Introducing The PistonBroke Line

[OBJack]

Thanks for the comments guys, And to answer a few questions,

Welcome aboard, Jack. Don't feel too bad. The DIY network has a series on professional contractors coming in to rescue homeowners who get in over their heads trying to do home improvements. At least you got your taken care of and the room looks great. I can't wait for chapter 2. When do we see some trains?

Ummmm If you have the DIY phone # Russ..... I sure need it at times,
and Trains? ...is that what this is about? oh yes, I seem to remember it took a while.

Hi ya Bob! Welcome to Big Blue. That is one sweet layout room! I can see it now, Ops session, Brews and BBQ! Nice. Looking forward to seeing some more of what you did with that space.
P.S. Too bad about dust. Better your place then mine!

I like your thinking Tetters, the Brews and BBQs happened while we were waiting for "The War Office" to clean away the mess.. so dust problem solved also Josh.

Jack,
Welcome! Similar stories can be had everywhere - so you're not alone in this. But I second tetters' comment on your room - very nice! Especially in northern/snowy climates, we tend to think of dark, windowless basements as the home of layouts. Not so yours! Great space!
Andrew

Andrew that great space/realestate, like all things matrimonial, always comes at a price,
from memory:
Two "I love you"s
Three lawn mowing sessions
A car wash
A "fix my cupboard latch" and two cups of tea in bed ( I got the two cups of tea down to one her birthday and the other on our anniversary, just got to remember now)


Once again thanks for your encouraging words, you have just take it upon yourselves to shoulder the responsibility for the posting of the next installment of this Never Ending Story.



OK... from the start you must realise that my computing Skills were ( are) nearly non existent: and as far as modelling or knowing anything about trains went (goes) absolutely Zilch. Zero Nada. Nothing.
My apologies in advance to those who have a great knowledge of either, for you must be cringing now wondering what lies before you.
Anyway back to the trains .......

We went online to find out a bit of Info, and discovered all these forums with people talking (with photos ) about model RR that they had built or seen and it started to fascinate me.

So Maybe we needed a track plan to follow, Which led me to the Layout Party forum and disisme (am I allowed to say that) and between us we devised a trackplan that was functional and easy to follow.
It was all Good.

and the first Plan was something like this

and that looked OK 'cause all we wanted was a train that went round and round, was off the ground, and a walkthrough table design that my ol' bones didn't have to bend over to get into the middle of.

Yeah Right. .. All the Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men...........
I had learned to use xtrackcad a weee bit, A little knowledge is a bad thing right?

Right

You guessed it, this is what I did to that sensible and functional plan that we had worked out... it had now become.....

"Spaghetti Bowl Central"

Which took away the open entry and made a duckunder. Probably in time to come.....

Mistake # 3

but with the high value of Real Estate around here you steal every bit you can. and it meant that we could have a couple of lines operational at once with the radii not to tight.

I decided that 4'6'' was to be the height of the table. Scientifically it was 'cause I was the Boss and it was a good height for me.
And the anklebiters could stand on a chair to see, but not reach it easily until they grew a bit.

Now for some timber for this big construction,
Having just built a house not so long ago, and me one of those people who will not throw anything away in case it comes in handy one day, I found some leftover timber which I convinced myself was exactly what was needed.
"Just the right size" I told the War Office
"See I knew it would come in handy" I said
I wont tell you what her reply was. I think she just kept walking.

So for all the WOODPHILES among you here is a closeup photo of some wood that was used. And for the Technophiles the wood was 3"by 11/2"dressed timber. Or close enough. :?

AND

And so the construction began.
With the father of some of the anklebiters arriving to break my drillbits we got under way

We made squares which were then bolted together

Notice some of the highly specialized construction material is painted which goes to show we waste not want not!!! (or maybe they were offcuts stolen from the house builder)

So in the middle of all this mess, I'm sorry but I'll have to leave you for now.
the grey matter has just turned to cotton wool trying to put this together.

But be afraid ... Be very afraid....... I could be back with the next part of the story Veeeery Soooon.

Happy Modelling
Jack