Large Scale Central

The Summer is Almost Gone...

General Discussion
#1

The Summer is almost gone and I haven’t got anything done on the RR. Where did the time go? In the Spring once the pollen and caterpillar mess stopped dumping on the tracks I set out 2 flat cars with 4 end of track bumpers sitting on them. The idea was that any day the crane crew would come along pick them up and take them where they needed to go. In another month the leaves will start falling and it will be time to pick up the bumpers less they get lost in the litter. Where did the time go?

It has been a while since I made a video and I had planned on filming the train races one evening but they are yet to happen.

Work on the mountain crawled along and trains are now heading up there on a regular basis and even going through the reverse loop but the route is no way near finished.

Other parts of the RR like retaining walls were to be repaired, the old yard that is now 8 years old was going to be rebuilt but where did the time go?

I even have sections that were to get levelled and ballasted!

As the Summer running season slips away who else is looking at well intentioned projects that never got started?

#2

The great Lennon once said “Life is what happens when you’re making plans.”

I had great intentions at the beginning of the year, but my family life goals contrasted greatly forcing me to shelf all those plans even after I got off to a great start. It was depressing, but I worked hard to make those family goals a reality and focused on railroading in other areas that the current goals will allow to maintain sanity. All those big railroad plans will emerge again bigger and better soon enough. You’ve had an off season, but I’m sure you’ll get back on track.

Everything in it’s right time…

#3

I’m almost finished getting my RR ready for fall running. It was embargoed since last fall. Covered with overgrown ground covers and such. I’ve decided to remove a lot of plants and trees to open the RR up a little more. I’m rethinking how to make my RR a little easier to maintain as I age. Constant weeding is a big problem, along with the ROW maintenance.

#4

I’ve had fallen leaves in my yard for the last three weeks. Here at 2700 feet in beautiful Deer Park, near the road sign that reads, “Edge of the World - 2 Miles,” fall comes early. I still have as few turnouts to build and install, but that is a small thing. The railroad is up and running.

#5

As a teacher the summer is almost gone… Classes start in two weeks, so any free time is gone between now and lets say October… Ironically, I’m looking forward to school again, as I seem to do a better time scheduling my time and thus actually make time for modeling as apposed to saying “I’ll get to it tomorrow”.

#6

Craig Townsend said:

As a teacher the summer is almost gone… Classes start in two weeks, so any free time is gone between now and lets say October… Ironically, I’m looking forward to school again, as I seem to do a better time scheduling my time and thus actually make time for modeling as apposed to saying “I’ll get to it tomorrow”.

If you want a job done right and quickly, give it to a busy man. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#7

I had a few small projects but this spring and summer was all about operation and we had a very good season. The large tree that cover’s most of the railroad is starting to turn color some but its still weeks away from the huge leaf drop that makes a mess. Buildings will be put away soon and it looks like the fall and winter here in So Cal will be very wet so I don’t see much happening again till next spring. With a large El Nino coming I just hope things stay put.

#8

The yard that I started in 2014 -

Got all the track work completed in 2015 -

I just need to decide if I want to install an engine house on the 2nd and 3rd tracks from the bottom. The green and black wires are for lights.

Below - I really like these cast white metal Tomar G-803 Hayes Wheel Stops. I don’t like the bumpers that the coupler runs into so these suited my needs very well.

My huge disappointment for 2015 was not getting the RBRBB finished and installed.

#9

Steve Featherkile said:

If you want a job done right and quickly, give it to a busy man. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

I don’t know if it’s quickly, but its done right!

#10

Ah, yes. I still haven’t finished my flat cars. They have been 2 years in the making. I just need to letter them and mount the brake wheels.

Projects that weren’t on the list did get done though. I tuck pointed the house (poorly). I got the back porch lights working (finally). I got ball bearing inserts in the trucks of my USA cars. I got the yellow train running.

But I do have to be happy with the railroad. This spring I lowered most of the railroad by about 2 inches, and raised the trestle by almost as much. That has eliminated the severe grade coming out of the lower reverse loop. I have started the rehabilitation of the saw mill, something else not on the to do list, but the job is very overdue. But most important, I played with my trains and I enjoyed myself. I even had a few friends over to see my little railroad, and enjoyed having them stop by. So, even though the to do list is getting longer every time I do something on the railroad, I am still enjoying the process, and the railroad.

#11

David Maynard said: But most important, I played with my trains and I enjoyed myself. I even had a few friends over to see my little railroad, and enjoyed having them stop by. So, even though the to do list is getting longer every time I do something on the railroad, I am still enjoying the process, and the railroad.

So true David, Rome wasn’t built in a day, it is all a process which keeps this hobby interesting and ever engaging.

I just don’t know where the Summer went?

#12

Leaves are falling here for a couple of weeks. Been slowly covering the layout with tarps, so it’s easier to clean in the spring.

#13

Aww gee, I hope its not nearly that time yet. I still have more playing to do.

#14

Haha I have to say the summer did go fast but I cant complain because I got a lot more done to the layout then I thought. I even had time to run trains. Days are getting cooler here and the leaves are starting to show some color. Im looking forward to school starting. Works slow down for me and I love running in the cooler weather. This winter will be much better now that the layout is up and I can run in the snow plus I have my work bench up so I can get projects done.

#15

Well Todd, you have to look at a model railroad as a journey. Enjoy the journey, stop focusing on the end of the trip. I have had layouts that were “done”, and then I see something wrong, or can make an improvement, so I tear it up, and continue to build.

If we were truly “done” with everything, then what would we do?

Just enjoy the train time as it occurs. Myself and others have long lists of unfinished projects, but I try to enjoy what I am doing today.

Happy Railroading!

#16

For me, the best part of Summer is about to begin. Most folks around here say summer ends on Labor Day, but there are two weeks of official summer after that and then the best parts of Fall. September weather in these parts is usually great.

I have been sweeping up fallen leaves for about two weeks already, but it will be a month before the big dump begins. Cleaning that up is my least favorite part of Fall. Fortunately I have a garden tractor with a mulching deck and a good place to blow the mulched up leaves to at the bottom of the hill in my yard. I stopped hauling them to the town dump 3 years ago.

However, I agree with Todd. Time has gotten away from me too. I had several railroad and home projects on the plan for this year. Some got started, but none are finished. Hopefully, there is always next year!

#17

We are getting a spell of warm weather again. So I hope a have a few good weeks to finish the latest major project I have going.

#18

Today, while working on the mill, I saw a dragonfly. That usually signals that summer is drawing to a close. Since my pond isn’t big enough to have a dragonfly population, I usually get a cast off dragonfly late in the summer. I guess I get the one that can’t tough it out with the other dragonflys, wherever they are. One year I even had a 3 winged dragonfly, talk about a cast out. But, even with one wing missing, it flew around just fine.

#19

Summer is almost over, today is 1 September. This past week I finally got Red Mountain Loop running. It’s a circle about ten feet in diameter meandering through dwarf Alberta spruces, micro-mini roses, boxwoods, and ajuga. It’s the main part of the RR that runs on code 332 brass. I’m surprised and pleased about how little work it was to get it running. A light cleaning, tightening a loose joint, and a quick squirt of contact cleaner on the wheels and it started running with my very old Train Engineer. I was so inspired that I unboxed buildings I bought in Denver at the Convention (another reason I didn’t get much done this summer), and put them out. That involved leveling part of Red Mountain, so I built a new wood foundation and filled it with dirt. When the mud sets, I’ll put the house atop it.

The success of that project has lead me to start de-leafing the rest of the layout. That’s a big job, and it has been over 100ºF many days the last couple of weeks, so I only work on sections in the shade. I’ve got enough cleared that I can find out why a section of my layout lighting is not working. Bet it’s a bad splice, but all the line in under rock! I know I’ll get it done about the time the trees start dropping leaves (again), but I do need to get some of it ready to run. Sacramento Valley Garden Railway Society will have layouts open between next year’s Garden Railway Convention in the Bay Area and Sacramento’s Summer Steam Up the following weekend.

I’ve spent much of the summer learning to do 3D printing, and should have a 1:32 scale model of the Boron CA station before too long. Attached is a photo of a fire hydrant one of our club members asked me to make.

#20

The weather has been getting cooler here and as a friend pointed out it is good train running weather. The other day I got a shot in the arm to do something on the RR so while 2 trains were running I dug out and reset a wood retaining wall and then last evening I tore into a stone wall that had lifted due to a big root. It was fun to work and then when the train came back around I had to move tools and myself off the track to watch it go by.

My only complaint is it is getting dark so early but then again the trains have headlights and the caboose has interior lights and they look cool.