OCSMR-Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders Club Latest update 10/29/2024

The two sidings for track 1 were finished today.  Forgot to take pix.

Pay no attention to the person behind the water collection/storage system.

Wow! Just read the whole thread. What a great story. Good luck to you guys on your build. Looking forward to following along.

Andy

Andy -Thanks.  Many members have worked long and hard to get where we are today.  Some even said that it couldn't be done.  The pix in the beginning don't really show the bad shape the basement was in.  Didn't bring a camera for the first walk thru.

I caught the Senior Nutty Track Professor in action doing his meticulous track cutting, laying and screwing down gargraves track. The double siding on track 1 is done with the addition of our homemade water collection system courtesy of our HVAC contractor and our newly installed furnace.

Lot of work done this past Saturday. More train pictures hung up on the walls. Found out what a chore it was to drill molly screws into the poured concrete walls the building is made of. The concrete walls have been around since 1927 and have hardened just a bit since!!

The inside wall in the hallway is almost complete with painting to be done and the double doors to be hung there. We'll have a common area between the 2 rooms with doors on each end of the hallway with a storage closet at the each end under the stairwells plus the repair room we built inside a larger room down the hallway.

More work every Wednesday and Saturday mornings as we switched gears to get the interior renovations done and the O gauge layout track getting more completed.

Coupla pix of the sidings for track 1.

The sidings are occupied since nature abhors a vacuum.   Would have preferred not to have used the "S" curves but geometry as drawn didn't quite match the installation.  Just another instance where theory and practice didn't converge.

Other end of the sidings.  The water collection/storage system has been removed for clarity.  Hopefully after tomorrow, it won't be back.

The HVAC repaired our slow water leak today and we will test out the furnace on Thursday hoping the can does not collect any water.

The double doors on the inside of the hallway were hung today. Sheetrock to be painted this Saturday. The finishing molding to go up as well. With the original double doors and the mid hallway wall built to accommodate the other double doors, we can keep both doors from the HO and O gauge rooms 365 days a year. We created a common area in the hallway where we can sit and chat away from the layouts.

Hopefully, the senior nutty track professor will provide some photos of our re-designed hallway.

The mid hall door was trimmed and wall painted.  Trimming of transom needs to be completed.

The New Track Apprentice replacing ground throws that got damaged.

The Senior Track Apprentice showing the New Track Apprentice the finer points of soldering wire to the track.

Continued to trial fit switches and sidings in the turntable and station areas.  Couldn't resolve operational problems with getting the RK Blue Comet to run on the Museum's small display layout.

Worked on the turntable and station area.  Didn't get much accomplished.  Had several visitors including the Lakewood Mayor, who's an avid O-gauger.

The Senior Track Apprentice (STA) had also been busy installing signs and pictures utilizing the experience he's acquired installing track screws.  Here's a few pix as you enter.

Entrance to the museum.

To the basement.

Down the steps.

At the landing.

Second flight of steps.

Looking up.

Hallway entrance on the right.

O-gauge train room.

See ya at the Train Show in Tom's River, NJ on the 5th of February.

Plenty of stairwell walls were painted. Steps painted twice with sand mixed in to make a gritty paint to reduce slipping. Floor at bottom landing was painted red to keep up with how the museum painted their floors. Keeping it with the original paint scheme from 1927.

Hung quite a few pictures on the poured concrete walls. Was a load of fun drilling into those "very cured" poured concrete walls from 1927. They fermented just a bit in 90 Years! But was able to hammer in molly screws to hang pictures on.

We are working on the downstairs hallway walls now that the 2 double door sets are in place between the 2 large layout rooms.

We basically occupy the downstairs of the school building.

More spackling and realignment of the glass double doors was done.  The switches in the turntable and station siding area were fitted and partially installed.

The STA has developed a taste for spackling.

Add that shim and screw that screw.

Don't let the doors fall.

Switches installed and positioned.  Ready to extend tracks 3 and 4.

We did have a dozen bagels and cream cheese there for breakfast. Guess the spackle was the substitute for cream Cheese?

Almost ready to paint the hallway between the rooms, then paint the floor and move some benches there for lounging area.

As for the SNTP, he switched gears and got the track switches down so the STA can lay track up until where the double trestles begin. Progress being made.

Friday nite was a bit busy.  One of our new members brought his grand kids along with a prospective member with his children.  Junior member Sean eventually ran a triple header.

Bringing in the UP 844.

A Blue Comet looking for its cars.

Our resident artist starts the backdrops.

Sean running his triple header.

Prospective junior members.

Mike running the UP 844.  Potential location of the passenger station's coffee brewing facility.

Sean's triple header.

Tracks 3 and 4 installed to roundhouse.  The ramp will start after that.  Siding switches need to be screwed down.

Door trim installed.

  Siding switches need to be screwed down.

The senior nutty track professor did have 10,000 screws to use. Think he has about 8,000 to go hoping he does not screw up this layout like he screwed a club member's layout down. It will never come apart even in an Earthquake! 

Painting of the hallway walls and trim continued. and the first coat of paint on the glass doors was applied.

The switches and siding tracks in the station/turntable area were fastened except for the thru siding that will connect with the curve in back of the power house.   Have only 7,900 more screws left.

Started laying out the area for the upper level on the  side by the bunker wall.

Lot of hallway renovation done yesterday. Painted one full side of the hallway and the other side has wood glued to the poured concrete walls to accommodate the sheetrock going up on that side. That wall was in bad shape and we could not save the plaster on the concrete wall. Interior doors painted and done. First set of glass doors painted once, 2nd coat to be done next Wednesday.

Our artist has begun working on the layout backdrops with signs noting not to disturb "Michaelangelo" while he is imagining the Scene!

As for our screw situation, not sure if 7,900 screws is enough for Bud. He likes to really screw things up so they never unscrew! 

We will be shifting focus back to the layout construction as hallway work is nearing completion.

Reassessed the track screw quantity and looks like we're down to only 7,998.  We may have to buy more screws.

Work progressed on the hall.  Half the wall board is installed to build out the wall that suffered water damage.  Both door sets received their final coat of paint.  Only two of the four lights in the hall were installed due to picking up wood for the upper deck of the O-gauge layout.

A visit by the Polar Express (unfortunately it also brought along seasonal weather...brr).

Newest junior members packing up the PE.

Didn't know we had a subway.

Glass doors with final coat of paint.  Glass needs the paint clean up.  The RR Xing sign was picked up at a garage sale.

Some pix in the O-gauge room.  Wall color was changed from blue to tan.

Laid out lines locating ramp and elevated part of second deck on the south end of the layout.  Will be transferred to 3/4 inch ply.

Front side of the redesigned club application.  Modeled by the STA.

See ya Sunday in Manalapan at the Veteran's Fundraiser trainshow.

Lot of renovation work done this past week as we are getting closer to be done after 2.5 years of interior renovating.  Our repair room was electrified and now we have lighting and plenty of electric outlets.

Going to switch gears and work on the layout more since the dirty work is almost completed. We transformed a 1927 school basement that has been dormant since the 1980'S to our new home, something our club is proud to call it.

New news for the club. If anyone wants to visit us, simply call us at (732)363-7799. Our phone line was put in last week.

Thank you.

Hanging the lights in the hall was completed.  Now the hallway walls need to be finished and painted.  Painting of the trim continued.  Additional lines were laid out on the O-gauge layout surface for the upper level.  Next is to transfer these line to the plywood for the upper level and install the supports.

As was mentioned in another thread, we were open from 1 to 4 pm for guests and will be on the foreseeable 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the each month.  Had two guests including John S from the NJ Hi-Railers.  Bit of a slow start.  For those who would like to visit, please do.

Had some post war Lionel, a GG1 and a Veranda running.

Installing wallboard to the hall wall was completed and the second coat of spackle was applied.

Our old club sign was mounted in a new location.  Needs better permanent mounting and electrical power.

Laid out cut lines on the plywood for the upper level and started cutting.

A prospective junior member showed up.  Unfortunately his GG-1 sparked and didn't run.  A washer and steel wool shavings were found stuck to the wheels (has Magna-Traction).  Tony wasn't able to fix the problem and will need more work to get it running.  Used a club engine to run his train.

A kit plane that the was donated by the owner of the Lakewood, NJ airport.

We need to re-hang our lighted OCSMR sign with steel chain wrapped around an overhead radiator and have our electrician run a line there for power.

Locobudd made some progress this past Saturday cutting wood for the elevated 3rd and 4th line. We should have the wood cutting done in 2 weeks and start installing the elevation, then laying track.

Cutting of the 3/4 inch plywood for the upper level on the south side is pretty much complete.  Using a "cookie" cutter method where the outer edge of the plywood is used for the ramp.  The club's saber saw just couldn't hack cutting the 3/4 inch ply.  So,  my 45 year old saber saw was resurrected to finish the job.

Four sheets of plywood aren't quite enough to fill the area to the west side.  Will have to use some scraps.  Also, the ramp sections will need additional sections added to fill in the gaps.

Our artist has been busy too.  Backdrop section to be installed on the east wall where the electrical panel is located.

The safety crew started painting yellow visibility stripes on the stair tread.  The Museum had an incident on the other stairwell where one of their members was carrying items down and missed the last step.  He hit his head on the wall at the bottom.  Not a good thing for a septuagenarian.

The extension platforms for our station were found and put in place.  Now Thomas can visit the Mainland and carry passengers back and forth to Sodor.

Next will be installing vertical supports for the upper level on the south end.

Started to install the vertical Supports for the upper deck.  Forgot to cut off the front right corner of the plywood.

The stripping of the steps was completed.

There goes Bud screwing up the elevated run with not enough screws! And that 45 year old Saber saw probably works better than any Horrible Freight saws. Probably works better than Bud!

Good job Bud, moving along without me. 

Sean ponders the next move with the EMD SD-45.

Another Junior members freight.

Can you find the Dennis' engine?  Ain't no Lionel smoke unit.

The STA, aka Ted, with his UP turbine.  Master carpenter Tom lurks in the background.

Tom's MTH GG1.

Oh yeah.  We even did a little work on the layout.

Keystone piece of ply in place for the upper deck.

Just read the whole thread. Great story, and wonderful layout. Thanks for posting your progress,

Bob

Thanks Bob.  We've come a long way and got a ways to go.

A ways to go. That's for sure with Bud at the helm of layout building. 1 screw at a time per week and not an extra. Doesn't want to run short of the initial 10,000 screws we ordered. 

Yes, running my Lionel die cast Veranda Turbine the other night. Previously in another photo was the MTH version which might look the same but the Lionel one is "The Beast". 

Sean was running DCS on our layout. Even younger ones can run command controlled trains.

Ted Bertiger Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders Lakewood, N.J.

Our resident artist continues with the backdrop.

Location of the east end portal on the south side of the layout.

Aerial view of portal and ramp transition.

Started to make ramp supports and temporarily locate them.  Had cut only enough bases for four supports.  Will need about ten more.  Gotta rip some more ply.

LocoBudd posted:

Installing wallboard to the hall wall was completed and the second coat of spackle was applied.

Our old club sign was mounted in a new location.  Needs better permanent mounting and electrical power.

Laid out cut lines on the plywood for the upper level and started cutting.

A prospective junior member showed up.  Unfortunately his GG-1 sparked and didn't run.  A washer and steel wool shavings were found stuck to the wheels (has Magna-Traction).  Tony wasn't able to fix the problem and will need more work to get it running.  Used a club engine to run his train.

A kit plane that the was donated to the Museum by the owner of the Lakewood, NJ airport.

 

Ted,

That plane has just the right paint job, it would look great with a few Jets logos on it.

Lessee - There are plans for the plane.  Maybe could make an RC model with the appropriate logos.  Then I'd have to take time away from the layout.  Hmmm...

Who's got an expression of concentration in the back of the pic?  And, what is he doing?  Ain't laying track that's for sure.

Take time away from the layout? We might as well go in reverse and dismantle it! 1 screw at a time per week with 7,880 screws to go.

Yeah, your apprentice was fixing what Bud, the layout designer/builder "screwed up" not leveling the track joints and/or putting screws too lightly or way too much cracking the wooden ties. But, that Bud guy is making progress on the 2 track elevated run.

The plane is called "Pegasus".  Catchy name.  Still if you went in reverse and dismantled the layout,  the layout is so "screwed up" that it would take longer to "remove" all those screws than the time it would take to finish the layout and build the plane.

The Apprentice learned a valuable lesson in track laying without even knowing it.  I was showing him how NOT to install track screws.

Our resident artist continues to paint the backdrop.

Got most of the supports for the ramp made and positioned.  Will start checking clearances with the trestle and locate the end of the ramp.  Placed the end piece of plywood on the end of the "keystone" to see how it looked.  Need to keep the area by the ramp open to fasten it and install the track.

Only 7,879 screws to go.

The STA or track apprentice as what Bud calls me will have to come in this Saturday am and INSPECT those screws especially the many he used on the elevated wood ramp. I counted a lot there!

As always, our club is open to visitors anytime you are in our area. Just post or email one of us in advance. You can witness a "screwed-up" layout. Ok Bud?

LocoBudd posted:

The STA has developed a taste for spackling.

Don't know how I missed the opportunity to say, "Ted, try the Scrapple, not Spackle!"   

Here are a few photos to pay tribute to a fellow member who passed away not long ago.  Frank Parco was a well-liked individual at the club, whose stories entertained the guys and whose knowledge was very helpful at times.

Rest in Peace, Frank.  We'll never forget you...

Frank is very much missed.  He retired from NYC transit and was the go to guy for all things related to transit.  His more than generous contributions made the renovations at the new location happen faster.  He was 89.

Farmer Bill do you want catsup with that spackle er... scrapple?

Our master carpenter removed a slight hump that developed in the upper deck plywood.  Placed the first trestle and bridge to determine clearances on the curves going under and around the bridge and trestle.  Started wiring for tracks 3 and 4 by connecting the Z4K to the second TIU.

Had some visitors.

Had a major crisis with the youngest guest.  Was in the parking lot getting ready to leave and saw the grandfather had returned.  Seems that our guest had "lost" his favorite figure that he was holding throughout his visit.  He left a happy camper when he found his prized figure sitting on a stool waiting for the trains to start running again.

Nice progress guys.  How about sharing a track diagram with us. 

Frank Parco was one of the longtime club members who we will miss much. He loved that HO building village he created on the last layout and did start to help out building the new one there. 

Because of his very generous contributions, our club thrived much quicker that we thought it would without seeking private or public donations, something we NEVER ask or suggest when anyone visits us.

John, thanks for the pictures of our buddy.

Conductor Earl -  Thanks for the compliment.  A long way back on page one is a pic of the track plan.  Anyway, here it is.  We're currently working on the elevated area on the left side of the plan.  Minimum curve is 072 and maximum is 105.