They “re-booted” her heart today by putting a tube down her throat and passing low voltage and current through it. Went well and restored normal pulse. Hoping she will come home later today and should be good to go.
Todd,
Very sorry to hear about, your wife?, Linda’s troubles. Glad to hear that the treatment went well for her.
Shouldn’t be any residual effects and she’s good to go. Got to get back to the build .
Glad to hear Todd. Thank Goodness. I think you’ll need some time in the hot tub come Sunday.
The crew was actually able to get quite a bit accomplished today!
An overview of The California Experience almost finished.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/49/d3/01/1d077_fe11.JPG?c=7ccd)
The painters came in and painted the horse’s wheel in bright California colors. The horse got a new blanket because few places are as warm as California and we are very “thin skinned.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/29/d3/01/1d057_a354.JPG?c=61af)
The “Endless Wave” is up and running, but still needs its graphic. Luckily I found out now, from the other stuff, that my ink is not waterproof, so I’ll clear coat the clear lable before applying it. Here you can see “Peter” being told the proper technique to stay on the board.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/2d/d3/01/1d05b_0cc8.JPG?c=0fe9)
“When the water car comes along, they’ll fire this baby up and the party will really start.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/31/d3/01/1d05f_21b2.JPG?c=0d66)
The trailing car provides 24 vac from the rails to run the hot tub…, when the horse gets tired.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/35/d3/01/1d063_cf29.JPG?c=4193)
Even The California Experience has to have “reporting marks” to run on the rails
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/39/d3/01/1d067_243d.JPG?c=c6a9)
“The water starts as cold, but when the horse breaks into a gallop, it heats right up.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/3d/d3/01/1d06b_47d4.JPG?c=63c4)
“Now we’re starting to cook.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/41/d3/01/1d06f_0650.JPG?c=2f54)
“Hot enough for you?”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/45/d3/01/1d073_75fd.JPG?c=b7e1)
Not much got done today…, but it had to be done.
The wave and crest were created and printed and the sheets were painted with clear to dry. New reporting marks were also clear coated and will be reapplied.
The hot tub splashes a lot of water out so is very limited in its run time, and makes a big mess. So the engineering crew tried various configurations of screens to let the mist pass, but retain the splash to drip back into the tub. This was only partially effective. Various, “blockers” were also tried.
Finally, the crew decided to use a railroad wheel suspended upside down above the “jet.” This blocks the stream, while letting the mist pass around. And the shape of the wheel funnels the water back into the tub. This is >90% effective relative to nothing in the way of the splash.
The back of the wheel serves as a central table in the hot tub to put drinks on and provides a place to hold the umbrella.
Cleaver solution to fix the issues. A bar in the tub, will look right at home.
That looks like one happening club car.
You will have to build another car to tow behind complete with velvet ropes that will hold the people standing in line waiting to get on.
Great build can’t wait to see the paparazzi video on TMZ
As if we didn’t have enough to do…,
The cyan on the HP printer went out. (Had to print the wave on the old Epson.) Computer and printer both report the cartridge as good/full and even a new cartridge doesn’t fix the problem.
And, the water heater went out last Thursday night and Fed Ex just delivered a replacement thermo-couple for me to install and see if it fixes the problem.
Fingers!
Just checking in on other’s progress.
The Endless Wave had no on switch and was switched off simply by removing a battery. While this is OK in testing, when the hot tub is in place, with water, it becomes a PITA. So the electrical crew added a three position toggle for off, slow, and very slow speeds.
The crew spent lots of time going through resistor values and resistor/diode combinations to get the motor just above a stall, so long as the batteries are good. When the the horse gets tired (the batteries run down), the operator can just switch to the higher speed.
Need to get the wave and reportng marks put on and figure the coupling.
The crew got lots done with several decisions made. The trucks installed, “Endless Wave” was completed, couplers were added, etc. I tried to post photos, but the site said I was over the limit. Here’s one that did go through.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/79/d3/01/1d0a7_c591.JPG?c=4db2)
The crew deleted a bunch of pics so they could upload new ones.
An overview of The California Experience lacking only a few more details.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/79/d3/01/1d0a7_c591.JPG?c=4db2)
Peter “shooting the curl.” Stairs to the anti-gravity bridge are a pewter casting that was never used. Hand rails are paper clips.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/75/d3/01/1d0a3_d6a9.JPG?c=ddf8)
Now Peter’s in the “tube.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/8d/d3/01/1d0bb_b7ae.JPG?c=0f6a)
Rather than using magnets to control the up/down of the surfboard, I simple set the height of the shaft so that rides along the rotating bottle. When teh bottle is at its “deepest” the surfer actually rides on the “magnetic cushion” rather tha nthe bottle, so put very little weight on the rotating bottle. Imperfections in the roundness make the surfer ride up and down with a nice gentle motion
Here’s the inverted railcar wheel to catch the splash and provide a place to set your drink while holding your umbrella.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/81/d3/01/1d0af_8be5.JPG?c=64d6)
Both ends of the rail car received “link” couplers. These are actually extra chain links from my '70 Triumph motorcycle.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/85/d3/01/1d0b3_aa4d.JPG?c=ec75)
A “rooster bar” will connect the “one-horse motive power” as well as the trailing car. The “one horse motive power” received a “loop” coupler that is actually a binder clip. The shape will work perfectly for curves and it is easily removable to slip a loop over to pull a chain or ??? if necessary. The two attaching loops are bits of brass tube.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/89/d3/01/1d0b7_1f7a.JPG?c=4d91)
WOW!!! Looking forward to the feature film on this creation.
Tom
Wow that is cool, our own hot tub wasn’t so successful
The California Experience is done on schedule. I’ll try to load pics after a bit, but know that I am out of room and will need to figure what to delete.
I’ll also try to get a video but that probably won’t be until tomorrow.
Todd,
Whats it like for people like you… you know, being so much more genious than the rest of us? I mean if this scratch built, junk box, mechanical marvel works as advertised it is just simple over the top in ingenuity.
Very cool
Thanks Devon,
My allocation for photos is full and I’ve been deleting lots of pics and even albums to add a few. The new camera generates bigger pics requiring more space.
Anyway, here are some pics of the completed “The California Experience” in “tow mode.” The horse could actually pull the railcar over smooth level track, but the belts slip a lot under the load.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/a2/d3/01/1d0d0_e9d0.JPG?c=e981)
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/a6/d3/01/1d0d4_a19f.JPG?c=2e4b)
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/ac/d3/01/1d0da_a7dc.JPG?c=f984)
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/b4/d3/01/1d0e2_3193.JPG?c=00df)
And from the other side.
(http://largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/bc/d3/01/1d0ea_7fc7.JPG?c=9f92)
Oh, build costs: The palm trees, ~$10, a pack of magnets, ~$5 (had several to begin with), pack of 10 sheets of “see through” labels, ~$12 and I only used three of the sheets.
Even though the water heater went out last Thursday morning, and parts were overnited and received Friday morning, I was only just able to get to it today. A man has to have his priorities straight and his wife has to recognize them even if it means no hot water for a few days! (Our master bath is on its own tankless system, so we did have hot water there.)
The build, while intensive, was a lot of fun. Solving the problems that come up is what makes it a challenge. Anyway, I wasn’t able to get video out on the layout. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)
But, I did get video in the dining room. So, for your enjoyment…, I give you “The California Experience.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bd6Sv-yPlo&feature=player_detailpage
An update!
It was a beautiful day so Stan decided to take the “One Horse Motive Power” our for a “run” on the Tortoise & Lizard Bash. (Pardon the weeds but the crew has been very busy as of late.)
These “gallop bys” clearly show that while the horse may not pull The California Experience without a bit of aid (due to belt slippage), he can certainly trot with the best of them and is ready to take on all comers, even those with twice the horse power!