I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive. 
P.S. I don't do tents! 
gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
You guys could get together, charter a bus, and hit a bunch of member's layouts along the way. It would be quite the road trip really. On the other hand you could take the train.
gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
The Hampton Inn is a very nice Hotel it is about 5 min from Elliot thats where I stayed eh
Big_Boy_4005 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
You guys could get together, charter a bus, and hit a bunch of member's layouts along the way. It would be quite the road trip really. On the other hand you could take the train.
Why a charter bus ? How about a really nice motor home ! 
Doug W. posted:Why a charter bus ? How about a really nice motor home !
You have one to solve our problem?
Ahem!
Why not take a train?
Jan
Jan posted:Ahem!
Why not take a train?
Jan
Just beat me to it, Jan. Good job!!
#Ahem, why not take a train?
It seems that the freight trains own all the rails, and passenger trains spend alot, alot of time on the siding. The good thing, it was next to a starbucks.. lol
"Sorry, can you repeat that please, did you ask me something?"
I was: 1. Thinking about trains, 2. Talking about trains, 3. Planning about trains, 4. Dreaming about trains, 5. Texting about trains, 6. ...........
Jan posted:Ahem!
Why not take a train?
Jan
When you get there, are you really going to "take the train" so we have a place to sleep?
Big_Boy_4005 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
You guys could get together, charter a bus, and hit a bunch of member's layouts along the way. It would be quite the road trip really. On the other hand you could take the train.
Hmmm! There must be a train from Boston to Minneapolis. That area, Minneapolis, is beautiful in Summer as I recall from business trips back in the day. Now if there was a connecting UBER train to Eliot's house........
decoynh posted:Big_Boy_4005 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
You guys could get together, charter a bus, and hit a bunch of member's layouts along the way. It would be quite the road trip really. On the other hand you could take the train.
Hmmm! There must be a train from Boston to Minneapolis. That area, Minneapolis, is beautiful in Summer as I recall from business trips back in the day. Now if there was a connecting UBER train to Eliot's house........
From Boston, it might be 3 trains. First to New York, change. Then to Chicago, definitely change to the Empire Builder, then to St Paul.
The Builder has been running very smoothly of late, since the reduction in oil traffic. There was about a 4 day stretch last month when service west of St Paul was cut off due to two avalanches out west. I can't comment on the service between New York and Chicago, but I would think that with the oil train reduction, they should be running close to schedule.
BTW, for the record, I was the one who first suggested that you could take the train.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:decoynh posted:Big_Boy_4005 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:I think we need to arrange an East Coast field trip to Elliot's house. I just don't know where he's going to put us all up when we arrive.
P.S. I don't do tents!
You guys could get together, charter a bus, and hit a bunch of member's layouts along the way. It would be quite the road trip really. On the other hand you could take the train.
Hmmm! There must be a train from Boston to Minneapolis. That area, Minneapolis, is beautiful in Summer as I recall from business trips back in the day. Now if there was a connecting UBER train to Eliot's house........
From Boston, it might be 3 trains. First to New York, change. Then to Chicago, definitely change to the Empire Builder, then to St Paul.
The Builder has been running very smoothly of late, since the reduction in oil traffic. There was about a 4 day stretch last month when service west of St Paul was cut off due to two avalanches out west. I can't comment on the service between New York and Chicago, but I would think that with the oil train reduction, they should be running close to schedule.
BTW, for the record, I was the one who first suggested that you could take the train.
Yes sir you were the FIRST. I was just wondering what if and your point of taking 3 trains looks about right. BUT, for fun, 3 trains are better than 1.
Neither snow nor rain... nor broken rib, shall stay this model railroader from working on his layout.
The month was off to a pretty good start until I woke up dizzy on Tuesday the 7th. After stepping on the scale, I stepped off, lost my balance, did a 180 and landed on my butt. On the way down, I hit my right side on the end table. I thought I was OK, took some Dramamine which cleared up the dizziness. Ribs were still sore. A week went by, and I was at the grocery store, when I turned to put a cup of Yoplait in the cart and heard and felt a *pop*. I muddled through a week of pain, until I went to a doctor appointment on an unrelated matter. He suggested that I get an x-ray. So I did. I broke it!
Whether it happened on day one or day seven in the grocery store, we'll never know. It's not like there was anything that could be done about it. Three and a half weeks out, and I'm feeling much better, and am back working on the layout, pouring in the hours in advance of the NMRA division layout tour on April 29th.
Let's take a look at March...
Scott (Miggy) came over a couple times and finished the uncoupler magnet installs, then started carving roadbed
I started off with the full assembly of the first of the the uncoupler control units. 
GunrunnerJohn's idea works great! Last step is to hook it up to the layout.
This computer will eventually run many functions of the layout.
This box will be located just under the layout in this location. The computer will fit right into it. The TMCC base is just to the left, and will plug into a USB port and control some of the trains, including adding adding WiFi access. Then C/MRI will plug into a second USB port, and provide turnout, signal and detection control with JMRI software.
The engine pocket at Midway Intermodal just needs to be screwed down.
The third yard track at Midway is under construction.
While attending the NMRA division's third annual modeler's retreat, I sat in on a clinic about LED's. That lead to this idea for hearing aid battery powered EOT.
The package is very small, but still needs some refinements, but it functions! Three batteries.
From here on out I was fighting that broken rib.
I did a ton of rail painting! This is Interstate.
The gallon can has my thinned down latex paint. The turkey baster is used to fill the airbrush jar.
I have my airbrush connected to my big air compressor via a quick connect and a 1/4" pipe adapter.
Dayton's Bluff is painted.
My nephews came over a couple times on their spring break and helped me clean up around the chop saw.
They tidied up the "keepers" and hauled out the unusable scraps. We had a couple nice fires.
Pig's Eye is painted.
Newport is done too.
This is a C/MRI panel that I reconfigured from enterTRAINment to work with this layout. More on that in the future.
Ballasting at Pig's Eye!
Just a little bit left in the yard, then I can bring out a bunch of cars and fill it up!
Finally, I bought this Pecos River kit on eBay a couple years ago. The engine maintenance facility seemed to be missing some pieces. Fortunately, Korber picked up this line of structures. Went to Mr Muffin's website, and found the perfect item that would give me more wall panels. The end wall with the doors is going to take some re-engineering.
Most of April will be spent cleaning for the open house. I might get a few things done, we'll see.
Attachments
Images (21)
Videos (1)
Wow,
great progress!
Sorry to here about the rib, glad you are on the mend there.
Nice to be able that you can "see" work being done, and more trains about to be put on the lay-out and shaping up as visual lay-out. In short behind the scene work mostly finished.
Lookin good Elliot eh
What kind of airbrush did you use for the latex?
Looking great. I just finalized my airbrush setup last night, next I'll be painting track too.
Broken ribs are no fun and I feel your pain. I broke 3 of mine when I was just 21 and can't imagine what that would be like now that I'm 70. It's kind of blessing that you'll be in cleaning mode and hopefully won't have to twist and turn too much so the rib can heal.
I still can't wrap my head around this project, it seems so overwhelming to me. Your updates and photos let us ride along and I look forward to every update. It looks like my nephew will be leaving Minneapolis, but if things work out, they'll only be going as far as Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls. Either way, I'm still planning a visit at some point.
Been there, done that with the broken rib, no fun at all! However, you seem to have made good progress in spite of the injury.
Enjoy watching the progress. Keep up the postings!
Outstanding Elliot! What a journey you have provided us over the years. How many years have you been at this layout now? I'm excited to see how your Pecos/Korber engine facilitity turns out.
Elliot - Looking good. Sorry to hear of your injury, but you seem to be working around it well. Your ballast is working out very well and looks great. I am hoping to get started on my soon. Planning on working with Jim today on my DCS signal issues and after they are resolved, I can finish track painting and ballast can begin.
Good luck with your self-imposed deadline of April 29th. Deadlines are good for me too as I get a lot more done when under one.
Art
Elliot another good month despite the bad luck. Looks as if you will be ready for the 29th. Good luck with continuing to get ready and for a successful time.
Bill
Elliot,
I sure hope your ribs get feeling better soon. I do not know anything about a broken rib, but I did have the cartilage pulled away from the bottom of the rib cage, and it still bothers me almost 25 years later. Our daughters were pre-schoolers, and they were using me as a horse to ride on. Well, somehow we fell, and I rolled over with one of them landing on my stomach and did the damage. I still can't figure out how we got turned over, but it doesn't matter now.
Lots of great progress, Elliot! I'm glad to read Scott (Miggy) is helping you! He ought to make the time together fun as well! Take it easy with the rib, and as always, I'm glad to see your progress!!
Thanks to everyone! This topic is really a window into my world. Hopefully, you find it inspiring, and not intimidating. Most of what I'm doing is equally applicable to smaller layouts, I just do mass quantities. For the most part the techniques I use are nothing special, anyone can do them, if so inclined.
Rich - If I'm not mistaken, I owe you a special thanks. Wasn't it on your watch that Pecos River structures became part of Korber? Nice save! 
Stay tuned to see how that project turns out.
Redball - I'm anxious to get some more cars unpacked. Been buying stuff for the last 5 years, and most of it has just been piling up. It will all have to be entered into the computer, and have car cards made.
Chad - I use Badger's cheapest external mix brush. Easy to use and especially easy to clean. I've had mine for 35 years. I just bought a second one off the Bay. Here's one almost exactly like it, not Badger brand name though, but less expensive. It looks like it will accept the Badger paint jars, that's important to me anyway.
Charlie - Painting track is no picnic, but it makes all the difference in how your railroad looks. I'm far from done with mine, but the lower level is getting close. Good luck on yours.
Dave - I've been waiting to hear from you, saying you were going to visit. Eau Claire is about an hour from here. I live just over the river from Wisconsin. You're welcome to visit as many times as you like.
John - Thanks again for the idea of the capacitive touch sensor. If the rib had been too bothersome, I probably would have just sat down and wired more of those units.
Matt - After I did that rib, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't have much to show this month. I did take a lot of days off because of it. For a while I was only working every other day. I kicked it into gear the last week to close out the month.
George - The layout was started at my previous house around 1997. I didn't get very far before we decided to build this house. I brought over a bunch of sections, and had to rework some of them. I was busy building the house from 1999 through 2002, as I was the general contractor, and did a lot of the work myself. Late 2002, the layout moved to a front burner, until late 2006 when I was diagnosed with skin cancer. For five and a half years, I didn't touch the layout. When the oncologist told me to "go away" in May 2012, it was time to get back at it. Took a while to get my head back into the project, and I quickly figured out I needed help. This topic started December 31st 2012. The rest is all in these 27 pages.
Art - Ballasting is not easy, switches are a pain. I'd rather be wiring. It might get a little better when I get my new set of sieves, and I'm not having to hand pick out the "boulders". That's what I get for going with my inexpensive ballast source. On the other hand , my source is 100% prototypical, as that quarry supplies the real railroads with some of their ballast. As for the deadline, that is set in stone. As the layout tour coordinator, I have to write up the official announcement in the next couple days so it can go out to the members. Then there's 15 months til the next deadline. One day at a time!
Bill - Thanks, I'm pacing myself to get projects done for this. I'm working from a list, and tweaking it as I go.
Mark - Scott and I have had a number of interesting conversations. He's a great guy, a great worker and a fast learner.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Dave - I've been waiting to hear from you, saying you were going to visit. Eau Claire is about an hour from here. I live just over the river from Wisconsin. You're welcome to visit as many times as you like.
I thought I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to visit until 2018 when we take a cruise to Alaska with a group out of Wisconsin. That trip is now in jeopardy due to illness of the travel agent's husband, but we remain hopeful. Either way though, we should still be going to Wisconsin that summer, so I still plan on stopping in once I figure out dates. We are going to Wisconsin in June, but we won't be able to go that far west on the way home due to other commitments that will take us south on I-39 out of Rockford IL. Sorry for the confusion.
Sorry Dave, I must have missed that or forgotten. Hope you get to take that Alaska trip. Beautiful place. I should be here when you want to visit, just drop me an email when you know. The only thing I can think of when I might be gone would be the NMRA national convention in KC in early August. Labor Day Weekend 2018, the national narrow gauge convention will be here. I expect to have the layout open for that.
Elliot, I might have typed 2017 or said "next year" by mistake, but it will be 2018. I will certainly contact you when we find out about the cruise and start making plans. Even if the cruise falls through with this agent, we will plan a cruise to Alaska on our own. I've been to Alaska a few times, so this is mostly for my wife, and it's the last state she needs to make all 50. 
Exciting progress!! Hard to believe you are getting ready to put some cars in the yard. Awesome!!
Great pictures and enjoy this thread.
GunRunner - I am in for a road trip
PSU1980 posted:GunRunner - I am in for a road trip
Just remember, my idea of roughing it is analog TV in the hotel room. I don't do tents!
April saw some progress on the layout, but much of the month was spent cleaning the layout and the other room in the basement in prep for yesterday's NMRA division layout tour / open house.
Rail painting stopped, but ballasting continued to its logical conclusion at Pig's Eye, Dayton's Bluff and Interstate. Scott and Walt both came over a couple times to help this month.
I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like I'm becoming accident prone of late. Last month it was the broken rib, which seems to have mostly healed, and is no longer any bother. Just when I was feeling better, I was cleaning paint off rails and went to sit down on my chair. One slight problem, the chair wasn't where I thought it was, and I completely missed it. My butt hit the floor hard. Boy did that hurt!
Regularly scheduled doctor appointment tomorrow morning. I expect a couple x-rays, one to check the rib healing, and the other of my tailbone. Two weeks removed from the incident and it still hurts. Another break wouldn't shock me. Once again, not much can be done for it even if it is broken.
Enough of my problems, and I hope this will be the last of them. Let's get onto layout progress!
I got my new sieves, which made quick work of removing the large particles from the raw ballast.
The finished product.
More gluing at Pig's Eye, nearly done. Both Scott and Walt helped.
My extra wall sections arrived from Mr Muffin, time to build the engine maintenance facility.
One wall assembled!
Now three walls...
and all four. The problem is the door openings. They're a little too small. I'll have to work on that, but you get the idea.
Finally after years of buying rolling stock, and leaving them in their boxes, the flood gates are opening!
Patience has paid off, and it feels good. More to come in future months!
Dayton's Bluff ballasting nears completion.
Now for the hard part, all the crossovers in the interlocking.
More cars at Pig's Eye. Over 150 cars hit the rails this month. There are at least 200 more still packed away. Lots of track left to fill, so I'm not too worried that I've over bought (yet).
The computer finally reached its permanent home at the center of the layout. A USB to serial adapter cord will go right onto the TMCC base. That connection will allow us to use the JMRI WiFi throttle app. This is where Walt's expertise will come in handy!
This is the Interstate section of the layout on the upper deck. Ballasting is about 85% complete here. Big thanks to Scott who took care of much of the work here, after I taught him how.
With the layout construction mostly buttoned up, cleaning and decorating became the order of business. Chad (Chester7) visited a couple months ago, and brought me this sign that he had made. I gave it the most prominent location I could think of to display it. Thanks again Chad, I love it!!!
Where the love seat is sitting, is where my chop saw had been for the last 15 years. I'll have to put it back at some point, but for now the area looks nice.
This next group of shots is what the layout looks like when it's clean. No junk in the aisles!!
I've had these early Amtrak travel posters for many years, but only recently got them framed. They are originals from the 70's, by commercial artist David Klein. I got them as partial payment for a layout that I built for a guy when I was living in Denver in the early 80's.
In closing, the tour went off without a hitch.
I had my camera in my pocket all afternoon, but I was so busy talking to people, I never used it. Finally, when the dust had settled, I snapped one of my crew. That's Walt on the left (he's an HO guy), Miggy (Scott) in the middle, and my brother-in-law Bob on the right. Bob is on the verge of becoming a train guy, I've been rubbing off on him. His first hobby is ham radio.
He also flies drones. We've been talking about doing a railfan project, if he can ever find the time.
Looking at the guestbook, I had around 40 visitors. It was supposed to run til 5PM, but just after 4, everyone had moved on. My crew took off, and I was just getting settled on the couch after 5, when the doorbell rang. A couple of stragglers, so I gave them the full tour.
This was really an audition for the National Narrow Gauge Convention in 2018. I think the entire committee has now been here, and were sufficiently impressed. It is still not publication worthy, but it is heading in the right direction, and it could be by convention time.
It was a great month with the big payoff. Back to regular work in May!Attachments
Images (27)
As always, the layout looks great and you got a lot accomplished this month. With the track complete and the ballast being added, it's starting to come together as a railroad. Thanks for letting us follow along. Glad all went well with the tours on Saturday. As I said in another post, your layout is certainly publication worthy as it stands. Watching a layout being built is far more educational and interesting than looking at the completed railroad. Although, seeing the completed railroad has its charms too.
Loved all the shots down the "cleaned up" aisles, that is one magnificent layout!
Hmm, I typed up a long reply but it seems to have gotten lost between me and Hoopla! Oh well. Part of that was also an appreciation for the aisle photos. Puts the layout in perspective. Thank you Elliot!
Great looking layout. Really coming along great. Thanks for keeping us updated. Keep up the great work.:-)
Haven't seen the homemade ballast in quite a while. Looks really nice. I'm guessing you ran magnets over it to find anything that could find it's way onto rolling stock?
Fred
Thank you Eliot for taking the time to keep 2 threads updated with your progress. Also glad that the Open House went well. Somehow I missed the charter from the East Coast to the Minneapolis area. It is much easier on the internet than in real life. Looking forward to the live camera feed from your layout room. The photos of the cleaned up aisle ways was impressive. Take care of yourself so that we can continue to enjoy your layout. All the best in the future.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:April saw some progress on the layout, but much of the month was spent cleaning the layout and the other room in the basement in prep for yesterday's NMRA division layout tour / open house.
Rail painting stopped, but ballasting continued to its logical conclusion at Pig's Eye, Dayton's Bluff and Interstate. Scott and Walt both came over a couple times to help this month.
I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like I'm becoming accident prone of late. Last month it was the broken rib, which seems to have mostly healed, and is no longer any bother. Just when I was feeling better, I was cleaning paint off rails and went to sit down on my chair. One slight problem, the chair wasn't where I thought it was, and I completely missed it. My butt hit the floor hard. Boy did that hurt!
Enough of my problems, and I hope this will be the last of them. Let's get onto layout progress!
I got my new sieves, which made quick work of removing the large particles from the raw ballast.
The finished product.
More gluing at Pig's Eye, nearly done. Both Scott and Walt helped.
My extra wall sections arrived from Mr Muffin, time to build the engine maintenance facility.
One wall assembled!
Now three walls...
and all four. The problem is the door openings. They're a little too small. I'll have to work on that, but you get the idea.
Finally after years of buying rolling stock, and leaving them in their boxes, the flood gates are opening!
Patience has paid off, and it feels good. More to come in future months!
Dayton's Bluff ballasting nears completion.
Now for the hard part, all the crossovers in the interlocking.
More cars at Pig's Eye. Over 150 cars hit the rails this month. There are at least 200 more still packed away. Lots of track left to fill, so I'm not too worried that I've over bought (yet).
The computer finally reached its permanent home at the center of the layout. A USB to serial adapter cord will go right onto the TMCC base. That connection will allow us to use the JMRI WiFi throttle app. This is where Walt's expertise will come in handy!
This is the Interstate section of the layout on the upper deck. Ballasting is about 85% complete here. Big thanks to Scott who took care of much of the work here, after I taught him how.
With the layout construction mostly buttoned up, cleaning and decorating became the order of business. Chad (Chester7) visited a couple months ago, and brought me this sign that he had made. I gave it the most prominent location I could think of to display it. Thanks again Chad, I love it!!!
Where the love seat is sitting, is where my chop saw had been for the last 15 years. I'll have to put it back at some point, but for now the area looks nice.
This next group of shots is what the layout looks like when it's clean. No junk in the aisles!!
I've had these early Amtrak travel posters for many years, but only recently got them framed. They are originals from the 70's, by commercial artist David Klein. I got them as partial payment for a layout that I built for a guy when I was living in Denver in the early 80's.
In closing, the tour went off without a hitch.
I had my camera in my pocket all afternoon, but I was so busy talking to people, I never used it. Finally, when the dust had settled, I snapped one of my crew. That's Walt on the left (he's an HO guy), Miggy (Scott) in the middle, and my brother-in-law Bob on the right. Bob is on the verge of becoming a train guy, I've been rubbing off on him. His first hobby is ham radio.
He also flies drones. We've been talking about doing a railfan project, if he can ever find the time.
Looking at the guestbook, I had around 40 visitors. It was supposed to run til 5PM, but just after 4, everyone had moved on. My crew took off, and I was just getting settled on the couch after 5, when the doorbell rang. A couple of stragglers, so I gave them the full tour.
This was really an audition for the National Narrow Gauge Convention in 2018. I think the entire committee has now been here, and were sufficiently impressed. It is still not publication worthy, but it is heading in the right direction, and it could be by convention time.
It was a great month with the big payoff. Back to regular work in May!
Looks great Elliot. I'm really bummed that I was not able to make it up on Saturday. Sorry I couldn't help with the tour. Will make it work next time. Glad you had a good crowd and everything went well. I really like the door sign! Take care of yourself, no more falls, etc. Hope you get a good report from your doctor appointment.
Dave
Wow!!! That is one beautiful monstrous layout!! I would love to come out for a day just to help. With something that size even being a gofer must be a big help!
