Week 231

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

Sun, Dec 30, 2018

I've painted the front.
Before I show you the front here's what the back looks like.

Now, here's the front.

Here are the front walls set in place.

Here's the prototype photo of  the look I'm seeking.

And here's the walls set in place in similar pose to the prototype.

I haven't wired this under the table, but I did want to see what it looked like with the lights on and the room dark.

Light ON.

Room DARK.

A view from a distant landmark.

I also added the light poles to the station platforms at Melrose Park.

Another view same location.

Mon, Dec 31, 2018

Look what happened when I wired the lights for the Metra billboard...

Length: 00:00:31 sec.

Tue, Jan 1, 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I worked a little before the Crockett family came to visit today.

I finally wired up the lights for the Metra Melrose Park Station Platforms.
One of them did not light, not because it didn't work, I tested each one, but because I'll need to rewire the lamp.

Same time different look.

Here's what it looks like underneath the layout.

And here's the power source.
It's a TYCO transformer which makes a lot of noise, but hopefully it won't be too noticeable.
If it is, I'll change it out for another power pack. 

The last couple of days I've been looking for some 1/16" yellow adhesive tape.
No luck. So I stopped by Menards today and picked up some yellow duct tape.
You can see how I've cut 1/16" strip off the end and will use that for the station platforms.

The lines are a little wide, but after weathering I don't think you'll notice the width too much.

Some photo different perspective.

Another view of the CNW local with 85' flat cars in tow.
And then Josiah and I walk to the excursion running on another part of the layout.

Length: 00:00:34 sec.

Trains meet between West Chicago and Winfield and then a black out after the excursion hits the paper on the layout...oh oh.

Length: 00:00:16 sec.

The CNW local running through Proviso Yard.

Length: 00:00:11 sec.

And finally the excursion heading down the mainline while Josiah says, "All aboard!"

Length: 00:00:14 sec.

Josiah wanted me to run the Amtrak train. He called it the "All Aboard" train.

While the kids were at the movies and Jan, Nat, and Josiah were at JoAnn Fabrics I did some painting to the inside walls of the Melrose Park Metra Station. I'm hoping this will block out the light and redirect as shown below.

I'm hoping to have the inside light reflect off the aluminum foil ceiling and pour out onto the edges of the station.
We'll see how this looks in a near future blog date...

Wed, Jan 2, 2019

Train Day!
w/Josh Jones & Jordan Osborn
4:15-5:45pm (1.5 hrs.)

Unfortunately we started out very badly this afternoon.
Josh wanted to test some lights on billboards but we couldn't find out 3V LED tester. We spent about 30 minutes looking for it until we finally gave up and started our afternoon of train activity.

Josh Jones started out by weathering the station platform at Melrose Park.

Jordan Osborn pulled the excursion train out of Proviso Yard heading west bound.

Jordan Osborn at the controls of the excursion train.

We used the just received in the mail today FRED EOT device to check the light.
Turned out this bulb was a 12V bulb so we used a transformer to check it out.

When you look down at it it seems to throw too much light beyond the billboard.
The picture above looks better looking directly at the billboard.

Here's the finishing touches Josh put on the station platform at Melrose Park.
Good job, Josh!

I put the Melrose Park Station together after I painted the inside black.
It still looks like it could use some work.
Either more shading on the inside, or maybe a dimmer light.
I'll try to install a resistor and see if that gives us the look we're looking for at the Melrose Park Station.

Thu, Jan 3, 2019

Just a couple of things to do today...
What's on your workbench this week?

I got serious about checking the FRED I ordered last week.
See video below:

Length: 00:00:25 sec.

Fri, Jan 4, 2019

I was off work today so I was able to do some major clean-up and...

I installed the Metra Station signs Josh finished months ago, maybe even years?
This one is at Elmhurst/Kedzie.

Both inbound and outbound signs up at Geneva Metra Station.

Just the outbound sign up at West Chicago.

Same with Lombard/Oak Park.

Also, one last one, at Melrose Park/College Avenue.

Plus I organized, straightened up, and redid the Building Materials section of the basement as you'll see in the photos below:

This is how it looked BEFORE I started the clean-up...

This is DURING the clean-up and some major changes with the shelving.

And this is the AFTER photo when I was finished.

Sat, Jan 5, 2019

I did some videos today of how to transform the layout from Bright to Night.
I'll get them ready and post them here when I finish organizing the videos...

Intro video

Length: 00:00:15 sec.

And now the 5 steps to Execute Bright 2 Night

Step 1

Length: 00:00:25 sec.

Step 2

Length: 00:00:15 sec.

Step 3

Length: 00:00:21 sec.

Step 4

Length: 00:00:37 sec.

Step 5

Length: 00:00:18 sec.