Week 192

Week 192

Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018 thru Saturday, April 7, 2018

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Celebrating Easter in Chicago with James, Natalie, and grandkids

Monday, April 2, 2018

Train Day!

with Rob Fair (1.75) & Jordan Osborn (1.5)

6-7:45pm

Here's what happened...

Rob Fair back at the workbench working on the new and improved crossing signals with control circuit board.
I ended up buying two more sets with a new circuit board at a price of $77.00.
It was worth it.

Jordan Osborn getting ready for the evening.

After Rob Fair finished testing the new crossing signals, he started cutting out the building/sidewalk segments for downtown Melrose Park. We decided against using the saber saw and went with using a utility knife. Much cleaner.

 I didn't get any pictures of this but I did want to document what Jordan and I did while Rob worked on the building/sidewalk sections for downtown Melrose Park.

Jordan and I ran the CNW SD40-2 sound locomotive with 19 cars and a track cleaning car behind the locomotive. The Goo Gone really brought a lot of dirt to the surface of the rails. I had to wipe down the entire East Bound Main Line rails. It left a film I had to remove.

I will try this same procedure on Wednesday for the West Bound Mainline using the UP SD40-2 locomotives.

Working on the ground wasn't the best working conditions, so we moved up to higher ground.

Our new work station.

Rob Fair put down the stencils and traced them on the hardwood.
Now he is cutting them out.
This is where we ended the session tonight.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

I finished the job Rob started yesterday.

I cut out all the pieces for the building bases of Melrose Park downtown.

I took them out and put them in place in downtown Melrose Park - see next picture.

And here they are in place.

And now, the buildings in place.
What do you think?

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Train Day! 4-5:30pm
Jordan Osborn (1.5) Dean Hatzis (1.5) Ed Nelson (1.25) and me (1.5)
Here's what we accomplished:

Whachyutalkin'boutWillis?

We started installing the trim around the layout.
Our plan was to finish, but we didn't make it.
Maybe 1/3 of the way?

Overview.

Ed Nelson checking out the underbelly of Union Station.

Dean Hatzis begins the trim installation.

What a team!
Dean Hatzis and Ed Nelson!

Working our way around the next bend.

Here's what we accomplished tonight.
We broke two pieces in the process.
Learned our lessons and will finish up next week.

Ed Nelson doing some train inspections.

Moving down the tracks.

Length: 00:00:19 sec.

The track cleaning car caught on this section of the platform.
I tacked down the platform and then secured the wooden edge with a nail.
Look closely and you can see what I did...

After the Train Crew left, I returned after supper and worked on the road leading to and from the bridge. Here's what I did...

First I scaped the foam board so the surface would meet the existing road.

Then I vacuumed the mess.

Next, I cut out a pattern for the "asphalt" road.

I noticed the other side of the bridge also needed work.
I will add the two cardboard pieces on the outsides to finish the base of operation.

Trimmed out, cut out, glued in place.

I put the buildings back in place and took this shot from the other side.
I'm liking the way this is progressing.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

No train activity today.

Friday, April 6, 2018

Jordan stopped over this afternoon for some work on the railroad.
We worked from 4-5:15pm (1.25)

Working on Melrose Park downtown.
The roadway is cut, now it's on to the sidewalks.

I still need to adhere the roadway to the surface and then the sidewalks to the roadway.

We did run another test train around the mainline.

Length: 00:00:27 sec.

Jordan Osborn chillin' at Central Control Tower.

Added the roadway and the sidewalks beyond town and before the bridge.

What it looks like from the other side.

Saturday, April 7, 2018