chopped leaves

[joefryfry]

Alright, I don't have the time to gather, chop, cook and demagnetize leaves for my layout. Does anyone sells these with this already done? Thanks.

[P5se Camelback]

Actually, this is exactly the time of year to fill a plastic grocery store bag full of leaves off your neighbor's lawn. Then next weekend when the wife goes to the mall, dump them on a cookie sheet, slip them into the oven and bake them at 200 or 250 for an hour or two. Let 'em cool off and then back into the bag they go.

The next weekend is when you do them up in the blender in batches. Make sure to wash out the blender before the shoppers get back home from the Mall.

You're now home free, it took almost no time at all because most of it happened when you were doing something else and by not spending any money, you freed up cash to buy another Tortoise machine or some ground foam in several colors to go with the ground up dried leaves!

[Charlie B]

You use the blender the NEXT week end to make and color the ground foam...
Charlie

[nachoman]

I should warn you, that blenders burn up easily. Perhaps a yard sale or thrift store blender could be worth the five bucks.

[Charlie B]

I should warn you, that blenders burn up easily. Perhaps a yard sale or thrift store blender could be worth the five bucks.

Well, in that case pehaps you should have used the food processor.
Charlie

[P5se Camelback]

Just don't turn it on and leave it on!

Pulse!

Pulse!

Pulse!

[joefryfry]

Again, I appreciate the comments, but I do NOT have time for gathering and preparing the leaves. I found that MRC sells them and ordered a bag. If you know of any other place that sells them, please let me know, in case I don't like these. Work consumes 72 hours of my week, every week. I spend the rest of time with my son and wife. I get to work on my layout about 2 hours per month.

[joefryfry]

I spotted some spices on my wife's spice rack that resemble fallen leaves. Is it a bad idea to use a spice on the layout?

[faraway]

I spotted some spices on my wife's spice rack that resemble fallen leaves. Is it a bad idea to use a spice on the layout?

That is most time some kind of herbage, right? Do you like the smell day and night in the room with the layout?

[joefryfry]

I was blessed with a nose that is not very sensitive. My layout is very small. I guess my concern is degradation of the herb over time and attracting bugs. Once I get this layout done and snap some photos and video, I'm rebuilding, or hopefully moving to a new home. The leaves are only going to cover lightly about 4 square feet.

[Russ Bellinis]

It would depend on the spice. Strong spices like onion, garlic, etc. actually tend to repel bugs. Some other spices may well be considered "bug food." If you inadvertently pick some "bug food," you will find your layout infested with bugs, and all of the problems that would entail.

[P5se Camelback]

Joe Fryfry -

I was sitting here contemplating your situation. Yeah, I know, it's easy for me because I'm retired and I have lots of time.

But it wasn't always that way. I too, had a job that demanded a lot from me timewise. But I had (have) a daughter. She was under six back then. If I needed leaves gathered to "make some scenery stuff for the railroad," if I asked her to gather some for me in a bag, she would have done it. She's 26 now, and if I asked her, she would go on to her college campus and gather a bag full of leaves for Dad.

Now, getting her mother to bake them and pulverize them in the blender ... that request would have been a far different story, one that would have resulted in laughter, followed by a firm, NO!" I would have had to do that myself while the two of them were at the Mall. But the baking can be done when you are doing something else, the blending doesn't take any more that ten minutes, the washing, drying and putting away the blender doesn't take even fifteen minutes!

Ask your son to gather leaves ... he'll probably think it's a kinky request, but be a good son and do it for you anyway. After that, you're almost home free!

EDIT: I just realized as I was re-reading this thread, that I spelled your name wrong ... sorry ... corrected!

And, you know ... it never occurred to me that you might have a very, very, very young son!

[joefryfry]

Thanks. My son is 19 months. He only destroys things. The little free time, about an hour, each evening is spent with my wife and son. My son does love choo choos and I hope that continues. The little free time on the weekends is catching up on everything I need to do and taking care of my high maintence home. My layout comes last, but I do find some time. All my Christmas requests are train related. I told my wife I did have one non-train idea though. Get me a food processor. She said, "Is that for your train?"

[joefryfry]

So my wife bought me a food processor. I once thought that the leaves that collect in my garage with no door were a nuisance. Like clockwork, I went to the garage and there were plenty of leaves. Good thing since there is about 2 inches of snow on the ground. They were nice and dry. Took a bit to get my leaf sucker going in the cold, but it was also conveniently sitting there, along with the collection bag. So I let them dry in my basement a few days and baked some leaves yesterday. My wife is already a big whiner about the smell. The food processor chopped them up real nice. So a fellow I work with gave me a magnet, but it is a loop that the material has to pass through without touching the sides. Sounds like a pain. What are the risks of not demagnetizing the leaves?

[MasonJar]

Hi Joe,

I doubt that there's much magnetic material, but you may have picked up some debris in the mix using the leaf collector. The risks are that little particles get into your loco's moving parts and/or motors and grind away, bringing everything to a halt.

However, some people choose to follow the guidelines that 1) if it's more than a few inches from the tracks, it is unlikely to be attracted by the magnets in the motors, and 2) if it is well glued down, it won't move anyway.

So it depends on your risk tolerance.

As for the magnet, I can't picture what you mean about not touching the sides... It does sound complicated. If the ground, dried leaves are in a largish container, you can always throw in a rare earth magnet (or any other for that matter - old speakers are a good source) and roll it around for a while. Any magnetic debris should stick and be easy to lift out.


Andrew