himself.

If I'm an animal, he is the galactic uber-beast. 

[eric220]

Dude, if you're trying to convince me to get into Free-moN, I don't think increasing the intimidation factor is a terribly productive way to do it.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

In the first picture, if you look behind Nils you'll see a short little 2'x4' module, single straight track, that Scott (blurred dude on the left) is building to create Moss Beach, CA in 1944.
He scratched the nifty depot, and then got sidetracked into building a 5-section module depicting the SF State Belt line and car ferry.
But he's not done with that one (still dropping feeders), so he brought his little Moss Beach module.
Basic ground cover and no buildings except the depot.
Still works great and we all have fun.

No excuses.
Get building!

So I finally took down the Wye Knot module so I could build the endplates:



The modules are 5' from point to point.
And 5' is baaaaaaaaaaaad for a Rav4: couldn't stack them, couldn't sit them side-by-side.
Had to jam one all the way up to the glove compartment (all seats gone except the drivers!) and then angle the other one from the left backseat door to the right of the rear hatch.
Fun stuff.

So I'm going to keep my own modules to 4' max (as long as I keep the Rav4).

But I did test out the module before I packed it up:

Hope that tides you all over until I get the video footage from the show done and up 

Should be an epic layout and show this weekend.
Hope to see you there!

[3DTrains]

And 5' is baaaaaaaaaaaad for a Rav4: couldn't stack them, couldn't sit them side-by-side.

I feel your pain. I built 6' modules as part of nLand Pacific club, but my Explorer (Sport) can only handle 5' jobbies, and the wife won't allow me to remove the passenger seat.

Time to break out the Sawsall...

[VonRyan]

Or 1/160th? 

Thanks for the props.
I don't think I work any faster than anyone else.
I just don't sit around going "hmmm, I wonder if I should..."
Which means I have a bunch of stuff around the layout that could be a lot better 

But you can always rip stuff out and replace with something else.
So why not just "get 'er done"?

I wish i was productive at least once a month... which I'm not. 
However, I'm getting my blood pumping to get back to work on my N-Trak module. Need to re-ballast the mains, finish the ballast on the 10" line and replace what little basic ground cover there was.

Your work is quite the inspiration M.C. and even though it isn't UK themed, I can see some of your techniques working their way into my little slice of Southern Wales.

-Cody F.

[Coxy]

Inspiring in so many ways! Great work MC!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, guys!
Long day at the show, standing on concrete in Chuck Taylors from 8am to 7pm.
But fun fun fun, running long trains over new modules, talking to lots and lots of people, everything actually work pretty well.

Shot a lot of groovy video today but no time to edit it yet (must. hit. the. sack.), but here's a panorama of the whole set up:



We have a 40'x40' space, and run pretty much all the way around the outer boundaries with a bunch of curves and undulations in there.



Probably at least 150' of main one way, and since most trains originate and terminate in Effett Yard in the middle, that's at least 300' of running the whole circuit.

Nils' module is awesome, and he's built only the 12' woodmill half: can't wait for the next 12' of Davenport Cement Co.!

Now we need some more curved modules so we can fold the modules into a big "S" and squeeze more mainline running into the same space 

[Mark W]

MENTAL SET UP!  Man, I wish I could have brought Roca and Marsland to join the fun!

So how long does a trip from Wye Knot to Mt. Devil take?

[jagged ben]

Dang it, now I'm sorry I didn't go to the show.