Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

[Bendtracker1]

Nice stuff as usual MC!  Thanks for sharing.

We have no rules, no dues, no nothing, except somehow we build groovy modules and get together and have fun running trains.
That makes a Happy New Year for me 

Because it removes most tensions and troubles.  This is by far the best formula for a group. 
Pretty much what we've done and it's worked since 1992!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Sunday at the GTE Show in Richmond, CA was as good as it gets.

Beautiful day on the Bay:



TVs behind the bar/cafe to watch the Niners freeze the Packers:



[Feather River Chuck was lucky enough to have his stall--far right of photo--with a great view of the game!]

Oh, yeah: there was a large layout on which to run some trains, too!



All in all, a very groovy weekend!

And, of course, a video:

Thanks for looking.

[packers#1]

That game was epic, even if we lost; congrats on the miners win, it was well-earned as for the Free-moN, very nice; hopefully wherever I end up after college has a Free-mo(N) group

[Philip H]

Nicely done MC.  Any chance we could get a build thread from the owner of that big chemical plant/paper mill/refinery on the one end?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Nicely done MC.  Any chance we could get a build thread from the owner of that big chemical plant/paper mill/refinery on the one end?

That's from fellow a$$hat Nils, so maybe he'll chime in himself.
I know a lot of the Paper Mill structure uses Horribly Oversized parts, and some PVC.
Very lovely and large:



[hmm.. weird horizontal blur in that photo a little over 1/2 up: that PVC tower should be straight!]

[Philip H]

M.C. he's a newly wed - or so you told us a while back.  I'm surprised he was in another shot what with new husband duties and all.  Besides, if he writes about this one he may have to stop working on the Bridge of Wonder which, come to think of it, was absent this time around.  Hum . . . . .

[M.C. Fujiwara]

The Bridge of Wonder is Kaput: victim of a flying shoe 
(I'll let Nils share the story or not)

The Paper Mill is getting very groovy as it's evolved from the original concept of a Lumber Mill / Cement Plant.
Nils has a new good idea for it every time we see it! 

But this has a lot of "heft":



though it is hard to see the trains from behind the Mill structure!

[atsf_arizona]

Fantastic!!  Thx for the photos and the great video.   

[GaryHinshaw]

Geez, a train show in a classic industrial building filled with California sunshine, a bar, and football.  Does it get any better?   

Love the lighting for all these photos.  So much great work on display.

[Baronjutter]

Flying shoe???

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Flying shoe???

I'm assuming you're referring to the "does it get any better?" comment 

Flying shoe is nice, but I was thinking more Swedish Bikini Team:

And actually, there WERE quite a few lovely young ladies at this trainshow
I noticed only because it's right on par with sighting a unicorn, or Elvis, or both.

[GaryHinshaw]

Doesn't get any better... 

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Doesn't get any better... 

Oh, but it does, when you have an LD/OPS SIG meet at an Elks Lodge that offers $3 Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada pints on tap!!!

The Alameda, CA Elk's Lodge is a beautiful Turn-of-the-Century building with amazing molding, scrollwork, painting, and quality beer.
The clinics regaled the audience upstairs while the Silicon Valley Free-moN rocked out in the lobby with Byron Henderson and his Layout Design consulting crew.



As you can see, very "lodge-y" but we were able to wrap a long point-to-loop layout around the edges with plenty of space for people to walk around and talk.
(One benefit of rocking a modeler's meet is that you never, ever have to say "Don't touch, please!" or "Yes, this is N scale"  )

Another benefit is the large number of props that really add to the realism of the layout:



A drawback to a lodge is the ambient "romantic" lighting in the corner:



that created a better environment for night ops and LEDs than most shows.

Nils decided to put his other modules on hold and build one better suited for switching ops:





7'6" long, BluePoint turnout control, and still determining which industries will go where along which spurs, but a very nice addition (long passing siding / runaround and long big-industry spurs).

We also took the opportunity to make a short presentation and request for potential ops suggestions.
Many modelers sat down with us and shared with us their suggestion, based on both practical experience as well as otherworldly inspiration.

So all in all a groovy day.
Normally I don't like doing "one-and-done" shows (set up and take down in one very long day), but the LD SIG--where I was first introduced to Free-moN and have meet many, many magnificent modelers from all over the West--is one that is definitely worth it.

And, of course, a video:

Remember: Dark room + dark beer = crappy video.

Thanks for looking!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

With a show at the Toy and Model Train Expo on March 1 & 2 at the Santa Clara Convention Center http://www.trainexpo.org/
and in an effort to improve operations, I'm building a new insert for Effett Yard.

Old Insert: 2', 15-degree with single track off to Staging Yard O' Necessity (or a branch):



The main issue wasn't backing trains in but having all trains enter the layout in the same direction, especially when that side of the layout was already crowded.

New insert: 3', 30-deg with a wye to staging / branch:



The wye is a separate section to avoid big bulky and because sometimes we don't need it.

Slightly separate note, I'm building two of each section (for inverting and sandwiching between endplates), with the other module adding some needed industries, perhaps something like:



A bit over-packed on purpose: will decide actual plan after finishing the Effett insert.

Started building the module (Effett Yard is flat so no need of foam) and to ensure the ply was flat during construction I screwed two metal shelving channels on top:



Then when building the second one (with ply base lowered 1" for foam) I realized I could place one underneath [Duh] and it'd make space for wires as well:



The channel does make the section ram-rod stiff and flat, but it also effectively eliminates the space for Bullfrogs or other switch machines without some actuating cable action.

For the trapezoidal section I used an 1"-wide strip of ripped ply for the same effect (seen here before cross supports installed):



Will look like this when all assembled and inserted:



The two notches at the end are to allow the clamps to reach up to secure the Staging Yard O' Necessity, which is framed with 1"x2"s (not a standard module).

Clamped the insert between the Effett Yard sections and GorillaGlued the American Tie & Timber GapMasters at the end:



http://www.americantieandtimber.com/4.html

Adjusted the insert until ALL tracks on insert will be level with existing Effett Yard tracks, then drilled alignment pin holes underneath (same holes double for attaching protective endplates), then fit & installed track:



A bit more difficult than starting from scratch, as you can't lay track over the gap and then cut, or use the mirror trick.
Here you must line it up by eye and carefully trim rail to fit both ends and with smooth curve:



Caulk allows enough working time so you can run a long flatcar over the section back and forth before soldering to identify any kinks or bad angles.
I think it worked out pretty well.

Today I'll mock up the wye tracks to determine the turnout templates.
The "top" can be a normal wye but the two leads will probably be custom asymmetric.

Thanks for looking.

[primavw]

Keep on trucking M.C.! Keep it up and you'll be your own one-man FreeMoN club!