Large Scale Central

Autism/Asperger's Syndrome Awareness

Both Dad and son are on several meds. We notice the difference without them. They may label it as such because they know that is the term we understand.

My therapist has talked about putting me on something for my anxiety, but the side effects are not something she wants me to have to deal with. She works more with CBT and ABA therpy, which deals with training my mind to work differently. I can say that it does work, I am able to cope much better now than 2 years ago. I haven’t had one of my violent meltdowns since I started working with her. I will never escape having small meltdowns and letting down my guard will let a violent on happen. They say that someone on the spectrum is in “flight or fight” mode all the time. All the senses on full alert. This is one reason after a full day at work, all I want to do is sit and do little to nothing and it takes very little to get me upset at that point.

well, one thing that may be a small consolation, or “haven”, you have friends there that care about you Mike, however physically distant, we are as near as your computer! You can always come here for a fun diversion.

Regards, Greg

Exactly Greg, And its much easier for me to talk to others thru forums and emails than in person. And if I do meet them in person later at a convention or garden railway tour, it makes it much easier for me to talk to them.

Well Mike I hope I am one of those that will get to meet you in person

Devon,

Check out page 8, not quite what you need but maybe could be made to work. Its a hartland obs.

http://marketplace.collector-modeltrains.com/category/G+Scale?page=8&listingtype=auction_bin&box=&sort=netdesc

Chuck

I just see 2 Kalamazoo xmas observation obs cars. I dont want to modify those, they are collectable and were designed by the owners son. I will keep watching for the correct color Union Pacific Observation car. One will turn up. Mike

Just a quick update, I got the decals from Stan yesterday, awsome job as always from Stan! I got the coach decaled and ready for the sealing coat, and the combine is partialy done. I ran out of energy and feel asleep in the chair so the combine didn’t get done. I will stop at Lowe’s and get some krylon clear sealer and finish them up tonight. Pics coming soon. Thanks to everybody. Mike

Super, Mike… Can’t wait to see images of the finished models… Glad they worked as planned… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

I did have to make one small modification to the decals, on the MCRR/Autism Express logos, I had to put the “Autism” above “Express”. Having them inline didn’t quite fit without fouling the factory stripes. Looks great though. Pics soon. Mike

Mike Toney said:

Pics soon.

Will Stay tuned for further developments, as the news saying says.

Picture time, got the coach done, sealed with gloss top coat, any back on its trucks. The combine is still tacky so its sitting on blocks while workers attend to the trucks. I should have another pic later tonight of both cars coupled to the MCRR 4-4-0. I am very pleased how the decals came out. I need to get the LED lights installed in the ceilings of the coaches and find some battery packs. Boards are the Massoth short version for the LGB Euro coaches. I saved the LED boards out of a couple coaches I got long time ago. They ran off track power then, wonder how long they would last on 9 volt rechargable battery? I could put 1 battery in each car with a toggle switch on the bottom to turn the lights on and off. Once I get some seats and people in them, interior lights would be nice. I also have a pair of LGB marker lanterns that could be lighted with LED’s. Saving those for the Oberservation car once I find one. Mike.

I plan to leave the Kalamazoo plastic wheelsets in them. One for less weight for the 4-4-0’s to pull and most autistic’s have very sensitive hearing. Running overhead in my living room, I cannot stand the rail noise from metal wheel sets for very long before I have to stop the train. LGB track skates scraping the rails is like nails on a chalk board to me. Outdoors this is not a problem and I usualy put metal wheel sets in for garden use in most of my cars Don’t have enough for all the Kalamazoo stuff anyways. I want to keep the train noise to a minimum for the indoor Autism Expo’s in consideration to everybodys hearing. They also keep the lights subdued since most autistic’s are light sensitive, so the coaches being lighted will also stand out nicely. I have been to some train shows and even some stores where I have to wear my sunglasses to be able to open my eyes and not be blinded. Going outdoors on a bright sunny day without them, is like looking and a white hot light, such as a welder, to my eyes due to my light sensitivity. Its actually painful for me. Anyhow, hope you like how the first car turned out. Mike

Hi Mike,

Car looks great, nice work.

Chuck

Im on the ball tonight, here is the baggage, has the Massoth light board with a 9vt battery in it to see how long it stays lighted. I need 2 more 9vt battery connectors and atleast 3 holders. I would like to eventualy get 1 more coach besides the Observation. I want them all lighted with thier own self contained power source. Enjoy! Mike

Very nicely done, Mike… It was good that you were able to do the AUTISM EXPRESS on 2 lines… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Very nice my friend. That will make for a very cool train and I am sure the kids will love it.

Hey, that came out nicely with the lettering and trim. Is the light color more of a tan or a yellow? Hard to tell for sure on this monitor at the moment.
A note on installing markers, though my cars done so far are Bachmann, the HLW bash is still in slow progress. Have forgotten which brand I used, probably Aristo or USA Trains; it needed about a 3/16 hole in side of car. Drilling through car side plastic went okay, but … the window transparency piece had been glued in too abundantly to remove without destruction and it went beyond the windows proper all the way to end of car: it cracked under the force of the drill.
Note, ‘force’ does not mean I was jumping on the drill to get it to go in! It is just that clear styrene is more brittle than opaque styrene.

The cars are a light tan color. I have LGB markers for it, they need a slot to slide into, then a small hole to feed the power wires thru. I will use LED’s in them instead of the bulbs that LGB used. That will help battery life. Need find a way to make a lighted drum head for the future Observation car as well. Today, the caboose that Lou sent to me was waiting on the porch when I got home from work. Its laying on the TV tray I use as a work station here in the living room to be decaled here in a little while. THANKS AGAIN Lou!!! Mike

You are welcome, Mike. Have fun with it!