Coming in from the cold

[faraway]

I find it cool to ignore the window and proceed with the benchwork. Can we get photos when you have a training session with your wife cleaning the upper half? My wife was shocked She hopes I do not learn too much from this forum
Looking good!

[deckroid]

Hey everyone

Haven't been able to get into the train room for the past couple of days, but this weekend things are going to happen. (I hope. That dang Honey-Do list is always lurking out there...)

Greg - I took the doors off the closet and I think I will have enough room expanding that side of the layout for a turntable and roundhouse. It will be extended by 33", so a 33 x 24 piece should do it. If not, then I need to rethink how I put that thing together. I will just have to be careful where the hole goes for the turntable. Knowing my luck, it will co-inside with a stud where I need to have my railing/bracket.

Took some measurements after the three sides were up. The layout is 106" x 103". Just under 9 feet square. I am not too sure why I lost 3 inches on one side, but it those three sides are SOLID. I thought it would shimmy and shake. Nope.

Russ - The Murphy Bed is going in another part of the house. This is a very strange house plan. The main floor is a standard 3 bedroom, 2 bath track housing with a bonus room. The bonus room, or sewing/knitting/quilting room, has a walk in closet and its own bathroom. My wife took that as hers on our initial walkthru with the realtor last year. It cannot be classified as a bedroom because the window is too small for a fire fighter and an oxy tank to get thru. Go figure.

Anyway, they slapped a very oddly shaped basement and put 2 bedrooms and a jack/jill bathroom down there. There is an alcove that looks to be where a closet might have gone but they left empty. That's where the bed will be going.

Tetters - especially somewhere with heating/cooling and no mice. Well, if Kitty is doing her job.

Tom - More work than I could do on my own. The heating/cooling/water heater are all in the basement. Splitting the vent from the bonus room wouldn't have done much as they didnt insulate the friggin garage. Oh, on the one wall attached to the house they did. That's code. But the other three? Nada. Not to mention the dust and mice in the garage... I gave up a larger area for the comforts of having it in the house.

Galen - I like your layout plan and room. I might borrow an idea or two from you...specifically the Wye from earlier in your thread; that looks really nice. And as for specifics on what I am looking for is just general "what would you do" kind of tips and thoughts. I have a rough idea what I want but I always welcome advice. Especially from those who have been there and done it before. I just started building the benchwork to give me a hard visual and actual measurements. I can do scale measurements on paper and cardboard cutouts, but I like the visuals.

faraway - That window has 10 years of hard water on it. I put some CLR on a small area and the window just laughed at me. So, it's an opaque filter for the sun. Also, I was going to see if I could part of it as a waterfall. Now, I think I will just ignore it. I cleaned it before doing this, so it should be good for a few years, right?

Well, its off to my train club to help out and pick up 2 wyes to see if I can get an idea on how to build a three way wye. Then when I come back, more foam and start building the 4th side.

Any idea on how to hang florescent lighting? I have 4 shop lights but my stud finder is having issues locating the joists due to the textured ceiling.

Thanks!

George

[deckroid]

Laid the first cork today. Got the 4th side up but not foamed. Still working on how to scenic it, so for now, its a work bench.



Still need to get better lighting in that room.

While the glue is drying, I broke out a new kit.



Now, the last time I put one of these laser kits together, I painted it first and it really warped the wood. I even sealed it before trying the paint. Wasn't a happy project. So this time around I am trying my favorite ... CHALKS!

Here is an example of what I am doing. Now, this is just the brownish color first. Later I will dust it with a nice gray color. Sure, it wont look exactly like the one on the box, but it's an experiment.



Here is what 2 hours looks like.



More to come...

George

[mountaingoatgreg]

George,

Very nive start on the building....and the layout too. Keep us posted on your progress!!

[Gary S]

I just checked out this thread and I certainly like what you are doing. Brackets and benchwork look great.

On the lighting, you could us toggle bolts in the sheetrock. As for finding the joists, one method is to use an icepick to start punching holes every 1.4 inches where the fixture will be. Once you find a couple, you can figure out the spacing and pretty much locate all the rest with a tape measure. When you do find the joists and mount the fixtures, the fixture will cover the ice pick holes, and you could put a little caulk in the holes if that bothers you. Now, before you start poking holes, do you know which way the joists run? That makes a difference. Another possibility is to use those drywall anchors that screw into the sheetrock - have you seen those? Very neat, and if you put two at each end of the fixture, would be plenty enough to hold them up. I'm an electrician and wouldn't hesitate to use them to hang a 1 foot by 4 foot fixture - assuming that is what you have. Same with the toggle bolts. Of course, I prefer finding the joists and using deck screws, but sometimes you just can't.

Keep up the good work, and photos!

Oh... one thing I learned from Andrew (MasonJar) - an alternative to the dimensional lumber for benchwork is to get a sheet of 3/4" plywood and rip the planks with a table saw. Stable and less prone to future warping.

[deckroid]

Oh... one thing I learned from Andrew (MasonJar) - an alternative to the dimensional lumber for benchwork is to get a sheet of 3/4" plywood and rip the planks with a table saw. Stable and less prone to future warping.

Thanks for the info on the joists. Unfortunately I don't know which way they run and its 11 degrees (F) outside and I dont feel like getting into my crawl space!
With my luck, I would poke holes along the wrong way... I was thinking of something along those lines but I have never been very good at Battleship.

However... the mollies might be a way to go. Those lights don't weigh much.

As far as the table saw is concerned... I had, in one of my clubs copious amounts of books, read about making those planks but the CFO of my railroad won't allow major power tools. It took an act of congress just to allow the chainsaw. She works in the health field and sees lots of appendages gone missing.

I dont know how much more I can get done in the next two days, but I am going to try to sneak down sometime tomorrow while the turkey is cooking.

George

[mountaingoatgreg]

George,

Here is a picture I scanned just for you

[deckroid]

Holy F9, Batman!!

That is a beea-uuuu-tiful engine.

I really like the weathering matched with the super detail kit... oh wait

I have always liked that color scheme over the green butter knife. In fact, that color scheme is what jbaakko did for me on my what-if Dash-8. After the black and yellow, the passenger Loewy scheme then the butter knife, if I had to rank them.

Is that from a slide? I bought about 20 slides at a show for a few bucks and would like to get them into digital format. If a scanner will work, I might be able to dig one up.

[mountaingoatgreg]

Geroge,

I just bought a bunch of slides from a guy and this was one that was in there. I have a few more NP locos and some caboose photos. I will probably add a page to my blog and post them all there, eventually.

[deckroid]

Now that I have found my tools again (my 3 yo son likes to 'help') I am about to lay a few feet of track and that got me to wondering:

If the last spike is called the Golden Spike, what do they call the first spike?

[P5se Camelback]

The "first spike" ...
?

[deckroid]

Laid some track the other night then did some more today.






Trying something I saw at a buddy's house. He sculptamolds everything before painting... gives the ground the rough ground look. Doing a small spot where I would usually have just painted and spread out some foam...



As you can tell from the clutter I have yet to put in shelving.

Tomorrow, I tackle the bridge.

[mountaingoatgreg]

George,

Looks liek you are jumping in with both feet!!!!
Did you ever figure out a track plan or are you just making it up as you go along?
Oh and by the way Milwaukee power....where is the NP power At???
Keep us posted on your progress and we all look forward to more pictures.

[deckroid]

Well, I have a list of industries I want on my layout and I have a rough idea where those go... but an actual on paper layout? No.

And as for the NP power... that engine, a Broadway Limited, is my most worrisome engine in my fleet. (Ha... fleet... if you call 7 engines a fleet) I always use that engine when I am testing turnouts, joints, or curves. Rest assured I will be busting out my others when I get more track laid. Speaking of which... I better get on it. That high cliff isn't building itself!

More to come later...

George

[deckroid]

Ok, while the glue et al is drying, here are some pics from this morning's activities...

Right side:


Left side:


Bridge:


Not finished by any stretch, but it is taking shape. Speaking of shape, I had better get the vacuum downstairs... that blue foam goes everywhere!

Once I am done hacking and poking at the foam, I plan on using some plaster strips and then sculpty the cliff. I am trying some basalt molds using pencils but I am not convinced that will work.

Here is what I am trying for...


That is really the only shot I have taken of the basalt formations I grew up around... I guess I should stop next time I go home, but with my wee ones its best to stop only when needed...

George