Week 87

Week 87

Sunday, March 20, 2016

I worked on the indoor lights for a Commuter Car.

The inside upper level chairs fell out.

Very tedious work for about 1 hour.

UGH!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Finished making the connections, but then during my test run, the lights didn't go on.

Need to add a feeder from the light board and the connector.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

TRAIN DAY!

Dean called this morning and said he was working on a project for a friend.

He may not make it this afternoon.

Here's what happened this afternoon during Train Ops.

 Carlos Baez helped me make better connections on the indoor lights for the Commuter Cars.

 Carlos Baez adding solder to the points for better contact with electronic pickups.

 Ed Nelson spend

 Ed Nelson spent most of the evening trouble-shooting the Commuter Car derailment.

We found out the wheel sets were bad.

He replaced all the Walthers wheels sets with freight plastic wheelsets.

We'll need to come back later and replace those with Kato metal wheelsets for Commuter Cars.

 After Carlos finished the electronic connections, 

he set off for feeder wire connections to the bus line.

 Jordan Osborn arrived about 4:30pm to take over his engineering duties.

 Here are the line of Commuter Cars Ed Nelson worked on this afternoon.

 Ed's workplace.

Notice the "Greas-em" graphite spilled over in this area.

I spilled it, not Ed.

What's on your workbench this week?

Just finished soldering the electronic connections on one Commuter Car.

In a test done after the session, the Commuter Car lights were not working.

We'll need to move to Plan B
which is soldering feeder wires to the connectors.
Plan A was to build up the solder to make the connection.
So guess what you'll see on my workbench next week?

Week 86

Week 86

Chronological Order

First of the week at the top.
Last day of the week on the bottom.

Sunday through Saturday

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Tonight I wanted to clear my workbench.

 My goal was to inspect the Commuter Cars and install the internal light bars (on the left).

I prepared for a lengthy session - 

NOTE: plate of treats & 2 hot cocoas (1 cup next to treats and another mug on shelf to right).

I accomplished my goal!

However, two of the three light bars didn't work.

I'll need to trouble shoot that for next time.

Monday, March 14, 2016

I was anxious to get the test track complete so we could begin ongoing inspections of the railcars.

This is a picture of what I'd like it to look like.

And here's what I did tonight:

 Phase 1: Prepare the base.

 Phase 2: Spread the glue

 Phase 3: Lay the cork

 Phase 4: Flatten the cork

 Phase 5: Lay the track

 Wednesday, March 16, 2016

TRAIN NIGHT!!!

Everyone present - two weeks in a row!

Check out our progress tonight:

We started out the evening at Western Avenue.
Carlos Baez is checking out Dean Hatzis and the painting preparations.
Note the side walls are up in the underpass.

Length: .52s
Running a Commuter Test Train.

 Jordan Osborn (Engineer) and Josh Jones (Conductor) running the Commuter Test Train.

Carlos Baez getting reacquainted with the underbelly of the RR.

 Love these action photos of Dean painting.
Gotta show Marianne!

                  Painting over the top...          ...under the bottom...               ...and in the hole. 

Another view of Carlos Baez working under the RR.

Length: .19s
Listen closely to some pretty funny dialogue.

 Carlos Baez trying to figure out why the two Metra/RTA Commuter Cars derail right here.

 
Dean's finished product.
Looking South.

 Looking North.

This will be our project for next week.
We need to move the slip switch and extend the track straight away from the building just off the left side of the picture.

And finally...

What's on your workbench this week?

Working on the light bar for the Metra/RTA commuter cars.
Not sure why they're not working, but we'll crack the case by next week.

I've included a link to the spreadsheet where I track the progress each week.
If you like details, you'll love viewing this link.
If you don't love details, I would not recommend you click on this link.

Link to Planning Spreadsheet

Week 85

Week 85

Chronological order top to bottom.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Jordan Osborn came by tonight to finish the classification of the remaining on-line cars.

Here are some pics to capture the moment.

 We finished classification and inputting these four cars in EB Proviso Yard.

We still need to finish input of the WB Proviso Yard cars.

 Jordan Osborn at the controls. Handling the switcher tonight.

And finally,

What's on your workbench tonight?

The "people" container is out. 

We set up the model F40PH "City of Harvard" Metra 132 to match the prototype.

See Week 83 Blog (go to the bottom) to see the final rendition.

Train Day!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
this is also my Mom's 85th b-day

And the gang's all here.
Check this out.

Front row floor sitting: Dean Hatzis
Middle Row stool sitting: Carlos Baez
Back Row Standing l.to rt.: Josh Jones, Jordan Osborn, Curt Berg, Ed Nelson
The first time in several months everyone could make the same day!

Even Jan got into the act.
She came down to take the photo and handed Dean a tool.

Way to contribute Jan! We'll make you a train gal soon.

Now to get everyone caught up on the day's activities...

 Ed Nelson & Carlos Baez began the session preparing the benchwork for the Western Avenue underpass.

 Dean Hatzis joined the crew and now there were three.

I love this picture with Carlos "in the hole".
Note Josh and Jordan at the control getting their game plan together.

 I purchased a 2 Engine stall at B&G about a month ago.
Ed Nelson took it home and brought it back today!
Nice work, ED!

 We also put an "addition" on to the end of Union Station downtown Chicago.

 Here you can see Carlos Baez attaching the open grid.

 In the meantime, Jordan and Josh are preparing to run some trains.

 Carlos Baez being assisted by Ed Nelson attaching the plywood to the open grid.

Not to be outdone, Dean Hatzis joins the crew.
And then there were three.

Length: .42s
Well, Jordan and Josh finally got their act together and here's a train they put together.
You'll notice, this train didn't stop the men with their power tools.

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I had to leave early to attend Mom's 85th b-day celebration at Al's Cafe in Elgin.

When I came back I took some pictures of the finishing touches on the evening.

Check these out...

 The three amigos finished cutting the openings for the Western Avenue underpass.
Nice work men.

 Another shot of the underpass.

 One more view of the Engine Shop Ed Nelson built from a kit.
The kit was originally the blue color as the parts shown laying down.
Ed painted the roof and sides the green colors.

 I need to purchase more cork roadbed before I can extend the track and platform.

The opposite view of the extension.
We're getting closer to adding columns and then we can begin construction on the street level.