Once again, I have decided to lay out some “night orders” to guide efforts on the Triple O for the coming year. This ritual really has helped me to ensure progress on the railroad by focusing energy and resources in a general but flexible direction, to include the occasional impulse purchase of a piece of rolling stock I just “have to have!” Like last year, Triple O - 2023 Plans & Objectives, I want to strike a balance between easy goals and stretch projects, as I think it is just as important to watch things come off the table and enter service as it is to push the boundaries of our collective comfort zones. Before going there, though, I thought I’d list out a few “lessons learned” from last year.
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I have all the railroad I can handle. I remain the primary driver of the project, so the 1:1 crew’s participation and interest level does play into my thought processes. There was talk of an extension for an engine service area, but the crew’s divergent interests eat into time, finances, and, yes, labor! Even without such an undertaking, it usually takes 10-15 minutes to get the Triple O up and running, and there is already a constant flow of rolling stock, locomotives, and structures to and from the repair bench. We’ve no space for more track, and we are running out of space for structures. I also have other interests that, for the moment, I am not willing to give up.
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The lanai is full. At any given time last year, there were three to four projects underway on the lanai, to include railroad stuff, rockets, planes, and crafts. Yay! Still, this means I cannot have three Triple O projects on the table and project shelves at once.
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Rockets are real. The boys really took to rocketry. It is great fun, the rockets are easy projects between projects for me, and building them with the boys is part of our “parent from the front” strategy. Launch weekend takes out of my time and budget for the Tripe O. On the other hand, the National Association of Rocketry has an active youth mentorship program, a fun youth build-program, and pathways to scholarships and STEM careers. This is a strategic decision to support them in this hobby.
- It is time to start thinking about where to go when this is “just my hobby.” It is hard to believe, but Oldest Daughter will be off to college in two short years! The rest will follow over the next half decade or so. I don’t want to be one of those guys who lets the railroad go cold iron when the last 1:1 crewman ships out! I don’t think I’ll ever abandon the “proto-whimsy” of 1:24-ish PLAYMOBIL scale, mostly because I enjoy it, but I am not sure what that means in a 1:1 world that no longer needs to abide by CINCHOUSE’s standing mandate, “It cannot be just your hobby!” Luckily, I have a few years, and Kid-zilla is teetering on the brink of becoming a lifetime model railroader.
Where does all that take us for 2024? Let’s see…
The MIK. There is always the MIK. The 1:1 crew will even bring this topic up unbidden at dinner. We are ready, whatever Dave unleashes!
The M.O.W. Bleached ties, worn out turnouts, that troublesome trestle, washed out right of ways. Most of these are easy fixes; the trestle would take out the Triple O for weeks. Is it enough of an issue to be worth the trouble? To this I will include power. Do we upgrade to commercial power packs? Do we upgrade Diesel Dan or one of the Thomases to R/C to enable true switching operations (and a fallback crowd pleaser)? I will also throw emergent repairs and scene-improving micro-projects into this category, even if they are not strictly “M.O.W.”
The moldering. These are all the deferred maintenance items on our buildings I’d like to address early as “projects between projects.” The rest are the rolling list of ideas carried over from the last two years, which, to help keep me honest later, I’ll reprint below:
- Water Tower & Pumphouse - Started / Deferred in 2023 . Haluku’ilio Water Tower – Another Triple O Rehab Project
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Pu’uomao Yard Office and Observation Tower - Deferred in 2023 . Our first MIK project (
Miks 2018 – Pu’uomao Yard Office and (Maybe) Observation Tower , was that really five years ago?) it needs a full rework, to include the wiring that powers the yards. - Tub-o Trains - Deferred since 2022. There is that boxcar and reefer in the Tub-o-Trains: Low-Cost Micro-Projects on the Triple O begging for a full return to service!
- The “Thomases" - Deferred in 2023 . These LGB m2075 (battery) repowered with STAINZ chassis both need to be weighted properly. One needs Christmas stickers covered with some sort of removable siding. Either could be a candidate for our battery powered yard engine.
- 4-6-0T “Tropical.” - Deferred in 2023. This was to be my take on South African Railways locos. The idea was to freelance on an old B’mann chassis to just get the hang of 'bashing without being constrained - or intimidated? - by the need to match a specific prototype.
- Inspection Locomotive - Deferred in 2023. The idea is to get a pair of B’mann coaches, cut one to make a representative model of Benjamin Dillingham’s Parlor, Parlor Car 64 at the Hawaiian Railway Society, salvage its parts for the loco’s casemate, and then simply “OR&L up” the second coach.
- More flat cars - Deferred in 2023. These fell vicitim to Kid-zilla’s Submarine Transport for the Triple O.
- Secret Project - Deferred in 2023. The boys and even Oldest Daughter have been badgering me on this one. It will pay homage to a key OR&L customer we’ve yet to represent. It will follow our two major building repairs post-MIK.
Budget, community interest, and necessity will dictate the order of operations and the speed of completion, but I do hope we can clear our deferred items to make way for new ideas by the end of the year…but, of course, first the MIK!
- Eric