Mike- 8" of snow so far and 30-50 mph wind gusts. Supposed to be in the single digits through the weekend. I'll take a good single malt though. Gonna need some anti-freeze after shoveling later. 
Arnold- Thank you- I'm an electrician by trade so neat wiring is in my DNA
Bob, stay warm! You might want to talk to Mark, sounds like he has some practice shoveling snow! LOL
CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE TO CUT THE GRASS !! 
The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
Isn't that hilarious?
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
Isn't that hilarious?
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Haha, living dangerously!
Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too 
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun. 
Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
For some reason I suddenly started twitching and feel the urge to straighten out some wiring.......strange......
Sometimes things don't go the way you planned them the night before. So I added another layer of water to the first half of the ditch. Then it seems like forever I was looking for the track bumpers, which I finally found but I still have not come across the uncouple tracks yet.Maybe I should just order a few more. I would probably get those quicker then finding them. LOL I finally got the bumper on the siding of the Sauerkraut Factory. Now I can get two cars at the dock for loading or unloading. I now have the switches at the one end of the yard screwed down. If I can find the uncouple tracks I could get some sidings in. After lunch the quest will start again. Pics........Paul
WOW ! Looking great Paul ! I mean son.. LOL...
Arnold,
Right there with ya buddy, mad man control panels all the way. Just getting started on mine for the new Train Room layout.
PCRR/Dave
Ya got to love it!
RSJB18 posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
For some reason I suddenly started twitching and feel the urge to straighten out some wiring.......strange......
Great reply! LOL
Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
You might find a dinosaur skeleton in there.
RSJB18 posted:Mike- 8" of snow so far and 30-50 mph wind gusts. Supposed to be in the single digits through the weekend. I'll take a good single malt though. Gonna need some anti-freeze after shoveling later.
Arnold- Thank you- I'm an electrician by trade so neat wiring is in my DNA
mike g. posted:Bob, stay warm! You might want to talk to Mark, sounds like he has some practice shoveling snow! LOL
I have practice, but looks like a long trip to help Bob. The snow won't cross over the mountains to us, but the air will be colder. Three nights in a row forecasted below zero. That's thermometer temperature, not counting wind chill. It's just flurrying now, but the temperature has dropped out of the teens.
I just got back from checking my parents' empty house. Fifty degrees in there felt like a heat wave after checking their pump house. I can't drain the pipes because they have hot water radiators for heat.
coach joe posted:The fossil is a great discovery for your layout. Could lead to a roadside museum.
Mitch you definitely have way too much fun. Long, long ago in a giralaxy far far away...
Hee hee hee! That, or Professor Quatermass is going to be called in...
Mitch
paul 2 posted:Sometimes things don't go the way you planned them the night before. So I added another layer of water to the first half of the ditch. Then it seems like forever I was looking for the track bumpers, which I finally found but I still have not come across the uncouple tracks yet.Maybe I should just order a few more. I would probably get those quicker then finding them. LOL I finally got the bumper on the siding of the Sauerkraut Factory. Now I can get two cars at the dock for loading or unloading. I now have the switches at the one end of the yard screwed down. If I can find the uncouple tracks I could get some sidings in. After lunch the quest will start again. Pics........Paul
Paul, ask your wife if she has seen them! Maybe she moved them to dust!
Pine Creek Railroad posted:Arnold,
Right there with ya buddy, mad man control panels all the way. Just getting started on mine for the new Train Room layout.
PCRR/Dave
Ya got to love it!
Dave, your wiring looks a lot better than mine.
As bad as mine is, I did do some good things. My feeder wires are pretty thick, either 14 or 16 gauge as I recall. I believe that is good for getting plenty of power to the 2 main lines from the MTH Z4000 transformer, which is a good one.
I have feeder wires for every 3 feet of track, which is a lot for 2 main lines (separately blocked and connected by several switch tracks with fiber pins in center rails), and my layout is about 36 feet long and 3 to 4 feet wide with reverse loops on each end of the 2 main lines. I also have 8 sidings, each of which is separately blocked and independently powered, by 2 post war ZW transformers.
Here is my dilemma and where I went wrong. With that many feeder wires, you cannot do your wiring like you would for a simple layout under the Christmas tree. If you look at my wiring mess, my many thick feeder wires are soddered to 2 copper strips in front of the transformer (one strip for ground or common, and one strip for power). What I should have done for conventional wiring is run a thick ground (or common) wire and a power wire the whole length of the layout under the bench work, and run much shorter feeder wires from those thick wires to every 3 feet of track. That would have eliminated most of the wiring mess near my transformers, and greatly reduced the amount of wire needed.
Another mistake I made is to use lock ons instead of soddering the feeder wires to the track.
Using Atlas switches for turning power on and off for my 8 sidings is another mistake. Those Atlas switches are intended for HO, not O Gauge trains. However, they have functioned OK.
I made other wiring mistakes but that is enough for now.
Mark Boyce posted:RSJB18 posted:Mike- 8" of snow so far and 30-50 mph wind gusts. Supposed to be in the single digits through the weekend. I'll take a good single malt though. Gonna need some anti-freeze after shoveling later.
Arnold- Thank you- I'm an electrician by trade so neat wiring is in my DNA
mike g. posted:Bob, stay warm! You might want to talk to Mark, sounds like he has some practice shoveling snow! LOL
I have practice, but looks like a long trip to help Bob. The snow won't cross over the mountains to us, but the air will be colder. Three nights in a row forecasted below zero. That's thermometer temperature, not counting wind chill. It's just flurrying now, but the temperature has dropped out of the teens.
I just got back from checking my parents' empty house. Fifty degrees in there felt like a heat wave after checking their pump house. I can't drain the pipes because they have hot water radiators for heat.
All you folks on the East side of the states Please stay warm and safe! It will pass one day!
RSJB18 posted:I'm disappointed Mitch. I expected to see Fortescue
Give the people what they want, I always say!
Mitch
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:RSJB18 posted:I'm disappointed Mitch. I expected to see Fortescue
Give the people what they want, I always say!
Mitch
Fortescue's ancestor?!
Finished painting a Plasticville Church. Colors are a little washed out in this picture, walls are more of a sandstone color.
This is what it looked like originally (old layout).
Sure looks a lot better Mayor! Good job!
Terry L posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
You might find a dinosaur skeleton in there.
You Guy's are F U NN Y, Heck, my entire house wiring looked like that up until about 10 yrs ago! I like it. It's got personality.
R.C. posted:Terry L posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
You might find a dinosaur skeleton in there.
You Guy's are F U NN Y, Heck, my entire house wiring looked like that up until about 10 yrs ago! I like it. It's got personality.
Hi R.C., I'm still laughing after reading your above reply complimenting me on my wiring mess. I'm very glad that you and other members found it amusing. The more laughter we can have in our lives, the better.
And I see after reading your profile, R.C. that you, like me, have recently joined this Forum. Welcome aboard.
By the way, you have a fascinating profile with tremendous experience dealing with real trains, which was your career. I encourage all Forum readers to review R.C.'s profile.
.
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:coach joe posted:The fossil is a great discovery for your layout. Could lead to a roadside museum.
Mitch you definitely have way too much fun. Long, long ago in a giralaxy far far away...
Hee hee hee! That, or Professor Quatermass is going to be called in...
Mitch
Ha ha!! I've seen that one Mitch!!
Arnold D. Cribari posted:R.C. posted:Terry L posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
Isn't that hilarious?
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Hi R.C., I'm still laughing after reading your above reply complimenting me on my wiring mess. I'm very glad that you and other members found it amusing. The more laughter we can have in our lives, the better.
Arnold;
Since we are going for laughter, two points. First, I would you like to offer you my sincere appreciation... your electronic spaghetti makes mine look like a model of organization. Second, since no one else has bitten the bullet, I will - do you use the Food Coloring/Egg Dye for scenicing material or did the Easter Bunny ask to borrow your trains to deliver his goodies???
Inquiring minds want to know
Arnold D. Cribari posted:R.C. posted:Terry L posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
You might find a dinosaur skeleton in there.
You Guy's are F U NN Y, Heck, my entire house wiring looked like that up until about 10 yrs ago! I like it. It's got personality.
Hi R.C., I'm still laughing after reading your above reply complimenting me on my wiring mess. I'm very glad that you and other members found it amusing. The more laughter we can have in our lives, the better.
And I see after reading your profile, R.C. that you, like me, have recently joined this Forum. Welcome aboard.
By the way, you have a fascinating profile with tremendous experience dealing with real trains, which was your career. I encourage all Forum readers to review R.C.'s profile.
.
Arnold, Thanks for the tip on R.C.'s profile!
R.C., I'll turn 62 this year too! Wow, the railroad paid a lot more than the power company did back in '76!! I stared with an associate degree in electronics. 42 years later, now with the phone company, I'm a semi-retired "telecom engineer". Really I'm just a glorified data entry person. But if they want to pay, I'll stay.
Thanks for asking Paul. I was wondering about the food coloring.
Arnold D. Cribari posted:R.C. posted:Terry L posted:Adriatic posted:Arnold D. Cribari posted:The control panel of a madman (mine):
First, a photo is a panoramic shot of it:
Next, a couple of close-ups:
And by some miracle, I can't remember the last time I had a short. Got to be over 10 years without a short.
Not hilarious if it works
More mad scientist that madman too
It reminds me of the inards of old pinball machines with factory bird nest wiring. I reveled in those nests; crazy fun.
You might find a dinosaur skeleton in there.
You Guy's are F U NN Y, Heck, my entire house wiring looked like that up until about 10 yrs ago! I like it. It's got personality.
Hi R.C., I'm still laughing after reading your above reply complimenting me on my wiring mess. I'm very glad that you and other members found it amusing. The more laughter we can have in our lives, the better.
And I see after reading your profile, R.C. that you, like me, have recently joined this Forum. Welcome aboard.
By the way, you have a fascinating profile with tremendous experience dealing with real trains, which was your career. I encourage all Forum readers to review R.C.'s profile.
.
Thanks Arnold, It has been a heck of a Ride & if I don't share it, it'll be lost. Yea, It's cool to see what other people are doing with their trains & the humor bouncing around here as well. And to think there are people that would look at all this & think "What's the big deal with these people going to all this trouble with toy trains." It's Just A Thing & either ya Get IT, or Ya don't. & that's fine too.
In reply to Paul's above comments, the dye on my "control panel" is not for Easter eggs, though my mother used to go crazy at Easter, dying 8 dozen hard boiled eggs and hiding them around the house for the Easter Sunday Easter egg hunt. I use the dye for my #38 water tower, and only use a couple of drops of the blue dye.
I would be happy to give the Easter Bunny the red, green and other dye colors.
Mark Boyce posted:Arnold, Thanks for the tip on R.C.'s profile!
R.C., I'll turn 62 this year too! Wow, the railroad paid a lot more than the power company did back in '76!! I stared with an associate degree in electronics. 42 years later, now with the phone company, I'm a semi-retired "telecom engineer". Really I'm just a glorified data entry person. But if they want to pay, I'll stay.
Mark;
A former colleague who I worked with for many years, retired after 40 years with the Company. After he retired, whenever some usual job didn't get done as it always had, without fail, someone would say "Oh... that's what Richie did"!!! For the next couple of years, around the time that the company's annual budget process started up, I'd run into Richie around the building. I finally asked him why he came back every year and he told me that they hired home for a couple of months each year as a consultant to basically do his old job. He said it paid for a really nice vacation for him and his wife every year!!! In your case, think of it as your train fund
A couple of photos from the campus where I work. The storm has passed but now the bitter cold is settling in for the weekend.
Apples55 posted:Mark Boyce posted:Arnold, Thanks for the tip on R.C.'s profile!
R.C., I'll turn 62 this year too! Wow, the railroad paid a lot more than the power company did back in '76!! I stared with an associate degree in electronics. 42 years later, now with the phone company, I'm a semi-retired "telecom engineer". Really I'm just a glorified data entry person. But if they want to pay, I'll stay.
Mark;
A former colleague who I worked with for many years, retired after 40 years with the Company. After he retired, whenever some usual job didn't get done as it always had, without fail, someone would say "Oh... that's what Richie did"!!! For the next couple of years, around the time that the company's annual budget process started up, I'd run into Richie around the building. I finally asked him why he came back every year and he told me that they hired home for a couple of months each year as a consultant to basically do his old job. He said it paid for a really nice vacation for him and his wife every year!!! In your case, think of it as your train fund
R.C., Yep, that’s me! LOL. This company pushes an early out to select oldsters about a year after the buy another company. Well, I was the only engineer I could find nationwide who was pushed the offer. I learned years ago it’s a crap shoot whether they would push you out later if you don’t take it. So I took it, but knew a colleague in Texas needed contractors with my special skill. So I retired, took a two week vacation, and went back to my old laptop working for him. The two younger fellows in my group knew there was no one doing what I did, so now my time is split doing my two “specialties”. The funniest thing is, the only guy they have me teaching is 3 years older than me! Sometimes I wonder how the “decision makers” are paid so much money! LOL. This has been going on for 2 1/2 years with no end in sight
RSJB18 posted:A couple of photos from the campus where I work. The storm has passed but now the bitter cold is settling in for the weekend.
I rode the exercise bike after supper just to warm up. I’m off tomorrow, but have to go get my aunt signed in a rehab facility, then check on the empty house. It’s snowing now and near Zero.
Pretty good day of work today. I went back and countersunk a bunch of the fascia screws, then got out the Spackle and filled them in. I sanded some of the Spackle that I had done last week.
When I installed the piece on the left, I didn't get a perfect fit. That left a funny little corner that needed to be filled. At first I thought I was going to have to break out the Bondo to fix this, but I cut a sliver of Masonite and glued it in.
After some sanding, it looks like it's going to work out nicely. Clean it up with a little Spackle, done!
Lots of holes to fill.
When Patrick was here a few weeks ago, we ended up with this height mismatch. The solution is to raise the curved section on the left a half inch, and lower the straight section on the right a half inch. Now the plan is Patrick will be here on Sunday. We'll fix it then.
Here's the other end of the curved section.
I did get a start on that project, by lowering the piece on the right a quarter inch.
This is where the straight section starts.
More Spackle. The gray look comes from adding black paint to tint it. If it gets scratched it won't show white on a field of black.
Should look sharp when I get it sanded and painted.
Mark Boyce posted:RSJB18 posted:A couple of photos from the campus where I work. The storm has passed but now the bitter cold is settling in for the weekend.
I rode the exercise bike after supper just to warm up. I’m off tomorrow, but have to go get my aunt signed in a rehab facility, then check on the empty house. It’s snowing now and near Zero.
guess i better not add a photo of me with the top down today
ran some trains...
Another shot from the campus this morning. We call it Mount Adelphi. For reference the light pole in the foreground is 20' tall. I've got another dozen or so piles similar to this one. At least we are closed until the 22nd for Intersession.
Bob
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Pretty good day of work today. I went back and countersunk a bunch of the fascia screws, then got out the Spackle and filled them in. I sanded some of the Spackle that I had done last week.
When I installed the piece on the left, I didn't get a perfect fit. That left a funny little corner that needed to be filled. At first I thought I was going to have to break out the Bondo to fix this, but I cut a sliver of Masonite and glued it in.
After some sanding, it looks like it's going to work out nicely. Clean it up with a little Spackle, done!
Lots of holes to fill.
When Patrick was here a few weeks ago, we ended up with this height mismatch. The solution is to raise the curved section on the left a half inch, and lower the straight section on the right a half inch. Now the plan is Patrick will be here on Sunday. We'll fix it then.
Here's the other end of the curved section.
I did get a start on that project, by lowering the piece on the right a quarter inch.
This is where the straight section starts.
More Spackle. The gray look comes from adding black paint to tint it. If it gets scratched it won't show white on a field of black.
Should look sharp when I get it sanded and painted.
Elliot,
Isn't it amazing what a nice clean look a bit of fascia does for a layout under construction. Yes, I can see where you were worried the Bondo would break! Another good idea mixing the gray into the Spackle. No matter how carefully I do something like this, there is bound to be some pop outs later in time. My guess is if your benchwork is rock solid and not wiggly even the slightest anywhere, you will cut down on pop outs. I'm sure yours is rock solid!!
Elliot, you r right, you sure have a lot of holes to fill! But things are looking really nice! I would have never thought about adding color to the spackle! Great idea!
Bob, sorry you have to play in the snow, it is going to be raining and wet today but around 52 degrees! I will take that any day over snow and freezing cold!
J,
I did a little more Wiring, added the Street Car line on the Fire Place Mantle and worked on the Power Station for the new layout, things are coming along slowly now.
PCRR/Dave
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