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

[C855B]

More progress to report. West and south walls are completely painted 'cept for the sky stuff we talked about, and ceiling supports are going up:



Black object near the left middle is a self-leveling laser level. Wasn't too expensive, and... my gosh... worth every penny. I cannot imagine laying out a suspended ceiling in this large of a room with string.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Mike I have been following your progress from afar and very impressed with the size and scope of the work you and your wife have undertaken. Keep up the excellent progress.
Rod from down under.

[C855B]

Here's a shout-out to fellow a$$hat Robbie @k27463 to thank him for making the drive from St. Louis today. He lent a hand with a handful of two-person mini-projects around the layout building that were more than Robyn could handle. We didn't work nearly as long as originally planned since I started the day tired after being nose to the grindstone most of last week installing ceiling supports and making headway on painting.

But great progress today nonetheless, on several checklist items in the way of layout room completion. Thanks again, Robbie!

[C855B]

Oooo... four weeks since an update. There's been work happening, just nothing photo-worthy. Painting in the layout room is about half a wall short of done. It's been this way for about two weeks, as Robyn's carpal tunnel flared up and we had to give it a rest. I've been installing outlets, only 16 more to go. Currently working on the server bay. One more coat of paint on the interior panels tomorrow, install the isolated outlet, and then I get to terminate about 18 CAT5e cables. Oh, joy. I was hoping to do this after the ceiling was up, but the servers need to be moved from their present location for other electrical work, so just getting 'er done now means taking them down once and not two or three times. Oh, that reminds me - need to order a UPS system.

Speaking of ceiling, with the wall rails all up I ordered the fasteners for the grid hangers... only to be told "back ordered, two weeks soonest". So the ceiling stuff is still parked in the middle of the floor. In the meanwhile I realized the dimmer controllers for the layout spotlights are in a bad location for servicing (they have fuses), so the Unistrut and rough wiring in the overhead has to be reworked before the grid goes in, anyway. I also need to relocate the TV antenna drop to make it accessible to the wiring catwalk, and get one last run of rough wiring in place for the exterior security lights. I was working on that this past evening. LED troffer lights should be in on Tuesday or Wednesday, but they, too, get to sit in a pile until the grid is up.

Good weather means exterior painting is back on the list. The south wall blistered and peeled like crazy over the winter, so I have a bunch of scraping, sanding and priming in my future. I know what I need to do since the repair of the same problem on the west wall was successful, but I'd really rather work on something else. 

[Specter3]

Aww Mike, finally something I could have helped you with. I can wire cat 5 just about blindfolded. Anyway, great to hear from you again and I look forward to the next report.

[C855B]

Thanks for the offer! Maybe I should spring for air fare? Amtrak, maybe? Station is walking distance!    I can certainly do the connectors, but for the past - gosh - 15 years it's been something left to the network guys while I fiddle with server deployment. For the first couple I'll need to use a cheat sheet, but from that point on it should go fast.

Milestone of the day - layout room painting is done. We spent the afternoon on QC, found a few minor issues and dispatched them quickly. We're certain after I get all the lighting in we're going to find more, but at the moment there are four very white, very big walls. Server closet paneling is done and the 110V for it is roughed-in, UPS is ordered and we'll pick-up the ventilated shelving later this week. I should have it wired before the UPS is in, so... fingers crossed... by the end of the week the servers should be in their new home, with minimum downtime.

Interesting side project was painting the Unistrut for the theater lighting. It needs to be satin black to match the fixtures and somewhat conceal the wiring. I was not going to trust the acrylic latex that is all that Sherwin-Williams has to sell, so I went to the farm supply store for genuine solvent-based paint for metals. I forgot how easy it is to work with alkyd paints. Reduced easy, sprayed like a dream, beautiful smooth finish, cleaned-up in half the time. Illinois is about to be an ultra-low VOC state and solvent paints are going bye-bye, so I see trips to Missouri for paint in my future.

[mcjaco]

^ Benjamin Moore's Metal paint is real good.  I used it on an old metal banister at our old townhouse without issue. 

I also sold the stuff as a paint salesman through college, so I'm a bit partial to the brand.  You really can't go wrong with Pittsburgh or BJM for latex.

[C855B]

Funny you should say that. Working on the sky color blending concept a few weeks ago we were looking for a Benjamin Moore dealer. BJM was the only brand we could find that sold a branded extender product. We have a BJM dealer in town (regional hardware store) with a very small selection and no dedicated paint staff. They didn't carry the extender, nor did the next nearest dealer (Ace Hardware, but much bigger inventory), 60 miles away.

For the Unistrut project it was "plain ol'" Rustoleum, although the satin black was from their home decor line. Like I said, very impressed with how it went down. However, if I decide to paint the benchwork framing, since it's metal I will certainly give the BJM a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Speaking of the latex extender... as a test, I bought some M1-branded extender, something the S-W dealer newly stocked just as we were working on the idea. It is ethylene glycol-based. I used it for the server closet paneling. One thing it seriously helped with - no more nozzle clogging with the HVLP rig, which has been a constant battle. Cleanup was also easier. I really need to report back to the dealer since the staff wasn't aware of the product and its use until I inquired about extenders.

Also bought some Flood Floetrol for the testing. I read on one painters' forum where there is a debate on which is better since the Floetrol is different in not having an ethylene glycol base, the stated advantage being that it doesn't thin the paint. That was not an "advantage" for me since I was thinning for spraying, anyway. The disadvantage of the Floetrol was to expect some loss of gloss with gloss paints, and three guesses as to what I was using. Good thing I read the instructions first. On looking at the Floetrol fluid, I think the gloss issue is because one of the additives is talc, because it was definitely milky. The M1 looked exactly like what it was, pretty much the same stuff as automotive anti-freeze.

[mcjaco]

Yeah, just look for this can, or have them order some.  I don't recall if it's tintable.....starting to push my memories of standing in front of paint shakers for 60 hours a week. 



I've used the Rustoleum satin black spray on my mailbox.  Really like the control and the finish. 

[C855B]

Well. The beginning of the end. Of major construction, that is. Drop ceiling is going up:



There are a lot of details including the lighting plan to be considered as the grid goes up, so this is going to be slow going. Like everything else with this mega-project, by the time we've learned enough to be efficient in a particular process, that phase is done.

Server closet is finished up to but not including trim, but the shelving is in and all the network support has been moved. Part of this sub-project was migrating everywherewest.com to a new server including dedicated e-mail (it was formerly virtual on another host). That's not been fun, but everything appears to work now. It's looking like a couple of the multiple CAT5e runs are going to be wired for Loconet in order to locate the JMRI server in the equipment closet rather than under the layout.

Crossing my fingers for benchwork to commence in the July to August timeframe.

[C855B]

Already at an "oops" point with the ceiling, dictating some revision to engineering. I was checking deflection of the ceiling supports (the steel studs you see above) now that things are going up in earnest, and it looks like we're fine for the ceiling grid, tiles and insulation... but not the ceiling plus lights. Each fully-loaded row of theater lights, spotlight tracks and the Unistrut holding them up will weigh 75-100 pounds over the 30 feet. The original plan was to use the stabilizers on the ceiling supports (the cross pieces) for 3 out 5 of the suspension rods for each row, but at ~20 pounds per suspension point there will be too much deflection, causing the ceiling to sag slightly - about 1/4" in my test.

Solution is to add a similar structure using steel studs spanning above and 90° to the ceiling supports, with two or three strap ties to purlins above to spread the load between anchors. This is a good way to do it because I'm already up against dead load limits on the bottom chord of the trusses but have plenty of reserve up top.

Layout construction discovery from deflection testing - the steel stud framing I am still planning to use is fine, but I have to be careful to not go too small. I was figuring on 2x2 equivalents on the edge, but a friend visiting over the weekend mentioned the issue that operators and visitors tend to lean on the edge of benchwork. The 2x2s deflect way too much. I also need to reconsider the "leg" system and spacing thereof. I was going to do cantilevered from center supports on 8-10' spacing, but given the potential for human loading there will need to be at least twice as much, and more bracing than I had planned.

[C855B]

I think I had mentioned that the ceiling construction would be extra-slow. It is. This isn't your father's basement.

First braces for the lighting systems are in, the process went well, and by all appearances it's solved the deflection problem for both the lighting and the ceiling grid. Wore-out my rivet tool, tho'! Today it looks like I'll have enough ceiling finished to shuffle all that crap stuff stored in the middle of the room to have access for revising the rough wiring for lighting. Hopefully tomorrow will see the first troffers and HVAC vents put into place. The end of construction is within grasp!

Hit a snag with ceiling tiles that fortunately only resulted in a minor revised plan (and, yes, more expense - when does it stop?). The 2x4 tiles shown above were sagging under the weight of the R-38 insulation. I did not realize until unpacking that the fiberglass moisture-proof tiles were 30% thinner than the standard paper-base since the spec sheets were too sales-y and obfuscated the important info. Solving the sag problem was changing the grid plan to 2x2, simply cutting the existing tiles in half. That would put a brace under each 2x4 insulation bat. With the original grid material the extra-heavy commercial-rated structure, I used the matching lightweight residential grade cross tees to make the 2x2 intermediates in the grid. Worked like a charm, although it means paying attention to the cross tee alternation pattern for the rest of the grid.

[C855B]

Hmm... it was over a week ago I promised troffer lights and HVAC diffusers. [sigh]  There was a last minute decision to do the finish electrical (26 outlets!) on the north wall since we had to push the stored supplies up against that wall, under the finished areas of the ceiling.



Installing the troffers is giving me pause. Access for repair or replacement once everything is done won't be impossible, but it will be very difficult. All I can do is cross my fingers that we aren't going to have any early failures. Testing each row after installation will be mandatory, however.

[3DTrains]

All I can do is cross my fingers that we aren't going to have any early failures. Testing each row after installation will be mandatory, however.

Murphy sez: If anything can go wrong, it will (and everyone will know you were responsible for it), and will occur only after everything has been thoroughly tested and has passed inspection.

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[C855B]

No report in four weeks! What's been going on??!?

Travel, that's what. We've been mostly out of town, all train related. First was the UPHS convention in Omaha. We scored some nice stuff at the swap meet and had a tour of UP's dispatch center "bunker". I also gave a brief presentation of the GC&W project - the slide with the before and after shots of the building got a few oohs and ahhs. Here's a panorama shot of the layout room from the presentation you guys haven't seen yet:

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We were back home for a few days, only to leave again for an end-to-end round trip on the Empire Builder, taking the Portland leg out and the Seattle leg coming back. It was mostly enjoyable, but the connection back home via Chicago was too close for comfort and left us a little stressed.

And "Hi!" to Jerry at Hobby Smith in Portland, who eventually made the connection that, yes, we were that crazy couple building the monster layout somewhere outside of St. Louis. (Hobby Smith is a great, great resource for N scalers! We did not leave empty-handed.)

Meanwhile, now back at the ranch... I have been making small bits of headway on the ceiling. Three of the twelve troffer lights are now fully installed and working, with the exception of the dimmer control circuit. I should be able to knock that out tomorrow, then get a little more insulation up and then two rows of ceiling tiles before having to pause for more electrical prep. I'll post a pic of the new stuff when there's enough to see.

A note for Gary... we were talking about total lumens and I accused you of having surgical levels of lighting. Well, based on the performance of the troffers installed so far (5500 lumens each), your observations are vindicated. If I were relying on the troffers alone for primary lighting, given the space and ceiling height, I would need twice what I will have. The spot lighting from the track light system and of course the theater lights will more than make the difference, but I am still somewhat surprised that these "work lights" will be merely adequate.