What did you do on your layout today?

Did some ballasting on my layout 

briansilvermustang posted:

   ballast looks great !!  take care of your toe, looked like a big nail, OUCH...

Thanks Brian. The nail is about 1-1/2" galvanized. I think it went through the fire before it went through my shoe. Probably going to end up with a tetanus shot, even though they are good for ten years, and my last one was five years ago. This is going to be a real test of my healing powers.

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Ouch!

That's my problem Mark, I get no ouch. Neuropathy! It was a total surprise this morning.

Oh, I forgot!!  How foolish of me.  My father-in-law had the same problem and we have mentioned that here!!  I must be getting old!  

Yes they will give you a tetanus shot I would think.  Our older daughter stepped on a nail while we were working on their shed, and it had bee less than 5 years since her previous one.

Thanks Pat, I'll swing by the pharmacy after dialysis and grab my antibiotic. My wife is used to my never ending string of boo boos, so is my doctor for that matter.

Wow Elliot you and the wife got a lot done! But man that is one hell of a way to end the day and then find it in the morning! Take care of your self! Train rooms and trains are nice, but life is life! Hope everything turns out ok!

Thanks Mike. At least it's not a puncture, it's more of a nasty slice across the bottom off the toe. Doc will get it all cleaned up in the morning and we'll go from there. BTW, the nail went into the shoe Saturday morning, and I didn't discover it til this morning, almost 48 hours later.

Elliot all I can say is WOW!

Elliot, sorry about your accident. With all the things coming up and the deadline to get more done you will have to do double duty on being safe. Especially with hardly any feeling in your feet your other senses, like your eyes, come into play to take up the slack of no feeling. Being aware of the surroundings. So stay safe Elliot..............Paul

Still chugging along on the mine run...  Started painting the low loft batting today and applying 3 shades of dirt, fine turf, etc. ... Done for today.... Included a couple of photos of the coal mine module I built last June, looking forward to getting more done tomorrow.   Each module is removable and 2' x 8'.  

It looks great, Chris!!

Mark,   Thanks.  Been reading the post about you're expanded layout area.  Very happy for you,  the new track plan is looking great.   The larger area will make a huge difference and significant improvement in your railroad and what you can do with it.   Heck we all know how much time, effort and energy goes into planning, designing and building these layouts.    Not the kind of thing you want to change dramatically once it's well under construction. 

Looking great Chris...............Paul

chris a posted:

Still chugging along on the mine run...  Started painting the low loft batting today and applying 3 shades of dirt, fine turf, etc. ... Done for today.... Included a couple of photos of the coal mine module I built last June, looking forward to getting more done tomorrow.   Each module is removable and 2' x 8'.  

Impressed with your excellent work Chris! Keep the photos coming.

Thank you, Chris!  This was something I was planning in HO back around 2000-2001, but our girls weren’t interested in my trains and we got busy with other things.  Now they are married, my eyes and hands aren’t what they used to be, so I will do it in O Gauge.  Hopefully if we have grandchildren, one of them will be interested!  

Mostly electrical planning work.  Have a panel in mind for block and switch control.  Panel switches, LEDs, etc. on slow boat from China.  Figuring out relays necessary.  If you may recall my layout will be 10'x14' and mixed conventional and DCS (eventually Legacy) and I'd like to run a lot of engines on separate power districts (loops, yard, back&forth) without issue. Challenge with conventional.

But now into fun stuff with building locations using AnyRail and I had an epiphany.  Most my stuff is flat with only one elevated O72 loop.  I was having trouble fitting stuff in so it somehow dawned on me that I can best find places to place more structures by building up and over track intersections.  Opens up a lot of possibilities for introducing varied height into an otherwise flat surface with using structures.

Looking good, Chris. 

Nice work Chris, thanks for sharing the method for doing the hills!

          rainy day out , so me and Izzy hung out in the engine room,

                                                         and started dusting some of the engines off...

                                 then we ran a few of them...

Brian, and it took you and Izzy all day just to get started dusting your engines since your roster is larger than some Class 1 railroads!!

Looking good!!

Sidewalks are painted, roads marked,  and buildings installed and wired. Just have to install/wire the street lights and traffic lights then the hard stuff is done. After that it's on to cars, people, and details. You know, the expensive part.

Lou1985 what material(s) did you use for the sidewalks and roadway...they look great!

Lou, Your streets look great!  They  will look even better once you get all the details on 

Brian, I think you need a few more engines for your train room outside!

Lou, that looks great! I too would like to know what you used ?

Well guys, I got my tetanus shot, but is seems I underestimated the damage to that toe. The nail went in deep at a flat angle. Doc did some serious carving, down to the bone in one spot. Never felt a thing. Also had X-rays done. I'm going to have to stay off it for quite a while. That's going to put a crimp in my style. I'm going to have to find tasks that don't require a lot of movement.

I'm off to sift ballast!  See if I can get three bags done this afternoon.

Sorry to learn of your predicament - do take care of yourself.

Well, that is worse than we feared!  Please take care of it and make sure you keep a close eye on the healing, Elliot!

Elliot, sorry to hear its worse then just a poke in the toe! Please take care of it so it doesn't get worse. At least you can do the sifting sitting down I would think! I am sure your wife will keep you in line!

A.J. posted:

Lou1985 what material(s) did you use for the sidewalks and roadway...they look great!

Streets are just painted plywood. The road markings are white car pinstripes. The sidewalks are made of 1/4" cork sheets painted and glued to the plywood. 

Lou, those are some accurate lines, any special technique for making them that straight?

TedW posted:

Lou, those are some accurate lines, any special technique for making them that straight?

A ruler to measure distance from set points and lots of time/patience. That street is 13.5 feet long. It took me almost 4 hours to do.

Elliot, hope you heal well soon !!

Installed the new portals that I started the other day. Safe for SD70s now!

Old portals

New portals

Elliot- sorry to hear the bad news. I know that you will find a way to keep busy.

Lou- the street scene looks great. yes- very straight traffic markings, very nice.

Ross- the new portals are sharp. Did you carve the brick pattern or did you buy the material pre-made?

Bob

Looks great Ross!

Thanks Mike!

Elliot:  Take care.  We don't want you coming down with toe-main poisoning.   

Mitch  

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Well guys, I got my tetanus shot, but is seems I underestimated the damage to that toe. The nail went in deep at a flat angle. Doc did some serious carving, down to the bone in one spot. Never felt a thing. Also had X-rays done. I'm going to have to stay off it for quite a while. That's going to put a crimp in my style. I'm going to have to find tasks that don't require a lot of movement.

I'm off to sift ballast!  See if I can get three bags done this afternoon.

hello Elliot  been awhile since I replied to your posts anyways sorry to hear your toe got nailed but hopefully will get better quickly. had a thought can you use an office chair on wheels and use the good leg to scurry about while let bad foots knee rest on seat cushion?

now if you learned how to levitate you would have it made LOL.  your really making progress on main scenery areas your working on.

remind me not to have you make a bonfire am betting bbq wheel not happy with you either yes i'm just joking with you on that.

I wish someone living in st paul area could get Virtual Rail cam to take over both cameras at union depot I really miss the camera 1 big time as I know you do as well.

hope you find a way to keep momentum moving forward despite the injured foot.

Ray

Elliot,  take care of that foot so you can heal as fast as possible.   It's got to be frustrating in the middle of the railroad build, but don't let it get worse, you'll really be out of service.

Lou,  Really nice job on the road and city scene over the passenger storage tracks, is there a station planned in that scene so passengers can buy tickets and board ?

Ross,  great work on the portals, good choice of colors.   

Here's my progress today on the mine run today.   Managed to carve 4 cast rocks and fit them together to make one large outcropping  with some depth and height....  Now I can start final building placements, prepare the grounds around the buildings, start working on the curb for the concrete roadway where it meets the base of the hill and installing LED lights while I wait for the scenery to dry, then I can add more vegetation, scrub, trees etc.   

chris a posted:

 

Lou,  Really nice job on the road and city scene over the passenger storage tracks, is there a station planned in that scene so passengers can buy tickets and board ?

 

Look at the large building on the right in the attached picture. It says "Union Station". I used an unmodified MTH bank building as, with the space I have, combining two of them into a larger station building would take up too much real estate.