The greenbrier logging and coal co

[OleSmokey]

Well i got the first two new hopper cars in today. more coming. been working on the FP7a getting it to C&O markings. joy at best. lots of no joy. I am having the worst time with the silver paint. It creaps..everywhere!! it will find a rivit pattern and it will follow it. Its what i get for trying a Deco Art Gloss Enamels Silver Multi-surface acrylic paint. it comes out kinda thick so you think it needs to be thinned. bad idea. Anyway, i got one side done and drying. I don't like the look but maybe it will be ok Will see tomorrow. I have a shot of the hoppers I will show a shot of the FP7a but it looks worse than when i just look at it. Not sure what i am going to do with it. I hate to try testers. i will let it dry hard overnight and see how it looks in the morning. Shots below, Smoke

 

[OleSmokey]

I have been busy with doctors taking pictures of my lungs and chest and my hands and blood draws. Getting sick has caused other issues to come up and i am running out of energy. So i haven't done much to the layout other than making plans for the layout. I have the new table done and the foam for i have the new control panel for it and i have the foam for the front section where i will run track around the new train station. it will go all the way over to the mountain area and that will give me the room for a new mountain side that can be removed to allow me access to the track in the yard under the mountain. I don't have good plans on paper to show the work but when i get this thing ready i will just take a lot of pictures to let you see what i am up to. So, that said i will bring you up on what i am doing soon.

 

[Smudge617]

I have been busy with doctors taking pictures of my lungs and chest and my hands and blood draws. Getting sick has caused other issues to come up and i am running out of energy. So i haven't done much to the layout other than making plans for the layout. I have the new table done and the foam for i have the new control panel for it and i have the foam for the front section where i will run track around the new train station. it will go all the way over to the mountain area and that will give me the room for a new mountain side that can be removed to allow me access to the track in the yard under the mountain. I don't have good plans on paper to show the work but when i get this thing ready i will just take a lot of pictures to let you see what i am up to. So, that said i will bring you up on what i am doing soon.

Sorry to hear you have not been well, but looking forward to seeing your layout progress, it sounds like a lot of work so take your time, end of the day your health is more important.

 

[OleSmokey]

Taking it about as easy as i can. It took me all day to get the new front part of the Passenger station done. The foam is cut and glued and drying right now.I am cheating by using 1 inch and doubling it up so it makes 2 inch foam. I have a lot less waste that way. Have a few shots I have the new controller board on a couple of fans, and its a makeshift sawhorse but it works. the foam is on the skewers i bought years ago. the new section of foam is sitting on them. I still have to sand the edges on the foam and wood, and i am going to use the clear coat i used on my desk on that new control board. I may sand the pieces tonight or wait till tomorrow as the glue should be completely dry by then. Will show more as i can get it done
Shots below, Smoke

 

[OleSmokey]

Got the track and board down and ran into issues. I ended up getting the turnout in the middle between the first run around and the final run around. it makes me add another trestle and another part of the river. Its ok, just still making it kinda hard to figure out how to make a mountain side that is removable for service. Now that i have another tunnel entrance and maybe i can use that for a handle to lift the mountainside off. have to see if this will help or make another issue for me. Shots below.

 

[OleSmokey]

Well, the races were a wash out so i went to work on the layout. I got one end of the track work done where i installed the #6 turnout. I got the hot glue gun fired up and got about half of the new ramp glued down. Tomorrow i want to cut out the river in the new foam and get some rock work for the trestle installed. Have some shots below. A bit at a time..

 

[Old 97]

What became of this locomotive Smoke?
I have a soft spot for F7's.

 

[OleSmokey]

Right now, its in the tunnel with the passenger cars. Its not finished yet. I tried as best as i can but had issues with the paint lines and decals. Trying to get a sheet of decals that are new enough so they don't fall apart when you try and transfer the decal to the engine. The engine is alive and running great. I don't have the new control board in place so no power to the track yet. I am working on it, but my hands only let me do so much before i need to take a break. I have found another piece of track that has come loose from the board in the other tunnel,( under the logging camp). I got that fixed and i touched up the wall behind the layout. I had marks from??? and over spray from the air brush and some other marks that i didn't figure out what it came from, but its all covered up and finished. That part of the layout is done now. I want to get the new runaround glued down the rest of the way and the river cut out so i can work on getting the new trestle down in place. I work on it as i can. I have so many projects for the train room, it takes time because i am fixing things that got broke when my wife and friends layed out the carpet in the office. Thats about it for now.

 

[baja463]

You're an inspiration. Hang in there and keep it goin'

 

[baja463]

Taking it about as easy as i can. It took me all day to get the new front part of the Passenger station done. The foam is cut and glued and drying right now.I am cheating by using 1 inch and doubling it up so it makes 2 inch foam. I have a lot less waste that way. Have a few shots I have the new controller board on a couple of fans, and its a makeshift sawhorse but it works. the foam is on the skewers i bought years ago. the new section of foam is sitting on them. I still have to sand the edges on the foam and wood, and i am going to use the clear coat i used on my desk on that new control board. I may sand the pieces tonight or wait till tomorrow as the glue should be completely dry by then. Will show more as i can get it done
Shots below, Smoke

I'm doing the same with 1 inch, since we can't easily get 2 inch here in Florida. It definitely results in less waste and it's easy to bring home too.

 

[OleSmokey]

Back before Christmas i had ordered a piece of carpet to fit my room. I ended up in the hospital and Deb, bless her heart decided she could lay down the carpet but in the end she had it going the wrong way. So, I am removing everything out of the room and turning the carpet 90 degrees so it fits proper. I will be off line for a couple of days at least. Depends on my hands, my back and legs.Anyway will be happy to have it all done, Then i can start back in on the layout.Have shots of her attempt at laying down carpet. Its ok to laugh!

 

[baja463]

Back before Christmas i had ordered a piece of carpet to fit my room. I ended up in the hospital and Deb, bless her heart decided she could lay down the carpet but in the end she had it going the wrong way. So, I am removing everything out of the room and turning the carpet 90 degrees so it fits proper. I will be off line for a couple of days at least. Depends on my hands, my back and legs.Anyway will be happy to have it all done, Then i can start back in on the layout.Have shots of her attempt at laying down carpet. Its ok to laugh!

I don't envy you -- removing everything out of the room is daunting, to say the least.

 

[OleSmokey]

Well, we got all the stuff out of the room but for the layout. It won't let us take it out of the room. Its too long to make the tight corners so if i ever leave here..Well i will have tear the layout down to be able too mover it out of the house.So far i have the computer back up and running. The carpet is like its supposed to be and we did spring cleaning while we were at it. Have more to bring back into the office so i will be busy for about a week before i can do anything more on the layout. I have to bring my work bench yet and a bunch of other stuff. See you all later,Smoke

 

[OleSmokey]

Well, It kinda looks like my old office. That carpet is really nice and just for kicks i dropped a car onto the carpet to see if it would still be hard on the car but it didn't even get a scratch and nothing came off so its doing what it is supposed to do. One less thing to worry about. The other is i left a few inches on this side of the track so if it does derail i won't just fall. it has a couple of inches or so before it would leave the layout. I have some shots of the work done. The foam is all glued down. The track is halfway glued down. I am gonna wait till the bridge piers come in. also have a double track tunnel opening. That lets my track coming into a angle to clear the tunnel and it will also serve as a handle to remove the side of the mountain when i need to clean track or clear out a derail. Its the plan. Not sure if it will work but there is a plan for now. Shots below, Smoke

 

[OleSmokey]

I am sorry but nothing happening on the layout as i am having pain in my hands. I wake up because of the pain. I have it going up the arms even. The elbows get the pain too. 7 days till i see the doctor and will hope he can do something right then. I have ordered stuff to get the layout running It can run trains, but i haven't run any trains since back around the first of the month. I still have a bunch of junk all over the floor.It need to be sorted and put under the layout. But i need to move the layout away from the wall so i can fix the long trestle it has a gap that needs to be taken care of. After that i can put stuff under the layout. My tools is the exemptions. I have magazines and folders of things i downloaded for the trains. I use them sometimes but don't have any room in the closet, so its out on the floor. I have a small path to the door and thats about it. Will update when i see that doctor. Till then i hope everyone is having a great week. Laters

 

[PMW]

Wishing you the best. The layout will be there when you're up to it....mine always has been

 

[OleSmokey]

If they want surgery, i have no idea how good this doctor is. Thats the way with the VA Health care System

 

[trailrider]

If they want surgery, i have no idea how good this doctor is. Thats the way with the VA Health care System

Regardless, try to get another opinion!

 

[OleSmokey]

I went in and saw the doctor. What he had was the Xrays and whatever i could tell him about the problem. After he showed the pictures he came to the possible idea to put braces on both hands. I do have Arthritis in the fingers and hands. There is a area in both hands that has calcification on the joint. So we both took the high road and i got braces on both hands. Have some cream to rub on my hands 4 times a day and see if this will stop the problem. If not they will try injections of cortisone, and if that don't work surgery. He don't want to do anything more than what is needed to fix the joints. more is not always better. so I have put the stuff all away and Deb also helped me cover the layout with plastic to protect it for now. I won't be doing anything for now so it may be awhile before i can post much of anything. So for now, This is smoke signing off for now.

 

[PMW]

That's too bad. Good luck and I hope you can get back to all your regular activities soon!