Week 93

Week 93

Sunday, May 1, 2016 - Saturday, May 7, 2016

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Great worship this morning.

Then Jordan and I went to Wheaton to the Midwest Train Show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds

I bought...

GTW 4 bay blue covered Hopper $8

2 #4 LH, 1 #6 LH, & 1 #6 RH switches $20

2 underthetable switch machines 1@$7.25 total $14.50

10 3' Atlas Flex Track 1@$3.30 total $33.00

Entry Fee $7

Cash to Jordan: $1

Total Spent: $83.50 

Jordan and I came home and tested with success the new covered hopper.

Passed all inspection points.

I also did some work on Proviso West Yard.

Here are some pics...

 I replaced a cheap switch with one I purchased today.

 I laid another section of yard track and put the laser level to check the straightness of the line at night.

Here's the same shot in the day.

Then I went to the other side of the yard and took this picture.

Moved the laser level to the top of the intermodal train to check the straightness of this track.
Right on! Or, at least, close enough!

Monday, May 2, 2016
Installed some switches I bought yesterday:

Proviso Yard East End viewing West.
The left hand #4 switch on the right was replaced by the one I bought yesterday at the train show.
The previous switched caused numerous derailments. It's on the way to the trash.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016
I finished the ladder part of the WB tracks at Proviso West.

 I'm working on making the ladder fit.
Each #4 left hand switch had to be trimmed down.

 Task accomplished.

 Then I attached and secured the first section of track to each switch.

Tomorrow for TRAIN DAY I'll have the guys join the east end to the west end.
Then we'll have one full WESTBOUND Proviso Yard to store additional railcars.
This side (WB) is the UP side.
The other side (EB) is the CNW side.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

TRAIN DAY!

YEAH!

Dean Hatzis was the first one down the steps.
Rob Fair and his daughter, Faith, came down about 5pm.
Missing Carlos (had to work on a deck with a deadline looming),
Ed Nelson (?), and,
Jordan Osborn (had to help his Mom).

We finished what we had to do by 5:45pm and here's what we did...

We started off the session talking about a game plan for finishing the South Power District.
Our goal is to create a "WOW" affect when people first see the railroad as they come down the stairs.

Dean Hatzis and I figured we start at the Global 1 yard.
We'll begin work on the concrete pads that fit around the intermodal tracks.

Rob Fair and his daughter, Faith, dropped in and started helping right away!
He is soldering the feeder wires to the track for eventual connections to the bus line under the table.

 Rob Fair in action with his daughter, Faith, closely watching every detail.
If you don't look too closely, you may miss Faith.
Look closely. See her?

 Meanwhile, back at the yard, Dean Hatzis makes progress on finishing the WB Proviso Yard.

 Maticulous work.
It's what Dean does best!

 Rob Fair and Faith make great progress in the Metra/WeGo California Ave. yard.

 Dean Hatzis making the final connection in completion of the task at hand.

A job well done!
Proviso Yard WB viewing East.

Proviso Yard WB viewing West.

Length: .47s
Check out the clean shiny rails.

Our weekly update
WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKBENCH THIS WEEK?

 As you will notice, I've added a laptop and a monitor.

The top monitor will be our weekly checklist and job posting.
The bottom screen will be the blog site, scale conversion table, and other useful train stuff.