Just got back my Frisco 0-8-0 from the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, in several pieces. In the process of writing up the repairs for a new Under The Hood episode, to be seen later this weekend. 
Mitch
just tinkered around some....
and ran some trains....
then slept while watching a movie....
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Elliot, sometimes you just cant make some meetings, that's because there is more important things to do! LOL
Brian, Sunday is a great day to Tinker! What you set up there looks really nice, at first look I thought it was part of your layout that is up and running. The pictures are wonderful and what a surprise when you see the last one, great job!
I have a feeling that Brian could put his real layout together that quickly at the pace he's moving.
Bob
Brian, Everything looks good! Ah that smiling face of Izzy!! 
thanks Mike, Bob, and Mark.....
Nothing on layout yet but got in 90% of my trees and other follage in the mail yesterday
After a brief trip to Lowes, the TrainPod now sports a natty 5mm screw instead of its bulky lever, as seen with my recently repaired Frisco 0-8-0, hereafter referred to as "Lucky"...
While leaping up to the table to inspect the job, Trainee Motorfur Norma Bates Kitteh tripped the lever for the Razorback Traction Birney, demonstrating an ability to start trains going...
If she ever figures out the power strip, we're all in trouble.
Mitch
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That cat is a trip Mitch !
I installed some lighted wrought iron fence in the Westend neighborhood today. Looks good.
Friday I visited Lionel Buy and Sell in Kensington, Md. I was able to find two Weaver Milwaukie Rd. boxcars for ten bucks. Once home I added car weights and replaced a set of trucks on one of the cars. They look good behind my Williams Reading Trainmaster. Now that they have run for about an hour behind the TM, I will put them into my regular boxcar pool.
After a seven year gap of not having a layout to run the trains, I've finally kicked off my layout in our new home - the benchwork is complete, next up is sourcing some homasote, then laying down some rails! Layout is 215" x 84"
Looks like you have a good start there Matt! Keep us posted!
RSJB18 posted:That cat is a trip Mitch !
One of these days Mitch will come home finding Norma running Lucky full speed around the Razorback!!
Looks good Matt!! It's good to get back building a layout after a long hiatus whatever the reason! Looks like a nice cozy place for a layout! Yes I know about "cozy" spaces!
Making progress building benchwork & putting in some roadbed. This room is about 13' x 13' but I lose width as I go up in height so I arrived at a compromise of 7' wide x 13'6" long ( @48" base height). My dear wife suggested we move to PA next year & semi-retire so this layout will be temporary, but this is the closest I have come to a layout in 30 years so I am excited to progress. My train room was "orphaned" in a remodel by the prior owners so my only access is via an extension ladder - good exercise though.
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mattrain posted:After a seven year gap of not having a layout to run the trains, I've finally kicked off my layout in our new home - the benchwork is complete, next up is sourcing some homasote, then laying down some rails! Layout is 215" x 84"
Just in time for Christmas! Congrats!
Ran trains for a while after dinner. A good time was had by all (OK just me).
Giving the new tank engine a good work out. Real smooth runner. Its got a fan powered smoker, kind of odd on a steam engine but it smokes up the basement really well.
Bob
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M. Mitchell Marmel posted:If she ever figures out the power strip, we're all in trouble.
Mitch
Well I sat around ran the trolley today. Yesterday, for a I wrestled with matching up led brightness on old scrap leds with no ID info, using scrap resistors.
Watch out. My buddy's cat's grip just wasn't strong enough to use door handles . Watching him try different combos of open & shut doors and various handle combos after seeing the first robin of spring was hilarity. He also used the toilet but was usually too gentle on the handle to flush; but always tried Huge, he slept perched on top of a tiny flat banister post on the stairs; he could hardly get four paws on it. They had a Holiday Lionel, but he steered clear, watching from a shelf or his banister.
When I was a kid, some gerbils really liked riding in hoppers, and one parakeet, a daredevil, would ride a caboose all day. He also rode the ceiling fan on high speed, attacked cats at the window, and would battle your fork full force to eat your scrambled eggs himself, claiming all egg piles, and directly defending the largest plateful at any given moment The lovable, but spoiled rotten little cannibal's name was "Peeps" of coarse course... When I first saw the hampsters/gerbils in the Lionel cars on the old Dentistry commercial, I was flooded with recall of a lot of great memories of those pets, my trains and toy soldiers on an under the bed pullout layout. I also had a painted turtle for a few years that liked to just put his tounge on the rails...he ran away into a big field with brush; dusk got pitch black fast, he got away. Lots of them around there, I'm sure he did well
I think if you have the wherewithal to videotape cats, dogs, parakeets, hampsters and other pets do cute tricks with O Gauge trains, you might be able to get such a video to go viral on YouTube and make some serious money.
I spent a few hours working on signals again. Now that I have everything in the computer, it was time to match the physical signals with the master list. Turned out I was a couple short on single head masts, three short on triple head masts, and one long on doubles. I assembled the missing masts, and repaired a couple broken ones. Sorry guys, no new pics. You've seen this whole process anyway.
I didn't do anything on my layout, but I think I'm going to head over to Wisconsin and help the Lionel club reconfigure a few scenes! -
some more tinkering around, this wall is only temporary, next spring these walls get
removed for expansion, this area will eventually be a 5' wide yard area....
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Even thought its only temp, still looks good. Are you sure you can reach the back of a 5' yard? I know Izzy the inspector will be watching you to ensure proper safety precautions are taken!
thanks Mike..... and yes, Izzy sure keeps her eyes on things....
there will be another isle on the other side of the yard in the new room....
giving it a 30" reach from each side....
Briansilvermustang, Your developing vista there is very attractive and inviting already, pulling the eye and imagination in for adventure. You're having great creative fun, I can tell. And I'm sure Izzy's supervision helps, too.
FrankM.
Thank you Frank... yes I am having fun trying to figure things out, and getting more and more excited with each board put up on the layout. still have a long way to go just in the frame work, and tinkering around with the scenes is a nice break from framing
Izzy is a great companion while working on the trains, now if I could only get
her to hand me tools while helping....
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briansilvermustang posted:Thank you Frank... yes I am having fun trying to figure things out, and getting more and more excited with each board put up on the layout. still have a long way to go just in the frame work, and tinkering around with the scenes is a nice break from framing
As we all get to enjoy other hobbyists' layouts, both on this forum and in real-life visits, I get more and more convinced that in addition to the treasure that the trains themselves are to us, the investment of imagination is what keeps us devoted to this bobby of ours. Creativity can be very satisfying and rewarding. Plus, we have the innate good sense to make time for fun. (I'll bet it all has a beneficial effect on our longevity, intellects, and quality of life.)
FrankM
Frank,
I think you are absolutely right! Well written!
Moonson posted:briansilvermustang posted:Thank you Frank... yes I am having fun trying to figure things out, and getting more and more excited with each board put up on the layout. still have a long way to go just in the frame work, and tinkering around with the scenes is a nice break from framing
As we all get to enjoy other hobbyists' layouts, both on this forum and in real-life visits, I get more and more convinced that in addition to the treasure that the trains themselves are to us, the investment of imagination is what keeps us devoted to this bobby of ours. Creativity can be very satisfying and rewarding. Plus, we have the innate good sense to make time for fun. (I'll bet it all has a beneficial effect on our longevity, intellects, and quality of life.)
FrankM
Well Said!!! - Amen to that Frank!
Dave
briansilvermustang posted:
some more tinkering around, this wall is only temporary, next spring these walls get
removed for expansion, this area will eventually be a 5' wide yard area....
Awww look at the woggy! My favorite of all the pics. BTW...I didn't misspell doggy. I was saying that to myself as if I was petting and talking in my play voice.
mattrain posted:After a seven year gap of not having a layout to run the trains, I've finally kicked off my layout in our new home - the benchwork is complete, next up is sourcing some homasote, then laying down some rails! Layout is 215" x 84"
Looking good. I can't wait to see the progress. I have those same ceilings(sigh).
Moonson posted:briansilvermustang posted:Thank you Frank... yes I am having fun trying to figure things out, and getting more and more excited with each board put up on the layout. still have a long way to go just in the frame work, and tinkering around with the scenes is a nice break from framing
As we all get to enjoy other hobbyists' layouts, both on this forum and in real-life visits, I get more and more convinced that in addition to the treasure that the trains themselves are to us, the investment of imagination is what keeps us devoted to this bobby of ours. Creativity can be very satisfying and rewarding. Plus, we have the innate good sense to make time for fun. (I'll bet it all has a beneficial effect on our longevity, intellects, and quality of life.)
FrankM
I totally agree with the above comments by Frank. I have been thinking similar thoughts recently.
I am 66 years old today and never felt better in my life, and love my peacemaking collaborative and mediation divorce work, and my outside interests that include the trains, songwriting, golf with my 29 year old son who can hit the ball over the moon, and, in the past, archery (target shooting with recurve bow). My wife says being married to me is like being married to 5 different men because of my diverse interests.
The trains help us discover, and stay connected to, the creative child within.
Recently, I sat next to an 88 year old woman lawyer colleague at a law seminar. She was wearing a short skirt, is a blonde, still attractive, especially for her age, and has a vitality about her. I asked another woman lawyer who works in the same law office as the 88 year old blonde, and she said her secret is that the 88 year old blonde wearing the short skirt thinks and acts like a teenager!
I share a law office with 2 other lawyers who have a father and son law partnership. The senior partner is 86 years old, loves his work and refers to his wife of 59 years as "my girlfriend." I found this so inspiring that I wrote a song about him and his "girlfriend" called Glistening Brown Eyes.
So, I encourage you all to keep creating and having fun with your trains. It can be a fountain of youth of sorts.
Gotta luv dem kitties! They know exactly where to place themselves to make certain you have not even considered overlooking them,
Arnold D. Cribari posted:Moonson posted:briansilvermustang posted:Thank you Frank... yes I am having fun trying to figure things out, and getting more and more excited with each board put up on the layout. still have a long way to go just in the frame work, and tinkering around with the scenes is a nice break from framing
As we all get to enjoy other hobbyists' layouts, both on this forum and in real-life visits, I get more and more convinced that in addition to the treasure that the trains themselves are to us, the investment of imagination is what keeps us devoted to this bobby of ours. Creativity can be very satisfying and rewarding. Plus, we have the innate good sense to make time for fun. (I'll bet it all has a beneficial effect on our longevity, intellects, and quality of life.)
FrankM
I totally agree with the above comments by Frank. I have been thinking similar thoughts recently.
I am 66 years old today and never felt better in my life, and love my peacemaking collaborative and mediation divorce work, and my outside interests that include the trains, songwriting, golf with my 29 year old son who can hit the ball over the moon, and, in the past, archery (target shooting with recurve bow). My wife says being married to me is like being married to 5 different men because of my diverse interests.
The trains help us discover, and stay connected to, the creative child within.
Recently, I sat next to an 88 year old woman lawyer colleague at a law seminar. She was wearing a short skirt, is a blonde, still attractive, especially for her age, and has a vitality about her. I asked another woman lawyer who works in the same law office as the 88 year old blonde, and she said her secret is that the 88 year old blonde wearing the short skirt thinks and acts like a teenager!
I share a law office with 2 other lawyers who have a father and son law partnership. The senior partner is 86 years old, loves his work and refers to his wife of 59 years as "my girlfriend." I found this so inspiring that I wrote a song about him and his "girlfriend" called Glistening Brown Eyes.
So, I encourage you all to keep creating and having fun with your trains. It can be a fountain of youth of sorts.
Frank and Arnold I certainly agree. Working on a train layout certainly engages the imagination in a child like way. I think a lot of us, who grew up in the post war years, try to recapture that child like imaginative feeling/experience which we felt so strongly during our younger years when building and playing with our trains ... now on our now adult layouts. We human beings are creative beings and need to express ourselves. What better way than to allow ourselves to access the child within and create our art ( I do believe model railroading is a form of visual art and theatre too ) from that very inner child like place.
There are times, when creating scenes/vignettes on my layout, that a linear sense of time seems to disappear. As I'm totally absorbed in my creative process, there is no past or future, for only the moment exists. This is how it was for me when I was a young kid experiencing my layout. Experiencing this sense of "now" or "being in the moment" is perhaps the strongest reason I love this hobby so much.
Regular creative play time is a healthy activity for us adults ( and kids too ). Accessing the wonder/energy of our inner child is a powerful thing! AND a FUN activity!
Benchwork framing complete tonight......I am beat all that up and down carrying wood.....cutting and attaching. I was hoping to get just some roadbed down....but have all week w/o anything planned....so I'll get it this week. Goal is to get one line (the subway) running by Sat......
AMCDave posted:Benchwork framing complete tonight......I am beat all that up and down carrying wood.....cutting and attaching. I was hoping to get just some roadbed down....but have all week w/o anything planned....so I'll get it this week. Goal is to get one line (the subway) running by Sat......
If I may suggest:
Relax. More. You'll be sorry when the adventure is done. Believe me. But you probably know that already. Pace yourself, take time for the joy of it all. Don't work at it. Play..
FrankM
Moonson posted:AMCDave posted:Benchwork framing complete tonight......I am beat all that up and down carrying wood.....cutting and attaching. I was hoping to get just some roadbed down....but have all week w/o anything planned....so I'll get it this week. Goal is to get one line (the subway) running by Sat......
If I may suggest:
Relax. More. You'll be sorry when the adventure is done. Believe me. But you probably know that already. Pace yourself, take time for the joy of it all. Don't work at it. Play..
FrankM
Frank that's some great advice!
Stevemny posted:Had a “cat”astrophic experience
LMAO
I got one just like yours.
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