Week 187

Week 187

Sunday, February 25, 2018 thru Saturday, March 3, 2018

Sunday, February 25, 2018

I put the Post Office in place above Chicago Terminal.

I'm going to take a picture of the four corners of Chicago Union Station.
This is the NW corner.

NE corner.

SE corner.

And finally, the SW corner.

Monday, February 26, 2018

Marklund Community Outreach tonight.

No train activity today.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Prayer Meeting at Church

No train activity today.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Train Day!

with Carlos Baez, Dean Hatzis, Jordan Osborn & Colin Wesley
Lots going on.
Check this out...

First things first.
Carlos Baez is holding the new cut platforms.
Dean Hatzis cut the new Station Platforms for Union Station this past week.
Here you can see Dean is laying out the templates.

Still trying to figure out which piece goes where.

I think Carlos is thinking, "Forget the templates, just lay out the real thing."

Jordan Osborn & Colin Wesley working at Central Control Tower.

Now moving over to Union Station to install the new platforms.

There you have it.
Beautiful job, Dean!

Carlos Baez went back to do some static grass.

Carlos Baez in action, with Dean Hatzis lending a hand.

A close up shot.

Colin Wesley inspecting each car for plastic wheels.

Dean Hatzis and Carlos Baez preparing another spot for more static grass.

You can see how Carlos Baez laid down the glue to prepare for more grass.

Video of the "Twins" and Colin checking for plastic wheels.
If found, the car was removed for thorough inspection.

Length: 00:00:21 sec.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

My marching orders until we meet again is to paint the columns and the platforms at Union Station.
So tonight I started on the white columns.
Here's how I did it...

First, I laid a sheet of paper over the work surface.

Next, I cut holes for the columns to poke through the paper.

Each column is now through the paper.

Now I need to tape down the paper so I can paint the bottom of the columns.

The first coat is applied.
I will probably leave as is for the weathered look.

Finally I trimmed the edges because I'll use the sheet for another purpose.
More on that later.

Here's how it looks without the paper.

And here's the new look with the unpainted platforms in place.

This is the paint I used for this particular project.
Next up: paint the platforms concrete gray.

Mom & Dad stopped by tonight.
I ran some trains and gave them a train layout update.
I wished I would've taken some pictures, but I didn't.
Dang!

Friday, March 2, 2018

Sleepover with Mae, Henry, & Ida

Since today is going to be a full day, I thought I'd get started early.
Here's what I did this morning...

Getting ready to plate the Union Station platforms.

First coat of dark gray.

Then, a light coat of light gray.

Over the top another coat of dark gray.

Finished off with a final coat of light gray.

Here are the paints I used for this project.
Dark gray on the left and light gray on the right.
Duh!

Tomorrow, after the paint dries, I'll put these platforms in place and see how it looks.
See you then...but before I go, I must tell you something that happened just before supper.

The Zielke kids came over tonight and before we ate, Ida and I were running trains.

Mabel came downstairs to call us up for supper when...

Mabel said, "Are you guys addicted to trains?" 

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Well, we're up in the morning after our sleepover.
Mabel got up at 6am and we decided to work on the train.
Here is Mabel's assignment:

Mabel's job was to put the Union Station Platforms in place.
She accepted.

The first section going in place.

Doing a very good job.
See how she's keeping the platform level?

The last section to be put in place.

Job well done, Mabel, well done!

Later, after everyone was up and finished breakfast, we ran a train with the Zielke team in place.

Here's Henry!
He's a great little engineer!

And little Ida.
She loves to come down and play trains with Boppa.

One more look at Mabel's job this morning.

I also took a couple of videos.

Length: 00:00:11 sec.

Here's another video, this time with Mabel in the picture.

Length: 00:00:16 sec.

After we dropped off Mabel, Henry, and Ida, we returned home and I did some work in the basement:

Here I'm preparing the far right track for painting.

After covering the platforms with the old platforms, I covered the track with old binder clips.

Then I painted the inside and outside the rails white.

I also prepared and painted the other outside track too.

  

Here's a birds-eye view of both outside tracks painted white.

This will close out Week 187.

Tomorrow begins week 188.

See you then!

Week 186

Week 186

Sunday, February 18, 2018 thru Saturday, February 24, 2018

Sunday, February 18, 2018

I started work on the US Post Office that James & Natalie bought me for my Christmas present.

Check out the progress I made today...

First thing I did today was buy a circuit board at the Science & Surplus Store in Geneva IL.
Rob Fair and I may work on the crossing signal flashers tomorrow.

Next, I started cutting out the window frames and glass pains for the Post Office walls.
The first step is cutting out all the glass from the spurs.
Note how full the box is on the right.

After the glass is cut, then I had to cut out the window frames.

You can see I've started putting in some window frames and glass pains.

Note how the pile of window frames and glass pains has diminished.

And now most of the window frames and glass pains are in place.
Next time I visit this project I'll put in the doors and build the extra walls for maintenance and back entrance.
Now look how empty the box is on the right.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Train Day with Rob Fair, Josh Jones, Jordan Osborn, and special guest, Colin Wesley
We didn't get a lot accomplished tonight, but we did run trains.
Take a look...

Rob Fair had all the parts for running the crossing signals, but we had some extra challenges that we thought we'd leave to the experts. Rob will take his parts to work and have a co-worker take a look.

The there amigos!
Jordan Osborn, Colin Wesley and Josh Jones pose for a group shot.

We ran an extra long mixed freight with the "twins" leading the way.

Length: 00:00:28 sec.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tonight after prayer meeting I came home and did some work on the Post Office.

Here I'm going through the instructions and finishing up the doors and windows.

I'm a little nervous about the decals.
But that's coming up pretty quick on the TODO list.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Train Day with Dean Hatzis & Jordan Osborn
4-5:30pm
Unfortunately Dean and I had lots to discuss and we lost Jordan at the 5:15pm mark.
Here's what we did do...

As you can see we did some mock up work which took some time.
Dean Hatzis is putting the mock up walls in place at the California Avenue Metra Yard.

At one time tonight Jordan said, "The Engineer is board."
So sorry, Jordan.

We made some adjustments to the building (made it a bit skinnier) so the street could run behind it.

Next, we inserted the PVC pipes at Union Station.

Here they are in place.

And here they are holding up downtown Chicago.

After the Train Crew left, I went back upstairs and did some more work on the Post Office.

And, Yes!, I did finish the decal.
I was nervous, but it turned out ok.

Thursday, February 22, 2018
No train activity today.

Friday, February 23, 2018

No train activity today.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

I worked on the Post Office today and pleased with my progress.
Check this out...

After adding all the details, it's time to put up the walls.

Here's the front with the finished walls in place.

Here's a 360 view of the finished Post Office

Length: 00:00:19 sec.

And there she is...the finished Post Office.
Merry Christmas from James & Natalie.
Tomorrow I will put the building in place on the layout.
See Week 187 for that spectacular display!