Good Morning Everyone. 61° and partly cloudy, at least the 20 mph winds of the last two days have abated somewhat. Big change tomorrow around noon when they return from the north at 25 mph and we get down into the upper 30's at night for three days. Gotta remember to close the windows before it hits! Mostly uneventful trip for groceries and beer yesterday, until I got to the last turn, about a mile from the house. They had my road closed for some maintenance (about 100 yards away) so I had to go around the block and come from the other end. But a trip around my block is 10.5 miles, about 2/3 of it on a gravel road! After that it was household chores, mowing and firewood gathering. That is, getting all of the recent tree prunings out of the yard so that I can properly mow. Walked through the garden, nothing new to report there
Fiber-optic contractors were finishing up yesterday, actually inserting cable into the conduits that they put in. They filled in the huge hole in front of the house, and left a berm of dirt (leftover from the insertion of the "vault") along the drainage ditch. I had to make them remove the berm and spread it on a low spot, because it was blocking the main drainage point from the lowest part of the estate.
Thanks to all who commented or liked yesterday's post,
Johnny,
Garry,
Joe,
Jim,
Sherrel,
Phil,
Dave,
Tom,
Louis,
Curt and anyone else whom I may have overlooked.
How about some motive power? That container train has moved on and a mixed freight has pulled into the same passing siding. It's headed up with a F45, trailed by an ex-passenger FP45, still in the red/silver livery.
Sorry for the blurry picture, I didn't notice it until after I posted it.
Both of these models are Athearn Genesis models.
I made an appearance in the train shed late in the day. Added some ground cover and enhanced the backdrop with some green smudges to resemble trees, à la Bob Ross. Slow, steady progress.
Garry - Best wishes and prayers for your wife and family. What a drag, first her mother in the hospital and now her brother passing.
Justin - Good news on your daughters recovery. Glad to read that the accident didn't dissuade her from wanting to ride again.
Chet - Continued best wishes for your surgery recovery. We'll know it's successful when you reach the milestone of using your right arm, to hoist a beer. It's race weekend here at TMS. I'm beginning to miss not getting the free admission tickets from vendors any more. Traffic, especially campers was a little heavier yesterday going in that direction, but not enough to cause disruptions. From my house, it's under 40 miles and only a couple of turns to the parking area. I should just buy my own tickets, my brother-in-law always brings his camper in case I don't want to drive home afterward.
LG appliances used to be top of the line, but not any more. My service man told me that it's cheaper and more reliable to repair them than to get a new one. Problem with my 25 year old washing machine is that the parts are no longer available.
Johnny - Nice photos, both yesterday's and today's. Maybe in the locale and era that you're modeling, a fence would be appropriate, but many places here locally have track and road that close and are still without fences.
Joe - Thanks for the explanation.
Greg -
Short sleeves for this project is a must.
For me at least, short sleeves is a must anytime I work on the layout. Don't ask how I know this! Think floor models.
Curt -
You're layout looks huge. Can you tell us the general dimensions?
Inside dimensions of the train shed are ~ 32' x 20'. Layout is actually two levels, although not currently connected by a planned helix. It varies in width from 18" to 32", with 24" being about 75%. It is around the walls with a U-shaped peninsula in the center. Lower level has about 165' of main line, while the upper level (with a stoop-under bridge) has about 180' of main line. I guesstimate about 1200' of track overall with 110+ switches. I like switching the most and there are 70+ industries presently, with provisions to add maybe a dozen more.
Sherrel -
Willie - Great tracklevel shot!
I laughed outloud at your last paragraph, but shame on you for not liking baseball
With apologies to you,
Louis,
Joe,
Mike and possibly others regarding baseball. You stand there with a big stick and another player throws balls at you and you try to knock them away. Meanwhile everyone else on the field is scratching their crotches and spitting. If you're successful and bat it away, then you have to
run to safe spots located 90' apart while nine other guys chase you around and try to hit you with the same ball! And play regularly stops when some old fart walks out to talk to ball thrower, trying to convince them to come sit down; and then they have to wait for another thrower to amble in from afar. Then he practices! Duh! What's he been doing for the past hour or so? Takes too long like the last two minutes of a close basketball game. Makes no sense. Give me curling any day. I may have to check out Madagascar Head-Splitting some day as Beady suggested!
Everybody have a great day.
. After getting home I did several chores outside, so no MRR time today. I did make up a list for what I need to finish the project, so probably a run to the LHS tomorrow.
