Benchwork Party!

We had a good crew tonight and got a lot done on the layout. Attendees were Keith, Paul, Steve, Ken and myself.

We were able to get the drop ceiling channel installed all around the room. Since we had already measured key points during a previous session, all we had to do was snap a chalk line along the wall and screw up the channels. Well, not "screw up" but screw...well, you know what I mean.


Keith talked me out of legs and into cantilevered benchwork in order to make cleaning the floor (and replacing the temporary carpet with plush, thick, padded Berber) more easy. I'm glad I agreed as I think it will be a major improvement. While I had planned to do this on an earlier design, I decided to use legs when I increased the benchwork to three feet deep. The angle supports underneath are very strong and hold the weight quite well. Now I can vacuum the floor with anything being in the way.

We started at the back of the room by placing an L-girder across the back at 28" from the wall, where the previous L-girder resided. Steve and Ken were playing sawmill all night and cut all the lumber for us. Each joist had to be custom cut, a 3/4" hole drilled one foot from the back and the front corner of the joint knocked off. I do this because I have cut or bruised my head innumerable times.

Each L-girder and joist were carefully watched for levelness as we are going to pour lots of synthetic water on the surface and don't want it to flow away. We took our time and made sure each piece was level and strong.


We worked our way around the room until 11:00 pm, then said our goodbyes. I always hate when the guys leave, and enjoyed sitting in the basement for another 30 minutes looking at the wonderful progress on the railroad. Thanks guys!


Tip: a small card table makes a great central point for storing tools while working on the layout. It helps keep the layout room clean and free of hazards as well as making it easier to find your tools. Remember to clean up for 5 minutes every night!

The Okefenokee Railroad

You pronounce it: oak-EE-fen-O-key

Here is version 1.12

Benchwork and Saw Palmettos

This week we are going to try to complete the first half of the swamp benchwork.


We'll start with the far back wall and work our way around to the right hand side. There is an access hatch in the middle of the back wall, so there are some extra supports. I'll post some track plan drawings a little later.

I found a website tonight: http://www.geocities.com/bkempins/ASMMain/Main.html and it belongs to Alkem Scale Models. They are purveyors of etched brass parts and I've reached out to them to see if they can etch the saw palmetto plants for me. These are perfect for etching and we'll need a lot of them. They give a very distinctive look to the layout. If he doesn't do them I can do them myself.

Bad Mood

I'm in a bad mood today because of work, so I went to the basement as soon as I got through with the dishes. Ok, my wife threw me out of the kitchen and banished me to the basement.

I cleaned up the train room and got it ready for the NCI group to come over Friday. Last week I bought a ton of screws and I put them in their appropriate bins.

On my shopping list I added shims, two utility knives and some utility knife blades. I use Google spreadsheets so that I can access them at work or with my Blackberry.

The kind of wood you buy for your benchwork really does make a difference. We were arguing about wood the other night. Concrete Keith likes dimensional lumber. I like sawn plywood. There are pros and cons to each, so I'll let you take your pick. On my layout I chose to go with B-C plywood. What I found was that if you need your benchwork to be incredibly level (as I do with so much water to pour on it) that the B-C grade has some slight waves and ripples to it that effect the flatness of the board and cause some buldges. Don't scrimp on the benchwork, which has not been my mode of thinking for many years. Next time I'll use high grade sand ply.

Cypress Trees

I'm going to need trees very quickly so I have to start producing the molds. People are already trying to buy them from me and I haven't talked much about them yet. Here is my outline for the trees:

Cypress Trees Analysis
Series	Inches from Front	Size	Quantity	Detail	Height Inches Low	Height Inches High	Part Numbers
1100	6	Large	5	High	12	14	1101-1105
1150	12	Medium	9	High	11	13	1151-1159
1200	18	Medium	9	Medium	10	12	1201-1209
1250	24	Small	10	Low	9	11	1251-1260
1300	Backdrop	Small	3	Low	9	10	1301-1303
			36
Knees
Level	Inches from Front	Size	Quantity	Detail	Height Inches Low	Height Inches High	Set Part Numbers
1350	6	Large	2 Dozen	High	2	4	1351-1352
1400	12	Medium	2 Dozen	Medium	1	3	1401-1402
1450	18+	Small	2 Dozen	Low	1	2	1451-1452
Stumps
Level	Inches from Front	Size	Quantity	Detail	Height Inches Low	Height Inches High	Part Numbers
1500	6	Large	12	High	2	4	1501-1512
1550	12	Medium	12	Medium	1	3	1551-1562
1600	18+	Small	12	Low	1	2	1601-1612
Mold Casings
33	Halves
Total Molds
1 piece	13
2 piece	33
	46

The Piedmont 2009 Raffle Layout

I just realized that I had not posted any pictures from the layout, or the track plan, so here you go. I'm still finalizing the track plan.

The NMRA's Kalmbach Library

I just got my latest information from the NMRA's Kalmbach Library. If you aren't a member, here's a great reason to join. On my workbench is the HO scale Stampede Meat Packing Plant. I decided that Walther's plastic "wood" parts really didn't look right and didn't give a great feeling for the complexity of the wood pens and pathways for the cattle.

Many years ago I constructed the HO scale Campbell Stock Yard kit. Unfortunately I didn't keep the instructions, which I now do religiously. However, the Kalmbach Library keeps many of the kit plans that you might want to use. I wrote to them and for a whopping $1.50 I got a copy of how to build the pens.

I'll dig through my wood box and see what supplies I'll need, then I'll start building the pens.