Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

[Chris333]

Gettin' it good to the wood

 

[M.C. Fujiwara]

All onboard for the NightTrain!

So the people around me
Energize me
Callin' all aboard this train ride
 Talkin' 'bout raw hardcore
Leavin' frauds on the outside

[GaryHinshaw]

Great to see you back in action MC!  I think we need to give you more frequent show deadlines.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Great to see you back in action MC!  I think we need to give you more frequent show deadlines.

Thanks, but I've been "in action", just doing a Horribly Oversized layout for a client over the summer.
But this Great Train Expo show and the one the week before (American) Thanksgiving should inspire something N-ish 

Fortunately, it turns out I got a good 2-1 mixture on the Magic Water, so it's pretty much cured after 24 hours.
Also, using a toothbrush in weathering powder and dirt helps blend the grass and tufts [compare brushed left tuft to untouched right]:



But was a bit impatient: the toothbrush flings up blades that landed on the almost-cured water surface.
Careful tweezing and vacuuming takes care of most, though long fingernails and carelessness also scratches the surface:



So would have been better to fuss with the scenery the next day when the surface was totally smooth & solid.
So it goes.

Added a bunch o' bushes and some short trees found around the workbench:





So now "show presentable" (i.e. decent and basic scenery done but nothing wow).

The biggest plus is that the water is cured and we can use all four 45's tomorrow.
We have about 6 modules of 12'-16'-24' long, so will need all the 45' curved modules we can get to fold everything into the 35'x40' space.

Hoping the U.S. can come from behind 2-1 against Costa Rica with 30 minutes left to get that much closer to qualifying for the Brasil World Cup.
But will zonk out soon after the end of the game.
Gotta get down to Santa Clara (an hour away) before 8am so we can set everything up before the 10am showtime 

Thanks for looking.

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks, but I've been "in action", just doing a Horribly Oversized layout for a client over the summer.

Ah yes, that project was kind of off my radar. But in looking back: what an act of kindness that was!

-gfh

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Trains are up and running at the Great Train Expo in Santa Clara, CA this weekend!
Getting to that point was a bit epic, and now that we have over 10 dudes (more like 15), 30 modules and abour 350 feet of mainline running, we're definitely learning loads.

First up, very long straight modules take up a lot of space and require moocho 45's and curved modules to fit everything in:


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-UcScF3PBbM8/UiviMNJYfoI/AAAAAAAAMJs/_oLhypAC6K4/s800/012.JPG

On Friday we just dumped a lot of modules in our space, as there's really no reason to try to plan something until we see which modules and modelers actually make it.

On Saturday morning, in 2 hours we were able to physically manhandle the modules into a plausable layout:



Some started leveling and clamping while the rest of us moved pieces into position to see what would work.
Part of the trick is to evenly spread out the longer modules with passing sidings.
The other part of the trick is to fit within the space allotted.
All made more tricky by the "actual" angles created by clamping as opposed to the "fantasy" angles fashioned when just eyeballing 
And the fact that even with all the 10 new 45 deg. modules we still didn't have enough to make things easy: the last few feet of planning became a master Tetris match.

But soon after the doors opened, we had the whole layout laid out, wired up, skirted and ready to roll:



30 modules (many made up of multiple sections) to make up over 160 feet of mainline, which makes for a circuit of over 300 feet.

Here's a rough sketch of how it worked out (iPhone can't capture the immense final layout):



The shaded and lined modules have the long passing sidings.

Here's a more detailed triptych:







Everything set up and ready to run, then: NOTHING.
The DCC-In-A-Box seemed to go crazy all on it's own, which led to this scene for the next half hour:



Add your own audio track of choice colorful epithets.
Turned out the NCE command control box had a board that jiggled enough to touch something.
All things sorted out and trains started rolling!

The long expanses of single tracking and intense lack of any ops plan quickly clogged trains all over and revealed that we've reached the point where we need jobs--at least ONE central dispatcher giving verbal warrents when drivers reach certain key junction / passing siding modules--and we need to sit down and come up with some kind of ops plan.

Probably tomorrow!

The recently-scenicked Northern California slough/wetlands 45's turned out pretty well:





And wanted to get some video today but the model railroad gods-especially the Trickster figure "Loco"--had other plans for me today.
While setting up the modules this morning I went into a squat and heard a great RRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPP!!!!



A breezy style which I rocked until lunch when I visiting the nearby Ross for some fab $5 shorts of the plaid kind.

Then, after lunch, while soldering points that popped-off some turnouts, I got distracted and looked away while attempting to pass the soldering iron from right hand to left and grabbed the wrong part of the iron:



[You can also see the fab $5 shorts in the background].
Immediately grabbed an icepack from my snack cooler, but it got to the point where I thought there might be some serious damage in there, so drove the hour home (stopping to get another large soda with lotsa ice to hold while driving) to the local ER, where with lancing, burn cream and med all turned out okie dokie:



Funny thing is that I didn't scream nearly as loud as Rick did when some kid touched his SP Daylight.

Good news is that it's only a 2nd-degree burn.
Bad news is that it's hard to type.
And unbuttoning my new fab $5 shorts is a pain in the bandage.

Been soldering for 5 years without a mishap.
Well, I guess I don't have "Fingers of Asbestos".
Yet.

But lots of great progress on many modules!
Definitely our "biggest" show so far.
Looking forward to running trains and working on ops plans tomorrow.

Will also get some video, I hope.
Unless my fab $5 shorts burst into flame.
And then I'm sure someone else will video that instead.

Thanks for looking.

[C855B]

Oh, my. Murphy was your partner today, apparently. (I'd say "Joe Btfsplk", but you're too young to immediately understand that reference.)

Grabbing the soldering iron by the wrong end is... just... uh... wow. That's gonna leave a mark. 

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I know Lil' Abner: grandpa used to send clippings to me 
Maybe more of a Pvt. Snafu situation.
Didn't try to grab the no-no end: thought I was grabbing the handle while my head swiveled in the other direction.
And then just grabbed the barrel a little higher than I thought. 
Always look!
 

Funny thing: Murphy was participating today.
The big dude in blue with glasses and squirting glue is Murph, who made the big long double-track module.
And he had left just before my "Hunka Hunka Burning Love" moment.
So it goes.

[basementcalling]

At least the wrong end of the soldering iron stayed away from the rip in the pants. I ripped mine one day in front of a room full of sixth graders.

[railnerd]

our new SVFMN gang sign.

-Dave

[M.C. Fujiwara]

our new SVFMN gang sign.

New gang sign?
What's our old one?
(Can you flash "Who shorted?" with fingers?  )

And "gang" still sounds too organized for our group 

[jnevis]

I joke that's a soldering job isn't done 'til I've burned myself at least once. Same with electrical, I shock myself once a job

[davefoxx]

I joke that's a soldering job isn't done 'til I've burned myself at least once. Same with electrical, I shock myself once a job

Whoa, I'd hate to see what you do to yourself with each plumbing job.   

[GaryHinshaw]

Next up - MC declares his candidacy for mayor of New York City.

[Philip H]

Hard to top Gary's quick whit . . .

Don't worry abou your level of "organization" you guys are still doing better then the DMV  contingent.  We are better then the Department of Motor Vehicles but definitely 4 steps behind everyone else.

Love the plaid shirts and bandage combo. Gives you edge.