What did you do on your layout today?

RSJB18 posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

beardog posted:

Mark, I have to disagree with your inspector, just walking on them 

can raise dust and that is the problem. The dust gets airborne and

you inhale it. Simply putting a coat of floor wax or a clear finish

or a coat of paint on the areas you walk on will solve the problem. 

Beardog,

That all does make sense!  At least I don’t own that house anymore.  It was over 25 years ago.  Thank you very much!

Guys- the tile in Paul's house is most likely asbestos ceramic tile (ACT) was common place up until they banned asbestos in the late 60's. A good indicator is if it's 9" X 9" it's ACT. Fortunately the process used to make the tile permanently bonds the fibers into the tile. It cannot become airborne unless pulverized to a fine dust. Even a cracked tile is not hazardous. A good coat of wax is advisable though.

We still have lots of it in some of our older buildings at the College I work at. It still has to be removed by a licensed asbestos contractor but its probably the least hazardous asbestos containing material around these days.

Bob

Bob, Ah ha!  The house was built in '52 if I recall correctly.  

decoynh posted:

mike g. posted:

Hi Matt, I was going to but the wife said that was stupid. Oh well I will make sure I put it somewhere when I finish the building!

LOL!  At our last house in 2013, we were removing wallpaper and there on the sheetrock wall was "Waldo was here, Feb 1973"!  When my dad was renovating our ca. 1870 house in Danbury CT, he found Indian Head pennies inside a wall with dates in the late 1800's.  Maybe you could leave an old train car or a piece of Lionel 3rail track in a wall for a hint of its original design/use.  Best of luck as you go forward!

I grew up in the house my great grandfather had built in 1888.  We didn't know the exact year until Dad took the fireplace mantle down when removing the crumbling chimney in the mid '60s.  Behind it in pencil was the man's name and date, "Lincoln Staley, November 18, 1888".  A little history, the man was a noted builder of a simple two story rural house in the area north of Pittsburgh, and was named for Abraham Lincoln obviously.  What I find interesting is that he married the daughter of a Southern planter who lost everything in the Civil War.  This is the same house that my dad lived in his whole life until he and Mom had to go to a personal care home last summer.  The mantle with the pencil inscription is still in Dad's outbuilding shop.

mike g. posted:

Not to much, but I can tell you its to much for this old guy! check it out!No all I need to do is start putting up some walls when it dries!

                      off to a GREAT start Mike, trains will be running soon

WOW Brian already giving his rendition of the layout before the concrete is dry!!  Brian... YOU are hired!! LOL   

Jim : )

Brian, That is a great layout you have started for Mike!!

Elliot, That is pretty cool you have the rail painting and ballasting job in various stages of progress on your layout.  Yes, the drone will help you for your layout to see what Google can't clarify for you!

Everyone, thank you for the comments on the rolling layout section.  Being a below average carpenter, with the minimum of tools, I am pretty well pleased.  It is level and sturdy; those are my two basic criteria.  The uglyness will be covered up with layout and facia.  Also, when I release the four brakes, it rolls freely! 

Bob and Paul, Thank you for the comments on placing both places.  I don't know if I could post monthly updates like Elliot does so regularly on the very first of every month, but timing isn't important.  Yes, this topic defiantly has the highest exposure of any, so I will post here, and I will on my own topic.  We will see how it works out, and I will make adjustments as to what I post where as seems necessary! 

I didn't do anything yesterday, as I had my third Euflexxa shot in my knee in the morning, then took the dog to the vet in the afternoon because she has been getting treated for a bad ACL.  She isn't doing the stairs in our stupid split entry house, so I twisted the knee and hip on one of the lifts.  Actually getting her back into the car to go home.  Anyway, all three of us have knee problems.  (I say stupid split entry because we had a ranch, but my mother-in-law insisted we buy this house from her after my father-in-law passed away in 2011.  I shouldn't complain, we still owed $20,000 or so on the ranch, and we came out of the deal with no mortgage.) 

carsntrains posted:

WOW Brian already giving his rendition of the layout before the concrete is dry!!  Brian... YOU are hired!! LOL   

Jim : )

I can see it now!  "BRIANSILVERMUSTANG LAYOUT SERVICE" in Miller Engineering Lights!!!

More progress. Since my Indian head bookend came yesterday I am making my mold today.

Well the casting is done. I love these fast set molds and casting materials. 30min. set time for mold, 5 min set for casting.

Mike, the info on concrete strength over curing time that NJCJOE gave you is dead on.  I'd give it a week before putting up any walls.

Not on my layout but for my (eventual) layout.  I've fabricated these two Alaska RR vista domes out of full vista dome bodies from an e-bay auction and sacrificial MTH RK-6012 Santa Fe Vista Domes.  Roof ,frames and interior from the Santa Fe cars.  Had to alter the mounting system because the Alaska bodies mounted to the frame in each corner and the Santa Fe roofs had two mounts along the centerline of the car.  Added passengers and some interior details.  The full vista dome is there for comparison.  Note the all have the same road number

    Very NICE  Joe !!

The Alaska cars look great, Joe!!!

Well y'all know that things been a little rough lately ..   Soooo.   I went down to Lowes and Home Depot to "look" at tool box-work stations.   Lowes had some nice ones.   Went to HD and they had the perfect one.   I measure it and was walking away.  Manager said "you take that with you, I'll give you 25 dollars off".     Hmmm  Wife grabs the handles on it and starts rolling it to the cash register!!! YAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   And by golly that rascal fit just right....  with a little tuning!  38 inches tall, 46 inches long.  Had to take the handle off of it.

decoynh posted:

mike g. posted:

Not to much, but I can tell you its to much for this old guy! check it out!No all I need to do is start putting up some walls when it dries!

Nice start Mike.  Did you remember to carve name & Date in the concrete?

     Too late now, but the old Italians around here used to throw a new coin onto the dirt before a pour. There are lots of cement laid where the company will press their logo and/or the date laid laid into the pour too. You see them a lot in my neigborhood; great advertising

   Dimes to dollars; the old solid silver coins when sold at modern silver prices, makes keeping and eye out during old concrete removal jobs worth the look.       The most I've found is three Mercury dimes; but a buddy found some Liberty dollars and near a dozen quarters under his storefront's walkway and drive.    We also uncovered various wall advertising, in layers, dating back to the early 1900's; the oldest being a hand painted bread ad. There was bread, beer, gas, Old Gold, Beech clove gum, 8' o clock coffee, Doublemint, two festivals, two store logos, and a good number of others we couldn't keep intact enough to tell. Three frames, new built right over the old frames created a 20'x60' time capsule. It is all recorded with the coins in a picture box in the office.

...but I doubt it will survive like the subject of the tribute has; it's a cool old building 

Shell painted, assembled and stickered!  

Also, tidied up the workbench. 

Since the factory brakewheel went AWOL,  I superglued a postwar repro into place. 

And, of course, ten seconds after taking THAT picture, guess what I see suddenly appear on the carpet... 

Oh, well.  I'll save it for some other project.

Onwards and upwards! 

Mitch 

Mark Boyce posted:

decoynh posted:

mike g. posted:

Hi Matt, I was going to but the wife said that was stupid. Oh well I will make sure I put it somewhere when I finish the building!

LOL!  At our last house in 2013, we were removing wallpaper and there on the sheetrock wall was "Waldo was here, Feb 1973"!  When my dad was renovating our ca. 1870 house in Danbury CT, he found Indian Head pennies inside a wall with dates in the late 1800's.  Maybe you could leave an old train car or a piece of Lionel 3rail track in a wall for a hint of its original design/use.  Best of luck as you go forward!

I grew up in the house my great grandfather had built in 1888.  We didn't know the exact year until Dad took the fireplace mantle down when removing the crumbling chimney in the mid '60s.  Behind it in pencil was the man's name and date, "Lincoln Staley, November 18, 1888".  A little history, the man was a noted builder of a simple two story rural house in the area north of Pittsburgh, and was named for Abraham Lincoln obviously.  What I find interesting is that he married the daughter of a Southern planter who lost everything in the Civil War.  This is the same house that my dad lived in his whole life until he and Mom had to go to a personal care home last summer.  The mantle with the pencil inscription is still in Dad's outbuilding shop.

Mark That is a great story about your Grandfathers house! Some day when they open up the wall on my train room they will find a box car with a note in it! LOL

briansilvermustang posted:

mike g. posted:

Not to much, but I can tell you its to much for this old guy! check it out!No all I need to do is start putting up some walls when it dries!

 

                      off to a GREAT start Mike, trains will be running soon

Brian, that sure is a nice Layout plan! I like how in included my lift bridge! Now I know how many trees to buy when the time comes! By the way Thanks for the great gifts!

Mitch I have had tools, car parts vanish......and they magically  reappear after I either buy another one or after I get disgusted and head to the house for a break. I think it's my late Uncle Jim messing with me.

Mark Boyce posted:

decoynh posted:

mike g. posted:

Hi Matt, I was going to but the wife said that was stupid. Oh well I will make sure I put it somewhere when I finish the building!

LOL!  At our last house in 2013, we were removing wallpaper and there on the sheetrock wall was "Waldo was here, Feb 1973"!  When my dad was renovating our ca. 1870 house in Danbury CT, he found Indian Head pennies inside a wall with dates in the late 1800's.  Maybe you could leave an old train car or a piece of Lionel 3rail track in a wall for a hint of its original design/use.  Best of luck as you go forward!

I grew up in the house my great grandfather had built in 1888.  We didn't know the exact year until Dad took the fireplace mantle down when removing the crumbling chimney in the mid '60s.  Behind it in pencil was the man's name and date, "Lincoln Staley, November 18, 1888".  A little history, the man was a noted builder of a simple two story rural house in the area north of Pittsburgh, and was named for Abraham Lincoln obviously.  What I find interesting is that he married the daughter of a Southern planter who lost everything in the Civil War.  This is the same house that my dad lived in his whole life until he and Mom had to go to a personal care home last summer.  The mantle with the pencil inscription is still in Dad's outbuilding shop.

I love these kinds of stories that can make history personal.

CSX Al posted:

More progress. Since my Indian head bookend came yesterday I am making my mold today.

Well the casting is done. I love these fast set molds and casting materials. 30min. set time for mold, 5 min set for casting.

Love the form work on the mold! Very nice work.

Bob