Week 174

Week 174

Sunday, November 26, 2017 thru Saturday, December 2, 2017

Sunday, November 26, 2017

I decided to get some organization done for the train tonight.

I marked down what was in each binder.

Which is quite a bit of information.

Then I took the two bins and figured out which file was redundant and consolidated.

In preparation for tomorrow's Train Day I was going to purchase two more packs of these to use for gutters on Western Avenue.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Train Day with Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn

I bought the Yard Lights on Ebay on Thursday, they arrived today.
Rob Fair discovered there were a few lights out, so he tackled this job tonight.

Jordan Osborn in action mode at Central Control Tower.

Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn working together to solder the light socket.

While Rob & Jordan worked on the lights, I worked on the wiring for the lights.
I'm working on connecting two wires to the transformer and then I'll connect them to the other side of Proviso Yard where we'll install the lights once they're fixed.

We'll need to secure new lights, so we're moving on...

Rob Fair moved on from the lights to ballasting.

Only had 15 minutes, but made some nice progress.

This is a close-up of what Rob Fair did to fix  the derailment problem at the Kedzie Avenue switch.
See the small spike on the top rail at the connection?

Jordan Osborn and I worked on the parking lot behind the "skinny" building.
We'll be adding parking lot lights as soon as they arrive from China.

Now you can see the ballasting progress made by Rob Fair.

 What's on your workbench this week?

We'll save this workbench for Rob for next week.
Rob is going to look for some lights at home that may work on the yard lights here. 

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Special Guests tonight...

Laura Rollett (mom to...) Paul Rollett (son of Laura) and Ben Berg (my only begotten son)

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Train Day with Dean Hatzis, Carlos Baez, and Jordan Osborn

The three amigos back together again!

Dean called and said he's suffering from a cold virus.
He's staying home to get better.
He also said very thoughtfully, "I didn't want any of you to get sick too."

Carlos Baez didn't waste anytime getting to work.
He continued where Rob Fair left off on Monday at Geneva Station.

I'll be anxious to see how far we get down the mainline.

Another view from another angle.

The Metra Commuter train has a red signal.
There's something on the track ahead that will obstruct your progress.

Jordan Osborn and I worked on this part of the track where a repeated derailment occurred with this set of commuter cars.

It looks like Carlos Baez got as far as the midway point at Geneva Station.

Peace Out!

Thursday, November 30, 2017

No train activity today.

Friday, December 1, 2017

No train activity today.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

The only train activity today was running Kuiper's Farmview RR engine from 1-3pm.
Never gets old!

Week 173

Week 173

Sunday, November 19, 2017 thru Saturday, November 25, 2017

Sunday, November 19, 2017

No train activity today

Monday, November 20, 2017

Train Day with Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn
5:30-7pm
Good work tonight men, check this out...

Let's start with a video for a change...
We discovered a flaw in the track at Kedzie Avenue.

Length: 00:00:15sec.
The UP AC6000 would derail at the switch.
Rob Fair applied the rail gauge and found it was to tight.
Once corrected, that seemed to take care of the problem.

A look at Kedzie Avenue station from the stairwell.

This video shows a nice panoramic view going backwards as the train goes forward.

Length: 00:00:30sec.

Nice video of the AC6000 coming towards you as the train follows behind.

Length: 00:00:27sec.

After Rob Fair checked out the derailment (see video above) he moved into the power box and inserted the cables from the alley utility poles.

Here's the finished product.

Kedzie Avenue with walls secured.
They used to curl up at the bottom.

Now Rob Fair begins weathering the parking lot behind the Western Avenue "skinny building".

Meanwhile, back at the Central Control Tower, Jordan Osborn finishes up some much needed paperwork. 

Always checking the data twice.

Progress on the parking lot weathering.

First application.
Note the station platforms are still dark black.

Nice video of the Metra Commuter train approaching and passing Kedzie Avenue Station.

Length: 00:00:11sec.

Rob Fair continues to work the weathering into the parking lot.

Moving onto the station platforms.

Hitting the details.

Kedzie Avenue awaits weathering...

A different perspective of Rob's work.

Now Kedzie Avenue has been hit.

Nice work, Rob.

Very nice.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

No train activity today.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

No train activity today.

Thursday, November 23, 2017
Happy Thanksgiving!

Couldn't sleep tonight, so I wandered downstairs and...

...finished laying out the street sections around Union Station.

I also installed some lights inside and out.
Maybe I'll try to wire them up tomorrow to see how they look.
See you then!

Friday, November 24, 2017

Updated spreadsheet to match blog.
DONE!
YES!

Since I worked on Union Station last night, I had to keep going a little bit more...

Ben helped me lift this section up and over the commuter terminal tracks.

The columns are 3.5" tall and only temporary.

Here's a view from the end of the station stop.
You can see from this angle the columns are way too thick.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Funny how you get something in your head and can't let it loose.
Well, I'm on a Union Station binge.

Check out these progressive shots.

First, What's on your workbench this week?

You guessed it! Union Station is on my workbench this week.
It all started the other night when I couldn't sleep and I put together the street sections.

A couple of days ago I installed the 12V LED lights.
Here, I'm getting ready to solder the black and red wires separately of course :)

I'm pretty sure this shows the black wires soldered together.

And now the red wires are soldered together.
The one white is really a read.
The two leads go off the table.

I used a 9V transformer and checked to make sure the lights work.
Yes they do!

Then I turned over the station and checked the lighting on the workbench.
One side...

...and then the other side.

Then I put Union Station in place where it will go on the layout and did a test show.
Not bad. I like it!

Same setting, different look.
I may want to add some up lights in the front.
Street lights will be added and give some more lighting in front, but uplights would make it "pop".

And finally a bird's eye view from the rear.