Week 329

 Sun, Nov. 15, 2020 thru Sat, Nov. 21, 2020

This week's goals:

1. Continue work on CNW Power House

Progress: working on front curb appeal and then move to back

2. Finish repairs to substation chain link fence 

Progress: Not Started

3. Begin work on California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facility entrance off Western Ave. 

Progress: Not Started

Sun, Nov. 15, 2020

Lots of work done on Goal #1 CNW Powerhouse

My goal is to complete the base of the front
of the building this week.

I tried to use balsa wood for the base, but realized
I needed to find my styrene sheets for proper fit.

Yes, these will work much better.
Pretty easy to use, just score and split.

There are three levels of styrene here.
Level 1: Window well (two windows on right)
Level 2: Section between panels (two windows on left)
Level 3: see next pictures (sections between doors)

Levels 1 and 2 secured in place.

Level 3 shown in place. Still need to paint.

Here's the prototype picture I'm trying to copy.

Taking a break from the front, on to the chimney.

Here's where I'm going to use the Spade Terminals.

Remove the blue insulators.

Right below the metal ruler is the hollow copper pipe...

...cut in 6 equal pieces (2" each).

Attach to Spade Terminals.

Added a slight angle for light to show on chimney.
These ended up being too long.
I cut them down to 1" instead of 2".

Much better.

Another view.

Back to the front.
Here's is the side panel off Lake Street.
Prototype on the left and model on the right.

Mon, Nov. 16, 2020

I got up early this morning to prepare for train day later today...

I drew lines to match the prototype.

And here's the prototype.

Back to the front...
Now it's time to rough up the surface to prepare for painting.

Painting complete. Time to secure to the base.

Side wall finished.

Front and side walls painted and ready for installation.

Week 328

 Sun, Nov. 8, 2020 thru Sat, Nov. 14, 2020

This week's goals:

1. Begin work on California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facility entrance off Western Ave. 

Progress: Not Started

2. Finish lighting at Melrose Park Power Station 

Progress: Working on it.

3. Start work on CNW Power Plant

Progress: Lots of thinking, no action yet

Sun, Nov. 8, 2020

Progress on Goal #2

In order to light up the Power Plant we need to do
some leg work to get the footprint ready.
Step 1: Lay down the "asphalt" base

Test the location of the power plant and substation.

Another view...

And another view...

Power plant lights installed. First row of parking
lot lights installed.

Checking building placement over lighting.

Mon, Nov. 9, 2020

Train Day!

with Rob Fair 6-8:15pm 2.25 hrs.

Rob Fair checking light fixtures making sure they
are working before we install them.

Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn
Jordan stopped by for a cameo appearance.

Removing the "footprint" in order to begin the lighting.

The top of the washing machine turned out to be
a great place for our work place.

Rob Fair glues in the light posts to keep them in
place while we place the footprint on its side for wiring.

Getting ready to wire up the light fixtures.

Hard to see the wires, but they're there.

Rob Fair preparing the connections.

We finished wiring up the street lights in parallel circuit.

Tue, Nov. 10, 2020

I got up early this morning and finished wiring 

the building lights.

The building lights are all connected.
Street lights on the left, building lights on the right.

Then I put electrical tape and thumbtacks to keep
the wires in place so they won't get caught when
putting the "footprint" back in place.

Ready to put back in place...

This afternoon I was able to get the wires 

hooked up to the power source underneath the layout.

Now we're ready for the structures.

Structures in place with working lights.

Better looking in person.
I hope to see you soon!

Finished Goal #2!

Wed, Nov. 11, 2020

Video of Goal #2 completed:

Length: 00:00:33 sec.

After I figured out all the underside wiring, here's
how it looks on the top side. Coal train waiting for
unloading and lights working inside the power plant
and substation.

Thu, Nov. 12, 2020

Just made some notes on how many switches I'll need at Powder River Basin, Global 2 and the Industrial Park.

Here's the list:

Powder River Basin

#4 R 3

#4 L 2

#6 L 2

Global 3

#4 L 1

Industrial Park

#4 R 1

#4 L 3

Totals

#4 R 4

#4 L 6

#6 L 2

Fri, Nov. 13, 2020

After subbing today I stopped by ACE to pick up some supplies for a project I'm working on...

Copper tubing, Spade terminals, balsa wood.

Here's the cost for CNW Power House Project

I like to work at the dining room table because
there's lots of light.
Watch as the table fills up with tools and other stuff.

I found my kitbashing materials.
Getting ready to start installing the base...keep watching...

You'll need to go to Week 329 for the progress on this project.

Sat, Nov. 14, 2020

No train activity today.

Week 327

 Sun, Nov. 1, 2020 thru Sat, Nov. 7, 2020

This week's goals:

1. Finish chain-link fence around Power Plant Substation.

2. Begin work on California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facility entrance off Western Ave. 

3. Test out Digitrax UT4 finally returned to me

Sun, Nov. 1, 2020

I tried to finish up the horizontal lines during the
Bears game today, but failed miserably.
The top line came off, so I need to re-glue. UGH!

Mon, Nov. 2, 2020

Train Day!

with Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn

6-8pm 2 hours

Here's what we accomplished...

As our crew gathers we recapped our 
Trick or Treat adventures this past weekend.

Now it's time to get to work.
Rob Fair will work on the substation at the
California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facilities

Jordan Osborn takes his spot at the CCT
(Central Control Tower)

Rob Fair has installed the power tower and now
is installing the chain-link fence posts.

Back posts now getting Rob's attention.

Meanwhile...
Jordan encouraged me to clear off the shelf
at the Powder River Basin...

Here's a photo of the Powder River Basin I've
been thinking may be a great back drop for this section.

Here's my drawing of construction and track plan
for the Powder River Basin.

So sorry I moved the camera on this shot.
Here Rob Fair is adjusting the chain-link for the 
gate at the power plant substation.

Chain-link in place on the gates. Now we need
to wait for the glue to cure before installing the gates.

Rob Fair finished the substation at the
California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facilities

I cleared off most of the items that were collecting
at the Powder River Basin.
"Where did it all go?", you may ask.

Here it is!
Now I need to figure out where to put all this stuff!

Tue, Nov. 3, 2020

Trying to hinge the gate and get the chain-link attached.

Not bad, I think it may work.

Finished the gate side.
Now on to the other sides...

Wed, Nov. 4, 2020

No train activity today.

Thu, Nov. 5, 2020

Jordan Osborn stopped by tonight for some work on the RR:

I finished laying the switch I bought from B&G 
Train World Hobby Shop today.

Here's the empty unit coal train from the
Power Plant in Melrose Park ready to be loaded
and then return to Melrose Park to generate more electricty.

This special edition of Season 1 shows an empty unit coal train leaving the Melrose Park Power Plant heading to the Powder River Basin. Once at the Powder River Basin the train will be loaded with more coal and return to the Power Plant in Melrose Park.

I also had another ulterior motive: Test every input to each UP5 using my new UT4.

Click here to watch video
Length: 00:05:21 minutes

Fri, Nov. 6, 2020

Installing track for return locomotive storage track.

After laying the track, I discovered it was too short.

Also, once I figured out the configuration of the
mainline track and how it fit into the switch, I can
now draw in the parallel main departing track
(on the right)

If you look back at the previous photo, you can see
I had to extend this track about 3 inches to make
room for both road diesels in this storage track.

Now on to some sub roadbed repairs. 

There were two spots I had to repair so I'll try to put them side-by-side 

and show you the repair progress:

First I cut out the sections that I will use to repair these spots.

After cutting out the "debris" I fit the cut-out pieces into place.

Once I was satisfied with the fit, I put down some glue.

Now you can see how nicely the cut-out pieces fit in place.

Finally, I had to put weights on top and will wait
for the glue to set (usually overnight).

One more thing...

Length: 00:00:30 sec.

Finished Goal #1

Substation in place.
Now I need to put down the base and make sure
the lift off section fits securely.

Another view of the finished substation.

Sat, Nov. 7, 2020

I had some time to work on the base of the Power Plant...

This is the base of the Power Plant.

My plan is to secure a layer of "asphalt" on top.
First, I apply the foam adhesive.

Spread it around about the same thickness.

I'll use the boards for the base of the weights.

With the weights in place now we wait overnight.

The cousins came over tonight and found Rob Fair's Thomas the Tank Engine sound machine. 

Here they are dancing a jig to the sounds made by the device Charlie is holding.

Also included in the dance are Josiah and Ida.

Length: 00:00:28 sec.

This week's goals recap:

1. Finish chain-link fence around Power Plant Substation.

Progress: DONE! Fri, Nov. 6, 2020

2. Begin work on California Ave. Metra Maintenance Facility entrance off Western Ave. 

Progress: None

3. Test out Digitrax UT4 finally returned to me

Progress: DONE! Tested every input Thu, Nov. 5, 2020