Big Doings In the Okefenokee - NCI Work Night

Every had one of those nights when everything you did was stupid? That was last night!

Attendance:
Gator Scott
Glue Bob
Packrat Paul
Concrete Keith
Steve-bay Steve
Coalfinger Keith
Reverend Rick

Here is the pile of lighting materials that I bought at Lowes. See the missing item? It is a small grommet-like device called a connector that is used to hold the electrical line in place. The reason you don't see them is because I didn't know to buy them. Looks like we won't get far. Thanks to my friends, though...they kept me from making a big mistake!

Rick Wade Photo

Gator gets out the first drop ceiling light. Packrat and Coalfinger look on. Packrat has a foot issue going and we hope he gets well soon. I think he broke it building his layout. Paul plays hard ball when he's building layouts!

There are two ways to put the lights in so that they are in the middle of the room. We took the plan on the left.

There are five each 2x4 light sets.

I showed the guys my Swamp Book. This is a 3" ring binder full of photos of the swamp that I use for carving stumps and trees. And alligators!

EAch photo has been carefully selected to help me build the layout.

Here are the inexpensive temporary lights and the ugly insulation. Yuck.

Rick Wade Photo

The guys take all the boxes apart and move them to the train room.

Concrete and Steve-bay take on installing the return loop that is outside of the train room, next to the furnace. This is a hidden continous run loop just for show. The loop is 18" but Keith decides that he is working on his layout at home and makes them 30".

Rick Wade Photo

Using scrap lumber Keith makes carefully detailed drawings.

Rick Wade Photo

Using a radius tool, Keith makes the radius drawings while Steve waits with the saw.

Rick Wade Photo

Using the sabre saw, Keith and Steve cut out the radius plates.

Rick Wade Photo

Every few minutes Steve counts his fingers. Still has all ten.

Here you can see Rick talking and drinking coffee. The dog is waiting for him to drop one of Marie's fresh made brownees. You can see the radius sections.

After a quick check in with the foreman, we realize that 30" radius won't fit in the space allowed for the 18" radius. Ok, back to the drawing board. Let's just make a table and Scott can lay any radius he wants.

Rick Wade Photo

Meanwhile Scott climbs the ladder and knocks in the boxes for the lights and strings the electrical line.
Paul has taken on the project of wiring in two switches. Little does he know, its a trap!!!

"I'll be damned if I can figure out what is going on here. I know Scott did this part of the wiring, so I'll ask him!"

Rick Wade Photo

OOPS! Scott wired the thing wrong. Not only did he wire it wrong but it is so bad we'll have to cut out the sheetrock to figure it out. Scott is feeling stupid tonight. That is two strikes and we've not even made it to the first coffee break.

Bob, Ken and Rick took on the task of filling in the screw head holes and finishing up the benchwork top.

Rick was actually working. Rare, but this is a real photo...not staged.

Ken is sucking up the dust as the Rick sands. Bob is demonstrating the real strenght of this overbuilt benchwork.

Scott is wiring up the lights and getting them ready to install.

Rick Wade Photo

I believe Paul has figured out the wiring now!

"Now let's just hope Scott didn't leave one of these wires hot!"

Meanwhile, Keith and Steve are building a weekend getaway home for the Perry's.

Rick Wade Photo

"Hey guys, want to come see the new table!"

Rick Wade Photo

If its messy, Bob is the first to volunteer. I'd hate to have to do his laundry.

The big shop vac really sucks.

Here are the ballasts in the lights and the pigtail connector system, waiting on Scott who didn't bring the connectors.

Almost done with the sanding!

Rick found a few more holes and some screws that didn't go in all the way. He's driving them home.

Wiring is in for the lights!

Switches are in!

Here is the wall section we had to remove because Scott is stupid!

The decking is almost done! We'll cut the holes later.

I'm not sure if I can get enough radius in this tight spot. Oh well. It may make a nice storage shelf.


This time we LABELED all the wires.

Some last touches and we'll be ready for the gurney.

If you want to build a layout, get a Bob. A Bob is a perfectionist, and when you are a generalist like me (that's French for sloppy) you need a Bob to keep you on track.

We put the top on the gurney and realized it was a tad too tall. Keith suggested we bore out the set holes on the castors.

Rick Wade Photo
GLUE BOB! GLUE BOB! GLUE BOB!

A little drilling and some wrench work and the gurney is lowered!

Here you can see the bottom of the gurney.

Here is where we drilled the plywood out with a 1" spade bit.

Bob made some cleats to raise the gurney up and keep it still.

Here are the cleats mounted on the layout.

A little sanding to make it fit and...

A little more sanding to make it fit. DONE!

Wow, did we get a lot done tonight! Thanks guys for all the help and the fun!

Easy Trees and Track Plans

It was a fun night for model trains! We had a good turn out at my house and I appreciate the guys coming over since my wife was out at Bunco and I couldn't go out since the Punkin was with me. She was very cute tonight and dressed up formally to great the men as they came buy.

Tonight's players: Steve-bay, Glue Bob, Coalfinger Ken, Reverend Wade, and a shaved Packrat Paul who looked like Curly from the Three Stooges. Man, I wish my company would let me do that. Much cooler in the summer. Mark my neighbor also dropped in to help.

The goal tonight was to work on Coalfinger's coal mining layout. He has a 3x6 layout already and is adding another 3x7 foot extension. He wanted our input on his design.I love his finished portion, so and addition would be even better. Here you can see a mock up of the track plan. Click on the photos to enlarge.

The room is plenty big enough for the layout. Here Bob checks the clearances and sees that they are at least two feet all around.

Naturally I can't mind my own business so I had to redraw the layout. Ken may never speak to me again and I wouldn't blame him. But its his layout and he can do whatever he wants with it. The major suggestions were:

• The yard didn't have an adequate yard lead or a run around track, so we added them.
• We flipped the whole yard complex so that it was accessed from what would be the end of the line.
• Took out the turn table as a maintenance issue is always present.
• Put a loco run around or "escape track" in the yard.
• Installed a scenic divider to separate the coal region optically
• Put in a run around track for the coal mine.
• Add industrial back drop to the yard.
• Moved the ice house close to the main line where it should be
• Lengthened the main siding.

Yup, that should do it!

Next we had a tree making party for Bob's layout! Yes, we didn't work on mine and that's ok. I have plenty of expendable room and work tables, so its easier here to do messy projects. Bob sent us an article on making inexpensive connifer trees done by a fellow named Dave Lawler at an ONR convention. The trees are magnificent. Our first step was to tinker with the technique.

The first tree had too much paint on it and too much flock. We thinned it down for the next one. Bob wasn't real pleased.
Once we got the technique down pat, we set up an assembly line with cutting and trimming, painting, flocking, and storage. Basically we were flocking all night!
Here Bob and Steve are adding the second coat of flocking to a lightly sprayed tree. On this step we used a clear paint.
Bang it, dang it! I have to slap the tree to get the loose flock off.
A little more light flock to the top than on the bottom.
Steve puts the finishing touches on the tree and pushes it into foam for drying.
Not great, but not bad. Let's make some more!
Basically all you need is some garland rope, cutting pliers, scissors, dk green, green, brown and clear spray paint and some Woodland Scenics flock in different colors.
We coverd the table in newspapers and applied the flock over folded pieces of cardboard so that we could recycle the flock. In retrospect, it would have been easier to use a plastic tub. This is a messy business and we wore latex gloves to keep the green off our fingers. The spray paint is another issue. We took a box fan and put it in the window, then opened a door to get fresh air circulating to pull out the fumes. I was stoned in minutes!
Many of the aerosol cans say "the color matches the cap" which is all well and good until you take the cap off. So I wrote on the dome of the can with a Sharpie marker the color so we could quickly pick up the right can.
The first step is to trim the "tree" in a tapered fashion and to trim out some of the "limbs". Once that is done the trunk of the tree needs to have all limbs removed. We then spray the trunk with brown paint and set it aside for a few minutes to dry. The next step is to take the dark green paint and spray the tree limbs. We did this in a directly down from the top of the tree direction, then a directly up from the bottom direction. You want to cover the needles, but not soak them in paint. Quickly then you shake or sprinkle dark green flock over all the tree. Once the tree is covered, shake out the excess flock on the cardboard and set the tree in a foam sheet for drying.
The first step gives you a nice, green fluffy tree! These trees are destined for the northern regions of Canada so they are naturally a little sparse and thin.
We used a paint box to catch the overspray. Here are some trimmed trees with painted trunks that are drying.
Reverend Rick has a keen eye and is not above rejecting a poorly trimmed tree. Note the green paint on his fingers. Gloves are a must!
Mark, who is not a model railroader, didn't hesitate to jump in. We had an assembly line going. Paul, Mark and Ken would trim the trees, which takes the longest amount of time. Rick and I would paint the trunks and put the first coat of green flock on. Steve and Bob would put the second lighter coat of flock on the tree and do any final touch ups or corrections. Perfect! Having a bench high long table to work around helps.
Here you can see some of the finished trees. Magnificent! Cheap! Fast!
Once we got the tree techniques figured out and got a rythym going, the work went fast.
Being a factory guy, mass production of items, especially trees, makes a lot of sense. In just less than two hours the team made 75 trees at a very low cost per tree. We had a great time chatting and kicking around new ideas (and each other).
The trees look very realistic, especially from a few feet away.
Here is Bob's forest!
Here are 25 trees, completely finished on their foam carrier. They'll spend the night at my house while the paint dries. They vary in size from 10 scale feet to 80 scale feet.

It was a great evening!