Week 231

Sun, Dec 30, 2018 thru Sat, Jan 5, 2019

Week 230

Sunday, December 23, 2018 thru Saturday, December 29, 2018

Week 229

Sunday, December 16, 2018 thru Saturday, December 22, 2018

Week 228

Sunday, December 9, 2018 thru Saturday, December 15, 2018

Week 227

Sun, Dec 2, 2018 thru Sat, Dec 8, 2018

Week 226

Sun, Nov 25, 2018 thru Sat, Dec 1, 2018

Week 225

Sunday, November 18, 2018 thru Saturday, November 24, 2018

Week 224

Sun, Nov 11, 2018 thru Sat, Nov 17, 2018

Week 223

Sun, Nov 4, 2018 thru Sat, Nov 10, 2018

Week 222

Sunday, October 28, 2018 thru Saturday, November 3, 2018

Sunday, October 28, 2018

No train activity today.
Too lazy.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Train Day!
w/Rob Fair 6-7:30pm 1.5 hrs.
I was pleased with our progress...slow, but sure.

Rob Fair measuring the 1x4 to cut for the other end of Chicago Terminal

This is the back side of the Chicago Terminal.
This is the Canal Street side (east).
This is where the board Rob Fair was measuring in the previous photo will be installed.

And here he is, Rob Fair, installing the 1x4 in place.

Working around to the end of Chicago Terminal with another 1x4.

"What? Are you kidding me?"
"No I'm not kidding you, we need to cut out the sub road AND the sidewalk."

Without any further complaints, Rob got to work cutting out the sub roadbed.

Here you can see where we added the extension (the 1x4) and the subroadbed in place.
The far end (north) is being glued and secured by the clamps.
We still need to extend the subroadbed and the asphalt top layer to the south.

Our final task of the night was to finish the sub roadbed to the end of Chicago Terminal (south).
This we accomplished as you can see in this photo.
Next week, we'll finish the asphalt top layer and the sidewalk.
We will also attempt to cut the plexi-glass and see if that will work.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

I glued down the sub road tonight and will secure it with clamps for the glue to set overnight.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Halloween & Train Day!

w/Jordan Osborn & Ed Nelson 4:30-5:30pm 1 hr.

Putting away the intermodal train.

Length: 00:00:23 sec.

Ed Nelson keeping an eye on the Metra Commuter Train.
We are planning on running a mixed freight and will put this back in the Terminal.

Jordan Osborn at the controls.

Here comes the mixed freight - 27 car length.

Length: 00:00:24

Ed Nelson leading the UP West Bound Mixed Freight into the South Power District.

And here's the tail end of that same train.

I cut out a strip of "asphalt" and glued it down.
Here are the clamps holding it down while it sets up overnight.

The mixed freight continues it's way around the layout.

Jordan Osborn getting a second wind!

A look at the west bound mixed freight coming down the incline to Melrose Park

Length: 00:00:20 sec.

Waiting at the Melrose Park Crossing Gates watching the mixed freight pass by

Length: 00:00:24 sec.

Taking the Crossover at #4 for left hand run on the UP Geneva Sub

Length: 00:00:14

Another view of the clamps holding down the "asphalt" strip.
Tomorrow I'll remove the clamps and show you the top asphalt layer before and after weathering.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

No Train activity today.

Friday, November 2, 2018

B&G Visit and Special Guest...

I stopped by B&G to have them check out why the AC6000 was acting up.
They were flabbergasted too!
Never saw anything like what I brought in.
Bottom line?
The little white plug that is now unplugged needs to get plugged in on the other side of the 8-pin decoder spot.
I need to order an 8-pin extension and then it should work.
We hope.

I also did some work on the Clinton Street extension.

Glued down the sides and now time to glue down the middle section.

And here is my SPECIAL GUEST:
IDA ZIELKE!!!

Isn't this a great shot of an avid train enthusiast?

Ida likes to look at the little people.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Today I finished installing, weathering and painting the sidewalk on the Clinton Street Extension.

Asphalt installation complete.
Now it's time to work on the sidewalk.

First I cut out the sidewalk strips.

Glued the back.

Flipped it over and clamped it down.

Time to paint the sidewalk a concrete top coat.

Pulled off the tape used to make the gutter.

Weathered the asphalt.

And there you have it.
The Clinton Street extension.

Week 221

Sun, Oct 21, 2108 thru Sat, Oct 27, 2018

Week 220

Sunday, October 14, 2018 thru Saturday, October 20, 2018

Week 219

Sun, Oct 7, 2018 thru Sat, Oct 13, 2018

Week 218

Sun, Sep 30, 2018 thru Sat, Oct 6, 2018

Week 217

Sun, Sep 23, 2018 thru Sat, Sep 29, 2018

Week 216

Sun, Sep 16, 2018 thru Sat, Sep 22, 2018

Week 215

Sun, Sep 9, 2018 thru Sat, Sep 15, 2018

Week 214

Sun, Sep 2, 2018 thru Sat, Sep 8, 2018

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Since the Holiday is tomorrow I had Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn stop over today to work on the layout.

Time: 2-3:30pm 1.5 hours.

First we did some troubleshooting of the steam engine getting caught up on the rails.

Rob Fair is taking a closer look.

Jordan Osborn is taking notes.

After we found the problem with the steam engine we had to go back and redo the City Viaduct supports.

Rob Fair had to remove the posts and move them over 1/8".

Here is Rob Fair drilling the new holes for the new supports.

Nice shot of the Excursion Train with Jordan Osborn at the controls.

Length: 00:00:21 Sec.

Before we called it a day, Jordan Osborn and I fixed the roadbed that was obstructing the train's movement.
Here we've already clued the roadbed and now we're putting on the weights to keep it in place while the glue sets.

Here you can see the close up of Rob Fair's work today.
You can see the old holes we originally drilled and the new ones that are more accurate for the model that will be in place soon.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Heading to Chicago this afternoon for Labor Day Holiday.
Spending time with the Crockett Family before school starts tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

No train activity today.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Since we didn't have Train Day! today I did a little work on the CNW Powerhouse

Since the bottom of the windows is at street level (the two right panels are the originals) I had to trim the bottom off so the  window would be at street level (as seen on the panels on the left side)

Here they are, all cut off.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

No train activity today.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Jan walking with Diane McMillan.
I took some time to work on the train as follows:

I brought the cut panels to the layout and fit them in place.

Here's my first rendition.
It's not quite accurate right now.
The side with the smoke stack will be wider and then it will narrow down to one panel on the right side.
I'm so glad I have the prototype pictures otherwise I'd forget what I'm modeling.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Working at Kuipers Farmview RR all day today.
8:15am-6pm.

Week 213

Week 213

Sunday, August 26, 2018 thru Saturday, September 1, 2018

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Very busy weekend.

I tried to get a little clean-up going...

What's on your workbench this week.

Monday, August 27, 2018

Train Day with Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn

6:30-8pm (1.5)

Rob Fair and I will work on the supports for the main bridge over Chicago Terminal Yard.

Jordan Osborn keeps his eyes on the progress.

Getting ready to set the posts in place.

More progress on the bridge.

Here you can see the two front posts are in place.

Meanwhile, back with Jordan on his train simulator.

Now you can see the four supports on either side of Chicago Terminal Yard.

Same picture different angle.
Eventually the wood will be removed and the supports will hold up the bridge on their own.

Not much clean up progress today but if you compare the shot from yesterday there definitely is some progress.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

No train activity today.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Train Day!
Jordan Osborn and me (4-5:30pm 1.5)
(Ed Nelson getting ready for trip to FL)

Here's what we accomplished tonight...

Getting ready to put extension on face of layout at Lake Street.
This will be sidewalk of Clinton Street on the west side of Chicago Terminal

All was going very nicely during a backward approach to yard when something very strange happens.

Length: 00:00:16

Whoa! We didn't know it, but discovered a decoder in our 2-8-2 CB&Q Burlington Route Steam Engine 6302.

Length 00:00:18

Jordan Osborn having fun with the OLD (steam excursion) and the NEW (Metra Commuter)

We had a lot of problems with the steam derailing and slipping wheels at various switches.
Here are the two trains side-by-side parking on the main and ready for our next operating session.
Our next operation session will deal with those steam derailments and wheel slippage.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

No train activity today.

Friday, August 31, 2018

I worked half day today and got some time to work on the train...

My FULL intentions was to clean-up.
But the way I roll is to start there and then ultimately find something else to do.

So today, we'll start off with...

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKBENCH(ES) TODAY?

Definitely time to clean-up.
This is my rolling stock workbench.

Not too bad, but still work to be done.
This is my electrical/lighting cabinet.

This has begun to be a "catch all" location.
Should be kept clean...

UGH!
Definitely a work in progress here.

This is my tools/machinery/hardware workbench.

And this is my building workbench.

This is my anything to do with track workbench.

Now for part 2.
Did I start to clean-up?
No way, I found something else to do...

I wanted to start on the CNW Powerhouse, so I needed to add a street level sidewalk for the base to sit on.

I'm adding piece by piece to make it happen.

Here I'm adding a filler board.

On top of the filler board are the two pieces of 2x4s.

The glue has set and now I can add the sub street.

Sub street in place.

Gluing down the sub street.

Saturday, September 1, 2018
Another day and more progress...

Over the sub street is the street level asphalt now in place.

Once the asphalt is cut it's time to glue it down.

Clamp it down for glue setting.

Now it's time for the sidewalks.

Sidewalks in place on both sides of Lake Street and Clinton Ave.

I like the look.

Now it's time to glue and clamp and wait for the glue to set.

All set.

I tried to match the street level and I think I did a pretty good job.

Cutting the hard board for sidewalks.

I even began to do some clean up.
Now doesn't this look much better?

Still keeping the coupler shanks in place.

Check out my nice cleaned-off workspace for rolling stock.

Now it's time to paint the sidewalks, gutters, and curbs.

Paint in place. Now time to remove the blue tape.

There it is.
Looking good!

Sidewalks now scored.

View from a distance.