My first mow of the season... That means my train season starts to decline due to involvement in outdoor chores and regular outdoor activity.
Gimme more winter... Cold, snow, rain.
Ron
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Same here...time to start tending the gardens.
my railroading in fair weather months tends to be 1-1 scale. just find it to hard to coupe up inside when the weather is so nice.
I don't know about you guys, but I was freezing during our hike today. It will be good to go down into the relatively warm basement to finish wiring some new switches.
I tend to take on building projects I can do in the garage in the warm weather months. Keeps me doing something for the layout and keeps me outside at the same time.
I was driving up to Costco today and my car was saying 34F outside, and there was a breeze. Didn't seem quite ripe for outdoor activity yet. 
Soon enough.....35 degrees here on LI today.
I like the garage comment because, even though you are still working on the layout, you are outside so you can justify wasting a sunny day on your trains. Besides, Ron045m, cheer up because there are plenty of rainy days ahead 
Mike
Oh please. It’s 75 degrees and sunny outside in south Florida and I still had a blast working on a few layout projects today before heading to Good Friday Mass. The outdoors constantly competes for your time down here, but everything in moderation. There’s no reason to abandon one for the other for an extended period of time. I have a bunch of other outdoor hobbies, like fishing, off road jeeping, orchid growing, etc. If we can make it work and still enjoy this Hobby year round, you northerners can easily do the same. Get back to work on your layout and quit complaining, LOL!
Two words:
Astro Turf..... maybe it's actually one word (Astroturf). 
Sunny & 84 degrees out here in California today.... we really need some rain.
25 degrees this morning here in north east PA. I worked out side in spite of the cold. Brought in some fire wood for the remaining cold days ahead, and cleaned up the wood drop off area. It is supposed to be about 20 degrees in the morning. I'll be working in the garden tomorrow, and working on some HO ore loads in the shop. No grass to cut yet, but my wife and I raked out all the flower beds and did some weeding in preparation for mulch.
Hopefully, some of us will be working at Miners' memorial Park in Ashley prepping for a pavilion to cover our recently acquired mine lokie. We have another mine car that was restored by students at the career and technical center that is ready to be returned to the park. There are some small restoration projects for the lokie that we can do until an asbestos abatement team can get that issue cleaned up.
I have an outdoor shelf layout under a covered patio attached to my shop, so I can run trains any time I want. I have a caboose that took a tumble that needs repair, and a Weaver CNJ RS3 that fires up but doesn't move, I thing the drive chain is off or missing. Those project are also in the shop, which I consider out side.
First coat of varnish goes on the boat tomorrow. But she’s in a heated barn!
Jon 
What does it cost to get your yard mowed?
I pay $75.00 per acre, which includes trimming bushes and other stuff, and a couple of water bottles in Tomball Texas. I'de rather play with toys or watch Tv these days at 73. It's well worth it to me.
LOL, the way these posts sound sometimes when they come up is as if O gauge hobbyists retreat into the basement or wherever the train room is, and just hunker down and languish in there with their trains like a bear hibernating all winter long, then when spring comes around, something clicks with them where they poke their heads outside and say "Well darn it, there goes my train activities." Sounds like good fodder for a nature mockumentary! 
Train season is year round for me. I hated winter, moved to the southwest tired of the snow. No grass to mow here, I hated mowing grass and doing yardwork as a teen, so winter was good for a least one thing.
Lots of grass outside, and landscaping too. I pay good money to have the HOA take care of all that tedious work while I play with trains!
@MichRR714 posted:I tend to take on building projects I can do in the garage in the warm weather months. Keeps me doing something for the layout and keeps me outside at the same time.
Ha, ha, I'm not sure being in the garage is "outdoors". i guess if you open the doors it's pretty close.
And @Strap Hanger, sure if you have good weather all year, why would one 75 degree day be different than any other? But up north there is definitely a rhythm to the seasons. We have winter activities and summer activities. I've lived in South Florida and I definitely like my four seasons.
Warmer weather means
One
Continue start staining & polyacrylicing my LCCA modular bench tops, lower shelves, & Mianne legs.
Two
Move clutter from basement to garage for sorting into Keep, Discard, Recycle, or Goodwill piles.
Three
When basement clutter is removed, open basement windows, paint walls sky blue with DryLok, paint basement floor with gray DryLok. After painting, place anti fatigue matting on floor, then move benchwork back into basement for track laying
Four
Rail fan at Illinois Railway Museum, along CB&Q lines, and attend BRHS St Louis meet in fall
Five
Visit hobby shops for layout supplies
Both O-gauge modeling & railfanning are all season year-round activities !!!
First mow is at least a month away here at Torch Lake (MI), where it snowed on Wednesday (but quickly melted). Layout construction will be interrupted by pulling the sailboat winter cover this weekend and painting its bottom early in the week. And waiting for the next switch (etc.) shipment from Ross to arrive!
@Ron H posted:What does it cost to get your yard mowed?
I pay $75.00 per acre, which includes trimming bushes and other stuff, and a couple of water bottles in Tomball Texas. I'de rather play with toys or watch Tv these days at 73. It's well worth it to me.
That price sounds about right. I have 2 acres. That money could be a lot of potential engines and rolling stock that would instead be going to a guy riding around on a lawn mower twice a week.
I live a a neighborhood were a lot of people have a lawn service. When we first moved in I was mowing my front lawn. A lady was walking by and waved at me to stop. She came over and asked how much I charged to mow. I paused for a moment, thinking I should tell her I live here and we just moved in. But instead my reply was, "Well, this lady lets me sleep with her".
She hurried away and never spoke to me again. Even 17 years later she won't even look over when walking by.
Some people don't have a sense of humor.
Ron
@Will posted:And @Strap Hanger, sure if you have good weather all year, why would one 75 degree day be different than any other? But up north there is definitely a rhythm to the seasons. We have winter activities and summer activities. I've lived in South Florida and I definitely like my four seasons.
LOL! No worries, Will. You can keep your four seasons. I’ve certainly had my fill of them when I lived up north. As for me, I’ll stay down here and keep working on my pike throughout the year while enjoying my other hobbies in equal measure (just like I always did when I lived in NY for almost half my life). In fact, tomorrow I think I’ll take the boat out instead of working on my latest layout project. Choices. We’ve all got ‘em. Even summer repressed, four season northerners. LOL
Spring Drill for our Brigade is the 17th, and our grass is in need of a trim, and the peas, pumpkins, and corn we started inside two weeks ago are very eager to get planted (25 degrees last night, so not quite yet, guys!), and we are still cleaning up after the ice storm. OTOH, I just got today some screws I needed to help with a revamp of the landforms on the upper level of the layout. And it's mid-terms week, so I have exams AND essays to grade.
Ya know: I need a hobby!
Why do you have to mow the grass so short?
You could replace the grass with synthetic fibers if it is such a hassle.
Andrew
@John Korling posted:LOL, the way these posts sound sometimes when they come up is as if O gauge hobbyists retreat into the basement or wherever the train room is, and just hunker down and languish in there with their trains like a bear hibernating all winter long, then when spring comes around, something clicks with them where they poke their heads outside and say "Well darn it, there goes my train activities."
And your point is...?
Tom
Ron045,
That is a statement lawn, it says "If you think this lawn looks great, you need to see my toy train layout" ....
Does anyone make O-scale riding lawn mowers?
Nice and warm here in Nevada......89 in Las Vegas.........NO MOW, desert landscaping
70 degrees, clear skies expected tomorrow in central Arkansas, which is a 3-1/2 season state with typically mild winters. The smartest money I ever spent -- hire a lawn service guy for $45 per session -- mow and trim and blow away the clippings from the driveway! Our lawn is a now a trendsetter in the neighborhood, which is a great step up from the time (years ago) when I did the mowing. Smartest lawn equipment money I saved -- sold a top of the line HONDA mower to a lawn service provider!
My current layout project in the train room is learning the codes to operate a MTH Aerotrain with PS-3. All my other locos are Lionel with TMCC or LionChief 2.0, so MTH's DCS is new to me.
Mike Mottler LCCA 12394
1) It's Easter. Time to remember the true meaning.
2) Better to work outdoors and give the trains a rest than battle a terminal illness, or be homeless, or both.
3) Count your blessings.
@Will posted:Ha, ha, I'm not sure being in the garage is "outdoors". i guess if you open the doors it's pretty close.
And @Strap Hanger, sure if you have good weather all year, why would one 75 degree day be different than any other? But up north there is definitely a rhythm to the seasons. We have winter activities and summer activities. I've lived in South Florida and I definitely like my four seasons.
Will, I've lived in Beautiful Houston, and still my heart enjoys White Christmas.... "Tree layouts"
"kindred Spirits Will"
My wife and I have a good plan that has worked for years. She cuts the grass. I do the laundry. It so happens the laundry is in the basement with the trains. She does love cutting the grass.
We just bought a zero turn lawnmower on Thursday. Hopefully it will cut our grass cutting time down and I can have more time for trains.
@Ron045 posted:That price sounds about right. I have 2 acres. That money could be a lot of potential engines and rolling stock that would instead be going to a guy riding around on a lawn mower twice a week.
I live a a neighborhood were a lot of people have a lawn service. When we first moved in I was mowing my front lawn. A lady was walking by and waved at me to stop. She came over and asked how much I charged to mow. I paused for a moment, thinking I should tell her I live here and we just moved in. But instead my reply was, "Well, this lady lets me sleep with her".
She hurried away and never spoke to me again. Even 17 years later she won't even look over when walking by.
Some people don't have a sense of humor.
Ron
Ron, This totally cracked me up. Thanks for the good laugh!
Ron, I will trade you. The overnight temps were around 20F here in Boston last night. We only have two seasons Winter and July.
I think we are all missing the point here...
We need to stop complaining and start building G gauge layouts OUTSIDE! 
Sound like a win win to me.
@Ron045 That was probably one of the best lines I've heard to shut down a nosy neighbor!
Bob
@CarGuyZM10 posted:We just bought a zero turn lawnmower on Thursday. Hopefully it will cut our grass cutting time down and I can have more time for trains.
Apparently I bought a new zero turn as well, ....it comes with a dude attached to it that operates it,....😆😆😆.....I haven’t seen a new weed whacker yet, but the old one seems to be doing just fine,....I can’t own/maintain or even justify the fuel needed to maintain my joint ( it’s big ) the fella that runs the local lawn care service does an amazing job for dirt cheap prices, ...that equates to more trains,...I sold off all the lawn equipment years ago,......I’d have to go at it with a pair of scissors if they up & quit,....seriously, it’s a father & son team, the son has special needs, and I can relate, just about everybody in the neighborhood let’s them take care of their lawns. The young man puts his nose to the grindstone and gets to work,.....unheard of these days ,......I tip them as much as they charge,......it’s nice to see the young man have a chance to earn a good living, and he’s passionate about what he does in the yard,.....
Pat
I've been putting it off outdoor spring work. I'm not quite finished with completion of my add-on reversing loop. Temporary work platform built/installed, structural elevation done, painting done, switches in, track in, test run done, track power drop done, signals in and tested, switch wiring almost done. Need to complete control panel hookup/testing (mostly done), wire dressing, track girder and removal of temporary work platform. Basically, train hibernation until fall.
@Ron045 posted:That price sounds about right. I have 2 acres. That money could be a lot of potential engines and rolling stock that would instead be going to a guy riding around on a lawn mower twice a week.
I live a a neighborhood were a lot of people have a lawn service. When we first moved in I was mowing my front lawn. A lady was walking by and waved at me to stop. She came over and asked how much I charged to mow. I paused for a moment, thinking I should tell her I live here and we just moved in. But instead my reply was, "Well, this lady lets me sleep with her".
She hurried away and never spoke to me again. Even 17 years later she won't even look over when walking by.
Some people don't have a sense of humor.
Ron
LOL - Your story reminds me of the day I was planting 4 Leyland Cypress trees (just waist high at the time), across the side yard, for some privacy for our recently installed pool. While digging, someone came to the house (I have forgotten who or why) and came up to me and asked, if I lived here or just was working here. I told him "Today, I'm just working here".
I agree with you Ron!! I was putting down HALTS a week ago and mentally realized I am no where ready to start yard work. BLAH. With not having to shovel that much snow this past winter and yard work yet not arrived, over the last 3 months I've gotten "yard work spoiled"!!
