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

[C855B]

Hmm. Two weeks since an update. Primarily dealing with mundane building stuff. That is, between trains. Traffic has picked-up like crazy, and it seems like every 15-20 minutes one of us is stopping work to run to a window to see what's passing. This evening we were just dropping-off supplies from a Lowe's run, got a CN S/B and Amtrak N/B meet while we were there, then heard a lot of annoyed chatter on the scanner about E/B and W/B BNSF coal drags waiting for the CN traffic to clear, and then there was an NS train who was impatiently waiting their turn over the diamonds. Robyn commented, "NS always gets short shrift, don't they?"

Anyway, with the roof done, we've started to dismantle the HVAC support. The return ducting is gone - Robyn had a grand ol' time stomping the tubes flat - and I spent the better part of an afternoon removing the 1-1/4" gas piping. Looking at saving some of the distribution ducts for the lower return on the new system.

Restroom framing is done, drywall is up on two of the inside faces and the door is installed, so it's "private" enough to use now. Remaining two walls require the toilet and sink to be removed, and that starts yet another huge string of critical path projects - electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall, floor prep, floor tile, wall tile. Work and holiday concerts are keeping me busy, so it looks like those projects will be waiting for the Christmas/New Year break. Mentioned in another thread, a new hot water heater was installed this weekend. I also plumbed-in a utility sink in the workshop area so we'd at least have wash-up capability while the tile work was under way. All this stuff required a complete rebuild of the plumbing manifold(s) all the way to the main shutoff valve. I enjoy doing pipe most of the time, but this stuff was in a cramped corner and was not my best work - solder drips everywhere. Ugly. And I'm not a fan of the new lead-less solder and water-soluble fluxes. It just doesn't flow as well... yeah, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Hired a surveyor to verify property lines, half prompted by the little dust-up with the apartment manager next door, half to have a current plat in the files. We got a couple of surprises - property line with the apartment building is about 30" away from their exterior wall, and they have a door on this side. That's 3' closer than we thought. Also, the driveway the apartment manager uses to get to his garage is split right down the middle (insert evil grin). Other surprise was a similar problem - for us. We have only 2' from our back wall to the city ROW. I guess no problem leaving the dumpster there, but I can't put the AC compressor on that side like originally planned.

Metal has been ordered for the façade re-vamp which includes a portico, and the construction permit is in-hand. We're also moving the main door and adding windows. Actual work should start 12/11, weather notwithstanding. The street face of the building will be greatly changed, and I'm really looking forward to its new appearance. As are our friends down at City Hall.

Speaking of which... I sort of knew it but hadn't "gone there" yet... the husband of the city's Community Development Director is a big-time, serious HO'er. When we were picking up the permit on Friday, we discovered just how deep their interest is. It turns out that she is equally rabid about her railfanning, and is a big steam nut (how many women do you know who casually mention "1522" in a conversation?). We also were informed that the locally-famous large MRR on the third floor of their Victorian is currently dismantled and in storage while they renovate, and he's getting stir crazy about doing some layout work. She essentially volunteered him to help, even if it was for therapy.

Another prospective volunteer emerged from the woodwork... our insurance agent. In a meeting with Robyn last Thursday, she discovers he's also an HO'er, and he was bemoaning that we don't have a LHS, that there are a lot of retired and otherwise ex-RR'ers in our town who dabble, and we sure could use a train shop here (hint hint hint).

IOW, people in the community are becoming excited about the project. I may get that help, after all.

[Specter3]

As much as people bemoan the impending death of the hobby, you mention it to enough people and there are modelers everywhere. Some did it as a kid and have picked up the occasional magazine over the years to those that when you bring it up invite you to their huge basement O scale layout that no one but their wife knows about.

And tell those guys that if everyone chips in 10 grand we can have a kick butt LHS til the money runs out. LOL!

[Ian MacMillan]

I'd love to help out...I'm just so far away. And not just with the train stuff, I love the construction stuff as well.

[C855B]

I'm wondering what the fallout is going to be from the article in Sunday's paper about my trains and the building project (scan in Weekend Update). I should have a better gauge on this tomorrow night, the first social event since the article. What you didn't see in the article scan was a paragraph mentioning hopes to get enough interest to form a model railroad club. That's not exactly true since my plans for a group effort aren't really a come-one, come-all type of thing, but I certainly wouldn't mind a few experienced hands pitching in.

Actually, the building wouldn't be a bad venue for a train shop, but it would have to take over Robyn's studio area for the store. I wouldn't do that to her.

'Preciate the thought, Ian. I could use an extra hand... or two or three... for some upcoming heavy lifting. Anybody else out there who would like to spend their Christmas vacation doing hard labor for a worthy cause? 

Progress report: heard from the contractor today, and metal for the new façade should be on-site late Wednesday, with crew lined-up for Thursday and Friday. I think he's optimistic that it will be just two days, aside from the portico and re-skin we're relocating the front door and I just have a bad feeling there will be surprises associated with it.

[C855B]

Also should mention that it's turned cold, finally. That's slowing both of us down - being a true Californian, thin blood and all, Robyn really doesn't deal well with it - plus I'm having to juggle task priorities to get some heat in the work areas for us, and to protect the plumbing. Low of 20° tonight. Ugh.

[Ian MacMillan]

Vacation: Whats that!?

Cold smh'old! 20 aint nuthin!  Keep up the good work.

[JSL]

That not cold! It was -27 C this morning north of Winnipeg where I teach. Enjoying your adventures of designing and remodeling of your new building.

[C855B]

OK... I admit it... my California roots are showing, too. 20°F is cold to me. The stuff you guys put up with in the Great White North is *damn* cold. I was telling myself (and my friends) seven years ago when we were staging a move back to California, "Life is too short to live with bad weather." Unfortunately in the trade-off between living with mother-in-law and the glorious weather of the Bay Area, m-i-l set the tone, and we hightailed it back to the Midwest.

So... in the grand scheme, 0°M (Mike) = 50°F = 10°C. We don't like them negative numbers.

[C855B]

Building progress...

Some of the metal bits were late in arriving, so the crew started the façade replacement just yesterday. New window is now in the old door location. Nothing fancy, really, but it really classes-up the joint. They took the main door out today and framed the new location - very important, relative to the layout - but there were corrosion issues with the hinges and the boss had to take it to his shop for a bit of machining. Right now the building is locked-up only by virtue of a couple of sheets of OSB where the door should be. About half of the new metal is up.

I got the color I wanted, BTW, a rather bright red. I have a sample down the street at Sherwin-Williams as they try to work-up a match in their industrial coatings so we can get the new color on the rest of the building. My building guy strongly recommended a specific S-W paint - "DTM" - designed for metal buildings. He's used it on several projects like ours. However, it's bloomin' $90 a gallon!!! He said it doesn't need primer and covers great even over poorly-prepped and dirty metal, and lasts friggin' forever, so it sounds like a big labor reducer. I'm all for that.

I've been working on wiring, installing J-boxes for downlights in the studio, and running MC for lights and convenience outlets. Also removed more abandoned wiring and the outlets where the new door is going. I was hoping to have power completely weaned from the old panel by the holidays so I could remove it and finish insulation and drywall in that area, but there are old circuits we're still using in walls that won't be messed with for a couple of months. I may have to get creative and put in a temporary connection to keep those going - the old panel really has to go.

On the railroad front, a signal base arrived today so I could display one of my signals outside. I was hoping to bolt it to an existing concrete slab, but then I have to figure out how to get power to it. Won't be easy.

[C855B]

Pic from this morning which nicely shows the old/new contrast. They already have the door in since.



Passing scenery while I had the camera in-hand:

[Philip H]

Dude, you really need to get your rail oriented webcam going.

[C855B]

Oh, boy. Look at the two pix above. You see that door all the way on the right, with the ramp? Gone. Contractor thought the plan was to cover it up, so he did. Robyn and I mulled it over lunch, and agreed to leave it this way. We'll still need a panic door out of the layout area, but now that I have a choice where to put it, we gain a bunch of square footage for layout. It really reconfigures the space and presents options I didn't have before, and saves a bit of work.

It also means I get to re-draw most of the layout plan. 

[Scottl]

I like your rail traffic.  CN is taking over 

[C855B]

Big progress this past week. What we started with in July:



And as of this morning:



There is a little bit of trim remaining and then we move on to adding windows on the south (left) side and then the rear trainwatching area, and two doors on the rear. Paint for the other three sides will have to wait for spring; it's turning into a real winter here this time.

[packers#1]

Wow! I don't blame the city for helping you out; looks great so far, very classy!