Week 446

 Sun, Feb 12, 2023 thru Sat, Feb 18, 2023

Sun, Feb 12, 2023

Mainly prepared the layout for tomorrow's Train Day Session...

I cut up the pieces from the Scene Master set I bought
at B&G on Saturday and put them in place.
Tomorrow I'd like to secure them in place.

Here's a photo from a distance. The concrete extension
will be for the side walk which will be on the right side
of the street.

I'd like to install the UP5 tomorrow night too.

The reason I want to install this UP5 here is to see
the Western Signal for the train coming from Melrose Park.

I'd also like to lay down the brick street which is
Marion Street in Oak Park IL (prototype photo shown).

Mon, Feb 13, 2023

Train Day!

w/Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn

6-8pm 2 hrs.

Surprise Visit by my son, Ben.

Rob Fair gets ready for our session tonight.

Jordan Osborn is always ready!

Looking from the inside - out...
This is where Rob will make the opening
for the UP5.

We are going to mount the UP5 I purchased at B&G
Train World last week.

Peek-a-boo, Rob.
Looking from the outside - in.

Finishing out the opening for the UP5.

This will be a good spot for the UP5 so when you
hold the throttle you can also view the signal in the
top left corner of this picture.

I also finished half of the W. Washington Street project.
I still need to finish the rest of the sidewalks and the
three mainline tracks just beyond these tracks.

These are the other three mainline tracks I need to finish.

Tue, Feb 14, 2023

Happy Valentine's Day

No Train Activity today, obviously!

Wed, Feb 15, 2023

Time to get back to work...

Tools of the trade for tonight's work...

...mounting the UP5.

Now it's time to get over to W. Washington Street
in West Chicago and work on the sidewalk portion
of the Grade Crossing.

These sections are all set in place and ready for adhesion.

Glue and markers and weights ready to be put in place.

And now? We wait for the weights...overnight.

Thu, Feb 16, 2023

Time to put in the sidewalk along W. Washington Street...

I finished up the sidewalks close to the end of the layout.

My workstation.

And the work site.

Fri, Feb 17, 2023

More working on the RR...

Finishing the sidewalks at W. Washington St.
West Chicago

Fixing the ballast problem at West Chicago Station

Duration: 00:00.20 sec.

More work with the ballast at WeGo Station

Duration: 00:00.24 sec.

More work on the sidewalks...

Finished the foreground sidewalks, now it's time
to do the background sidewalks.

Time to fix the ballast.

All done.

Look what I found!
The cable to hook up the UP5...

Here's the newly mounted UP5 with the new cable
inserted.

And this is where I inserted the new cable for the UP5
to get the power from the daisy chained UP5s.

Now it's time for some visitors...

It's Friday night! Special Guests:
Marcus Thorsen and Rob Fair

Rob helped me show Marcus the basement layout.

Marcus running the Excursion Train 4A

There it is on the other side of the layout.

Then we went to Valley Model RR in South Elgin

Wow!

A look down the center isle.

Then we took a trip downstairs to see what Marcus
was up to down there.

He has an "O" gauge layout with lots of scenery
done in Styrofoam. Unbelievable!

Sat, Feb 18, 2023

Working on the RR...

30 mins. before Jim came over.

Time to start painting the roadway.

Roadway complete.

Then another 30 mins. after Jim left and before Henry's basketball game

Now I need to score the lines on the sidewalk.

You can barely see the lines, but if you look real
close you will see them.

Now to paint the sidewalks.

All done!
Mission accomplished.

The drone look.

Now I will need to fill in the gaps and add some grass.

This afternoon I spent 2 hours doing the following...

BEFORE
I paint on the road lines for traffic and pedestrians...

AFTER
I painted the white guidelines for the traffic and pedestrians.

I used painter's tape to keep the lines in place.

Then I painted the yellow middle guard line.

Here's the overview of the paint project.

And, of course, the equipment I had to bring out to
do the job.

Next it's time to add some "filler".

Making progress.
Next time I'll finish off the other side of the road
and I will have completed the scene.

One last look at all the tools of the trade for today.

I finished with a few more laps with the Excursion Train

and then I put it away for the day.

Duration: 00:00.27 sec.

Finishing off the other side of W. Washington Street

First the fill...then...

...add the grass and ground foam.

Finishing touches.