rtr12 posted:

I think photo 2 is better and I also prefer diesels so that would be my pick, but somehow I think they picked photo 1 because it's a steamer? 

Ha ha!  You and I picked opposite!

Hmmm... Great minds think alike MOST of the time!    Most folks seem to like Steam over Diesel as well. 

Hope I'm not late to the party - I'll pic photo 1, mostly because if that was taken when I think it was I may be on that train ... about 3 cars from the end where the low budget folks got to ride.

Hi Elliot

    Having been a guest visiting your layout it’s someone’s loss if they skip it. You and Tammy are wonderful hosts for starters. The layout impressed my non train companions immensely. The train teasing changed to some form of how amazing your layout is and most importantly hoe gracious you both are. 

Thanks again and the best pic is the healing toe.

Ray Marion

hot dog the end of month update is a mere 4 1/2 hrs away

Nothing like putting pressure on Elliot, St Paul!  LOL

@ MARK BOYCE Elliot thrives on pressure LOL

So I have noticed!!  

Well, this is a first... Pre-post chatter for the update. Ray and Mark you guys are too much.  You are right, I do seem to thrive on pressure, and this month I have had none.

But let me answer that burning question from a few weeks ago, which picture won the contest. Personally, I thought the guys would go for the steam, but they liked the the bright colors of the diesels and the work crew at Hoffman.

George - Your Tour De Chooch sounds really neat, but I'm not sure the guys around here would be interested in having their personal info out on the web like that.

September 2018 update

<crickets>

Yes, that's right, I haven't been downstairs since Saturday the 8th, the last day of the convention. There were a number of times when I kind of wanted to go and do some work, but life got in the way and messed up my plans.

Had I not stepped on that nail back in May, we would have taken our trip, and I still wouldn't have done any work on the layout this month. We would have prepared to be gone 5 weeks on the road. Today we would have been in south Jersey (day 11), outside Philly. The wedding was  yesterday, the point of the trip. In a strange way, it was almost a good thing I stepped on that nail. Our trip would have taken us through the Carolinas in a couple weeks. Not sure that would have worked as planned. We're talking about recreating the trip next spring.

Tomorrow starts a new month, and I will get back at it. Again, if we had gone on the trip, October would have been lost too.

The goal now, is to finish the ballast and rail painting, and get the whole thing ready for operating sessions. Lots of work. I also need to clean out and organize the workshop, so I can use my tools again. This is the season for that, with cool weather. I suspect there will be another fire, but I'll be a lot more careful this time. I still have to take my magnet on a stick and sweep for nails, as I haven't been out there since May.

It all good Elliot! Just take your time and enjoy what you can! Life is to short and the layout will be there! Don't burn yourself out!

Wow- a fan club.......

No worries Elliot, after all you've been through this year you deserve a break. Guess missing the trip was a blessing in disguise. Hope you get to recharge your batteries and continue on your odyssey.

Bob

Elliot, it's only natural to experience some down time following an event you've just completed.  After so much concentrated prep work it is a good thing to step away for a while.  Given your toe episode, instead of a magnet on a stick I highly recommend you invest in something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/St...0513-_-303466168-_-N

These sweepers come in a variety of widths.  My son just had a deck installed and used this tool on the lawn after the crew had cleaned up.  He said the lawn looked clean but the sweeper came up with almost a double handful of nails and screws.  A second sweep yielded two old-looking nails.  After the sweeping he was comfortable letting his dog and two young children (ages 4 and 5) into the yard to play.

Elliot,

Take care of yourself, get organized as you said you need to do, and hit it when you are ready!

Bob posted:

Elliot, it's only natural to experience some down time following an event you've just completed.  After so much concentrated prep work it is a good thing to step away for a while.  Given your toe episode, instead of a magnet on a stick I highly recommend you invest in something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/St...0513-_-303466168-_-N

These sweepers come in a variety of widths.  My son just had a deck installed and used this tool on the lawn after the crew had cleaned up.  He said the lawn looked clean but the sweeper came up with almost a double handful of nails and screws.  A second sweep yielded two old-looking nails.  After the sweeping he was comfortable letting his dog and two young children (ages 4 and 5) into the yard to play.

I can second using one of these sweepers.  I lived on a hobby farm for 12 years with horses and other assorted livestock.  We had a 3-sided pole shed blow over in straight line winds.  There's a special kind of pleasure walking through the tall pasture grass with one of these hearing "click, click, clickity-click" as the loose nails and screws pop onto the magnet and knowing that's one less you'll have to pull out of a hoof.  Swept the pasture a couple times a day for a week before I didn't pick anything new up.  Only then did we let the animals back in.

Look forward to seeing the progress when you get back at it.  Until then, life's short enough.  Enjoy it.

Thanks guys. Sorry there wasn't anything to report last month. I still haven't been downstairs, but I'm getting closer. I almost made it out to pick up the nails today, but got a haircut and went to the grocery store instead. I also had to set up bottled water delivery.

It seems that many years ago, 3M dumped chemicals which contaminated the ground water a few miles west of my place, well before we bought the lot. The state recently sued 3M, but ended up settling for 85 million.

Our well is over 300' deep. I thought we were too deep and too far away to be effected, but a few months ago, the state sent us a letter asking if they could test our water. Of course I said yes.

We got the results yesterday, and it was a do not drink order. I have no idea how long we have been drinking the contamination, nor do I know what health effects it has. What I do know is they tightened the allowable levels since our well was drilled. The chemicals are in the single digit parts per billion, which seem pretty small. It's possible that we've been drinking the stuff for almost 20 years, as the higher allowable levels when our well was drilled, meant that we passed the initial test. The new standards have caused the fail.

Anyway, the bottled water is only a temporary solution. The next and final solution is to have a whole house, reverse osmosis, filtration system installed. The good news is, just like the bottled water, there's no cost to me (and my neighbors). I suspect, ultimately, 3M is buying via the settlement money.

Regarding the magnet, that would be a great option if I had a large or grassy area that I needed to cover, but that's not really the case here. I just have a small area of blacktop a few feet around the fire pit that should be checked. Most of the nails should actually be in the pit among the ashes (except for the one my toe found).

Elliot, well at least I’m glad you now know about the water and there is a solution.

 I remember the fire pit as the site of the infamous nail catastrophe!  Take care of yourself and get back to the layout only when you are able.

Yeah Mark, maybe that's why I'm looking for every excuse not to go out there. New rule: everything needs to fit in the pit before burning.

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Yeah Mark, maybe that's why I'm looking for every excuse not to go out there. New rule: everything needs to fit in the pit before burning.

That rule has a nice ring to it!!!

Elliot, I too am sorry about the new problem with your water system! I hope there will be no health problems for you and your family! I hope the state and 3M cover everything!

As for the fire pit, it looks like you have a great location, I just think it might be better if you had a bigger fire pit! LOL

Thanks Mike. I think the $85,000,000 settlement with 3M should more than cover the needs of all the people effected.

The housing density out here is one house per 2.5 acre minimum because everyone is on well and septic, so buildable lots have to be at least 2.5 acres. That means if every well was contaminated, there are limits to the cost of the remediation. Say the filter system for one well is $10,000,and there are 1000 wells, that's only $10 M. I doubt it will cost that much per home.

Now there is another area of 3M contamination down at the south end of the county, but most of the people down there are on municipal water systems, and while they need larger filtration systems which are more expensive, they should also be covered by the settlement. I suspect the state was well armed with data when they agreed to that $85 M number.

Actually, I do have a bigger fire pit, but it's in the back yard set in decorative concrete, and I really don't want to drag all that material through the back yard.

Well Elliot, sounds like you have everything covered! I hope things run smooth for you and take your time on the layout! It will be there when your ready! 

Mark Boyce posted:

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Yeah Mark, maybe that's why I'm looking for every excuse not to go out there. New rule: everything needs to fit in the pit before burning.

That rule has a nice ring to it!!!

A burning ring.... of fire?

  You need to beat the magnet off of big speaker and JBWeld it to a broom stick.  One was in all my hot rod pals garages for grabbing rust and metal shards before one stuck in your back. The best had  5 across the front edge of the push broom. It worked pretty well, and just flipping it made sure you got it all up  ..except the aluminum

   Reverse osmosis is clean and tasty, without the "plastic taste" but with a slow yield for quantity.

  Getting a water cooler(& saving some big bottles), and/or using a potable water storage tank for cooking etc..  is a possible need. So you aren't waiting a hour for that 6 quart pasta pot to fill is just one example why. (And the water pressure is great there)

  Being in Michigan I know quite of a few folks who didn't count on our present governer to "do it right" (the first OR second time) or continue delivering bottled water till things were 100% fixed...which they didn't.  As soon as the national, then local press puttered out, so did the ease and extent of getting the aid just to have clean water. These folk had good foresight to plan way ahead.

October 2018 update

I didn't spend a ton of time working this month, but I'm starting to pick up the pace a bit.

Patrick came over once this month, and we spent the day out in the shop trying to clean up almost 20 years worth of accumulation. Here Patrick shows off the first spot he cleared along the south wall.

Patrick got all of the grain elevator pipes tied up in the corner, and most of the big power tools lined up against the wall.

I haven't seen this much of the floor, since we poured the slab.

Patrick was on fire!!!

This was the first fire since last May when I stepped on the nail. New rule: Everything has to fit in the pit.

It was a rather windy day, so it really fanned the flames nicely.

This was a bitter / sweet moment. I only realized after I threw the box in the fire, how old it was.

It had to be 30 years. I've moved 4 times, and Charlie has moved at least once since.

I haven't seen my switch stand in almost 20 years.

After my success at the NMRA division contest back in September, I decided to take a shot at the contest in November by weathering this Lionel hopper. I'm not thrilled with my results thus far. Fortunately, it's easy enough to undo. It's the streaks i'm not fond of, too wide.

Finally, I got a call on Monday from Ray Marion. I was at dialysis when he called, so I called him back yesterday. He was very interested in how the toe was doing. When he visited in early July, it wasn't exactly clear whether I was going to keep it. It's actually doing well, and is almost healed. I had my wife take a picture with both feet in it. It's pretty obvious which toe had the nail. It is quite atrophied. It might start to plump back up a little, once we don't have to bandage it anymore.

Looks like good progress to me, Elliot!  Clean out the garage and heal a toe.  

ELLIOTT:

I don't intend to be argumentative with you but your layout is not large. It is colossal! It is ginormous! It is huge huge huge huge huge!!!

I wish I was closer to your area so I could help you. It would have saved me a ton of money. Instead of me spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on my small basement layout. I could have worked on your layout and spent your money. Lol

Thanks Mark, but we all know I can do better. I can be a tough act to follow. I'm starting to get my head back together.

I forgot to mention a couple projects that I didn't have pictures for. I started working on a diode matrix to throw the classification switches at Northtown. The matrix will allow the operator to push one button, throwing up to three switches to select one of the six tracks.

I cleaned the workbench off, to the point where I had enough clear space to work on an engine.

The engine that broke down inside the helix a couple weeks ago turned out to be a very easy fix. As I suspected. Dirty rollers.

Lastly, I started to try and put in an embankment between the East Minneapolis yard and the track running up to Roseville. I ran into a slight problem though. Seems the last track was laid right up to the edge of the wood. There was no surface left to staple the cardboard to. I'm going to have to add a strip of wood, but the table saw is still buried. Patrick will be back a week from Saturday.

Elliot, guess I'll call you the hurricane LOL and you just went through the eye where there was calm for awhile now you will getting back to your normal routine. Toe is looking good. Took long enough but letting it heal properly was the right thing to do. Look forward to pics again of the progress...............Paul

Elliot: Everything is looking great !Keep up the good work and watch that toe.

Good to see you getting back into the swing of things (or getting a toe hold......sorry ) Elliot. I'm sure the Minnesota winter will give you plenty of inspiration to stay indoors. 

Seriously though- glad the toe is healing well.

Bob

Eliot - Time to start lifting weights with that "little big toe".  Stay well.

The update shots were going great until I got to the toe!   Tools, fire, and then toes?

Elliot it is good to see you posting again.  We all knew you couldn't or shouldn't try to keep up the blistering pace that you had been on.  You were starting to make me feel like a slacker.  LOL  

Art

Elliot, is sure is nice to see you posting again! Your progress is just what you needed to get moving forward! Patrick sure is a great friend to be able to come and help you out! Between the 2 of you I know things will be picking up! Take care of the toe! But don't jump back in to fast make sure everything is healed ! Were all behind you!

Judging from a previous shot, everything pertaining to the feet look 100% better now.  Sure glad things are healing well, Elliot.

Seems to me there's enough lumber going into that fire to start a whole new layout ;-) 

Bruce

I thought probably more happened than you originally stated, Elliot!!    That's quite alright, I can do the same.  I agree with others, I'm really glad you have Patrick there to help!  A project like yours needs some extra hands, and I know you wife lends a hand too!

glad to see and hear your toe is healing nicely. as to adding wood just a thought but why not tack the cardboard or? to underside of where wood board is now or is it not assessable that way? or is it because no way to actually add the plaster without infringing on that track area.

side question what is up with camera 2 at the union depot I have asked about it directly to them and nary a reply I even suggested they contact virtual rail to manage cameras for them. do you have any local information they have shared with folks in the twin cities area? 

thanks 

ray

Never in a million years did I think I'd look forward to seeing some guy's naked foot on the internet, but here we are...

Nice to see you posting again, shop looking good.

Elliot,

Glad to see the toe is healing nicely.      Love  your layout.   Maybe some day I can make it out your way and see it in person.

Stay well and enjoy life.

Glad to see you are healing up nicely (and maybe getting a little R & R too). One's health is high priority! 

Looks like you will have a really nice, large shop soon too and that has to be exciting. I would like to add a thanks to Patrick for helping you out too, as well as the others that have also been helping. What a huge task! Never thought of that doing that before, but it does look like they have been good at providing assistance. I know you recognize them all the time in your posts, but I just wanted to add a little to that from a follower.