Large Scale Central

Part the Second; Off the dirt

Track and Trestles
#381

Well it’s time to get off my butt and see if I can save Tucson! I removed the fascia and cleared out rotted pine as I jacked up the right side of town…

Now I can see the damage, the car barn needs to come back 4" as well as the opposite corner. The left/west side of town is hanging 6-8" low.

I thought I was stockpiling cinder blocks for home repair, seems as though several will become stands with slider tops.

  1. Jack it up, 2. build stands in place and 3. Throw a tow strap over and under to pull with my 4x4 pick 'em up truck. Then make sliders stuck. Add stands where needed.

102 degrees F and humid, moments later the cloud burst and I had a half hour of horizontal rain …

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These reports will come slowly, I wear out much faster these daze.

#382

John, so glad you’re back at it!!

Are these repairs related to the trailer hit several months back, or rotted timbers in a different spot?

Looking great, and yeah, take all the time you want!!

#383

That you can do it at all is miraculous. Take your time and think it through. Thinking is less physically wearing anyway. Great to see progress!

#384

Cliff Jennings said:

John, so glad you’re back at it!!

Are these repairs related to the trailer hit several months back, or rotted timbers in a different spot?

Looking great, and yeah, take all the time you want!!

Too ornery is the diagnosis for that… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-embarassed.gif)

The bozos did a sloppy repair, hard to tell if it was bad wood or their doing, 5 months is a long time for our ravenous termites.

I was too sad to show it battered, this is post jacking and the deck is a lot flatter. They left most of Tucson 3" lower near the barn and near a foot lower on the corner. The near plank was split lengthwise. I’m going to sister another plank to it when it’s squoze for the repair.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Thanks

#385

Yeah, so sad all that happened in the middle of all the health stuff, my heart went out to you for sure. It’s really great that you’re soldiering through, a lot of folks would have given up, but you’re not.

You have enough jacking & portapower & whatever stuff to help you move and adjust and secure things, and not be too tiring?

#386

John…Glad you are doing ok now. Old age (Called GOLDEN Years ) kind of suck but, with some rest can keep going forward… Our layouts always seam to find a new problem that we didn’t fig. on to, like dry rot here.

#387

Glad to see you back working on the railroad and not for my own satisfaction but because I know it brings joy to your day. Take your time and do what makes you happy. When you get tired, stop, have a cold drink and watch your no shoulder friends play amongst the tracks (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif).

#388

John, it looks like you received the same weather we did a few days ago. I also agree with you about the termites, they can chew through 4 inch timbers in no time.

I have always enjoyed your layout and the work you have done on it. I wish I was 2 hours closer, so I could come by and give you a hand. I also get fatigued fast, but between the two of us I think we could get your layout shored up in a short time. Keep up the good work. Hopefully I will get down to Tucson in the near future and we can meet and I can see the work you have done on the layout.

#389

Just keep in mind that ANY progress IS progress! It’s the doing that gives pleasure - even in small bites.

My hopes of getting my RR put back together and running for the grand kids visit has fizzled. It’s been too hot to want to work in the sun, and too many more fun things to do, like boat and beach (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Keep posting, no matter how trivial the advance is. We love hearing from you!

#390

Trudging ahead …

Cinder blocks all around! No really, 2 per stand down here, anyway. I put up 3 pairs and then added ‘slippery’ wood on top for the layout to slide on…

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The green arrow denotes the full length split, the blue one points out the 5" slide of the upper block and the orangish one points out a lean in the support stand.

The only sensible place for the tow strap was around the receiver on the rear. The only thing I could see while my feet danced from brake to gas, was the leaning stand.

I’m hanging up the myth of slippery wood …

On the right the upper cinder block slid about 5" on top of the other block. The middle pier escaped while the one on the left leans in. Devon’s friendship strainer game demonstrated the effect in make a parallelogram.

The tow strap shows where I pulled. I’ll jack up for each stand and reset them with the proper wooden spacers on top.

I will be bringing home many more cinder blocks. I’m replacing all my vulnerable wood blocks.

The fun never stops.

#391

Looks like a lot of work for a guy that gets tired quickly. Good job!

#392

All this because someone else messed up your stuff. Doesn’t that just aggravate you?

It aggravates me, when it happens to me.

#393

David Maynard said:

All this because someone else messed up your stuff. Doesn’t that just aggravate you?

It aggravates me, when it happens to me.

Of course it pissed me off, I had to leave my property before I did something I’d regret, like put bullets in my favorite gun or worse!

I have forgiven the idiot.

#394

I have forgiven the idiot.

Good for you. I have forgiven most of the folks who have wronged me too. Its not healthy to carry negative emotions.

But I will never like the people who wronged me. I am not that big of a person.

Good luck on the repair.

#395

I caught the hare napping …

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Great Caesar’s cinder blocks, all around!

Not a fan of doing twice, I improved. I widened the fore deck by a 4x4. I had a pt 4by sitting on cedar blocks for 12 years. So I added it to the rr, giving me a wider ROW.

I am also remaking all legs and stands in cinder blocks … 1 8-ton bottle jack and a small auto scissor jack are my heavy lifters.

Then sis said; ‘I thought you bought those for the house and grounds?’

I said; ‘I did.’ I pointed at reclaimed land, ‘I healed that erosion,’

‘Better order 2 pallets…’

As I continued up the mainline … I dropped one section’s floor another level for a taller fill. I’m cutting track supports now…

Good to see new and re-newed faces joining our madness.

#396

Looking great, but I still can’t see the rabit

#397

Bill,

It’s a saying having to do with a race between a tortoise and a hare. Slow and steady eventually catches up! (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#398

Must be Jimmy Stewart’s pal…(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#399

I’m about half way done replacing the termited pine. The cedar barriers merely delayed them…

I’m stronger now, I’ve eliminated the 4 hour power naps, but still I sit more than I walk.

2 steps forward, one step back; cancer board didn’t like my last MRI, Stop treatment! Order a Broncoscopy ASAP!!! As of now.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)

edit; Great Caesar was a Superman ref…

#400

Great Caesar’s ghost! Perry White was the editor of The Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)