Step Ladder

On Friday afternoon I had to go to the shed and add some ply bracing to my ‘step ladder’.  That was easy.  I tested it in the middle of the walkway and it was good.  I then had to move it into the middle of the Grafton Loops return loops, so I could use it.  Hmmmmm!  However I could not get it to fit.  Damn!  So I took off the two sets of stabilising legs, put the step ladder on its side and pushed it underneath the return loops and brought it upright.  I then put one of the stabilising back on.  I temporarily fixed some handles to hold onto, as you are standing ontop of teh step ladder.  The ladder is only 700mm up in the air, and I gave it a try.  Well it works pretty damn good if I do say so myself!  I went in and out a number of times.  Certainly quicker than getting on my hands and knees and going under the layout.

A few guys (Darren and PK) came over on Saturday morning, to car pool, then we picked up another (Geoff C) and we then went to the local NMRA meeting a couple of suburbs away.  It was a good turnout.  Kevin’s layout is in its infancy, but he has a very good area to work with, and his wife is an artist so his backdrops are set to turn out very nice indeed.  At the gathering I was presented with two APs – Scenery and Master Builder - Structures.  Also at the same event Duncan, our Superintendent, was also presented with two APs.

After the Divisional gathering, on the way home, we visited a local auto shop in the hope of picking up a few cans of Yellow Oxide paint.  That store did not have any.  However, they advised which ones did.  So PK received an task to pick up some on his way back home.  Which apparently he did.  We dropped off Geoff, and PK and Darren came back to my place.  I showed off my ‘step ladder’ to get access to the centre of the Grafton Loops.  Together we enhanced an idea I had, and I will take this idea further this week,  This will be to walk over the Grafton Loops, standing on a platform.  So planning diagrams will be produced this week, construction hopefully occurring next Saturday and Sunday afternoons.   

Over the next week, I will hopefully be finalising the documentation for my next two AP applications.  I also have to so some decaling on a couple of wagons and building some pallets and clotheslines.

Stairs to Heaven

This week we all visited Geoff’s place on Tuesday night.  We had quite a few attendees and had numerous conversations talking across the table all at once.  It was a good night as usual.  On Friday I popped down to the shed early after a visit to the optometrist.  I did some pottering around.  I spray painted some styrene sheet to make then steel slabs and then added various colours – Black, Mission Brown and Yellow Oxide to add some weathering to the base grey colour of steel.  I also gave a 3D printed bobcat a colouring of yellow oxide.  This now resembles a dirty piece of machinery.  I will need to pick out the wheels and a few other items in matt black to complete the model.  I actually ran a track cleaning train on the layout from Grafton Yard to Cassino then onto Murwillumbah.  from there it was back to Cassino before heading though to Glenapp Loop, before heading back to Kyogle for staging.  It will work its way back to Grafton Loop one afternoon this week, and get put away into a siding in Grafton Loco.

On Saturday I had a visit from a mate from work and his 8 year old.  They had a tour of the layout and watch a train have a run.  I think the little fella enjoyed himself.  I showed then how I make steel loads.  I had a few strips of I and H beam ready for painting.  So I painted them Grey, and then added the various weathering colours, of Black, Mission Brown and Yellow Oxide.  All in under 2 minutes.  In front of their eyes they could see that the styrene was now lengths of weathered steel.  Not much later, I had Arthur pop over to take some more photos for supplement those already taken for my AP certificates.

Today I got the wood working tools out and made a set of steps for inside the Grafton Yard return loop.  This is a layout access point that I gain access to by crawling on my hands and knees under Grafton loops and come up inside the return loops.  I have been thinking for some time that I would go over the top instead of going underneath the layout.  I had a set of stairs for outside the return loop.  I then would step across the 8 return loops and land on the inside stairs and make my way down to ground level.  We will see how appropriate this method of access will be.  But I need some hand rails to steady my progress across the top of the layout.  I have not made the hand rails yet.  I still need to add some bracing ply to the stairs and potentially add one other cross brace underneath the top platform.  Next week's job

I am starting to do a list of things to do while I have a week off from work soon during school holidays.  I think I will work on three QR HWO steel wagons, adding some ‘decals’ that I am making, and then adding some weathering to the floors of the wagons.  I will also need some steel loads for these as well.  I will also put together about 30 steel wire loads for future use, about 15 long and 15 short.  I think I better make up the next lot of 50 or so pallets in case I get the phone call saying the someone wants some more.  I might also make up about a dozen clothes lines for the future.  I think I will also do the final copies of the diagrams and paperwork for the next two AP certificates – Model Railway Engineer – Civil and Model Railway Engineer – Electrical.  These could then be evaluated sometime in December by the local AP guru (Arthur) before being sent down south for ratification and whatever they do.

Quite a Bit Done - Good Progress -

So on Tuesday this week, there was only 4 or 5 of us online.  A rather small gathering.  On Wednesday there was still only 4 online for our QR night.  Again a small gathering.  I had Friday off and the day started with a haircut, breakfast at a local coffee shop with the boss and daughter, then a doctor’s appointment to tell me cholesterol is all good, and liver function is great.  Lucky I had bacon for breakfast is all I can say.  Hehehehe!  Next stop was a hobby shop to pick up 8 packets of styrene, then home and put that styrene into action.  I made about 18 steel loads for sale.  I still have some actions in my ‘To Do’ list which is create another 10 or so clotheslines and about 50 pallets.  I might leave for a couple of weeks when I'm on holidays.  At least I have cut up the hundreds of 0.030” x 0.040” strip to be used in the spacers in the pallets.

Saturday started with a trip to a local hobby shop and I sold a few items.  Next was a trip over to the over side of the city to the train Club Meeting.  We had a BBQ lunch and a pretty quick meeting.  I came home and then had to take the son to a 6:00pm 7-a-side football game.  They won 6-3, so it was a good night.

So this weekend I started to tick off a few things from my to do list.  I painted up about a dozen model tarpaulines.  I glued some sleepers under the dual gauge point that I will be entering into the NMRA AP program under Model Railway Engineer – CIVIL.  Once that glue was dry I ballasted that dual gauge point and then droppered some glue to secure the ballast down.  I will revisit this next weekend and see if I need to add anymore ballast, and reglue anything.  I tested the point with a few narrow gauge and standard gauge wagons movements through the points after the ballast was added and before it was glued down.  I then spliced a new narrow gauge point into the Acacia Ridge narrow gauge yard and connected up the diverging route and now have another run around in place.  This is located near where I will stage all my narrow gauge locos.  I undercoated some 3D printed land rover models I picked up last weekend.  I also painted up about a dozen steel slab loads.  I also cut up about 10 steel shape loads, ready for painting in the future.  I then cut up about 130 pieces of wire for future steel wire loads.  I then painted the bogies on three QR HWO wagons.  I purchased some white metal bogies from Canetode Flats at the May show this year.  I’m thinking about entering at least one of these wagons into the Club’s December Modelling Comp.  I will try and turn it into a HWOS (steel) wagons.  I will severely weather this wagon with lots of dust and grime and maybe graffiti it as well.  I will then make a steel load to put it in the open wagon.  I am also thinking of taking along the model of my Kyogle Butter Factory as another entry.  I might have to put a couple more signs on this building before I enter it.  Maybe an ‘Office’ sign above the door, and maybe numbers next to the sliding doors into the shed. I might even add a person or two. I may also add some detail items to the goods platforms. 

I may also try and see if I can successfully remove another building from the layout.  This being the station master’s house at Border Loop.  The only down side of taking a model like this to the Modelling Competition, is that I cannot take the fences that surround the house and the trees that have been planted here and all the other detail parts from the scene.  They viewer at the Club only get to see the model not what it looks like sitting in its scene, back on my layout

Now during this last week, we hear that there was an announcement for some new narrow gauge locos being produced by some manufacturers and due in Q3 next year.  This is being produced by SDS model and CGL models.  I’m up for a 1460 class loco and a 1502 class loco.  Most probably with sound.  I’m trying to rouse some interest at the Club and see if we can get a bulk order together.  Currently it looks like PK is showing some interest.  We will see who else caves in.  I was also looking forward to ordering a previously announced loco, the 1620 loco also from SDS Models.  I’m not sure if I can afford all three models.  But I will sure given it a good crack.  I just seem to be digging myself further into the mire with the wife.

Buy and Sell

Tuesday Nighters this week was at Arthur’s and we had about 11 there if my memory serves me correctly.  After talking to Arthur, I came to the conclusion that I had to ballast my pieces of track that I need to scratch build to satisfy my Model Railroad Engineer Civil AP.  Damn!  I was hoping to not ballast the whole top deck of my layout.  It looks like I will have to at least ballast the areas around my three pieces of track.

I have also been progressing my paper work for the NMRA Model Railroad Engineer – Civil AP and I should complete that next weekend.  Current plan is to have it assessed in December sometime.  So yesterday I painted the rails of the three pieces of track I need to complete and get assessed.  I also painted up lots of sleepers that I will slide underneath the track of these three locations.  Next Friday I will glue the sleepers in.  I will then start ballasting these pieces of track and I will see how they turnout.  A pun - that was funny.  I'm modelling a turnout!

On Thursday afternoon my wife received a package addressed to her, and much to her disgust, it only contained quite a few 12mm bogies that I ordered.  So on Friday afternoon I spent some time removing the bogies from my recently purchased standard gauge QR grain wagons, and swapping them over to 12mm.  I am not a fan for running narrow gauge trains on HO track, unless you are running in Sn3½ scale.

On Saturday around lunchtime I went down to the shed and did a bit of shunting of these now 12 mm wagons around Acacia Ridge Yard through various points and curves in one direction and then the other.  They ran quite well.  Now my decision is to determine if I end up with two narrow gauge grain trains or one really long one with maybe 2 locos or stick with a single loco for that train.

On Sunday morning (today) I headed over to the Club for the November Buy and Sell.  Boy was there some tables sold and some people coming and going purchasing items.  I had a profitable day, until I gave most of my profits back after finding quite a number of items that would look really good around Cassino.  Some of the additions were eight push bikes, a fire engine, five 3D printed Land Rovers of varying models, a 3D printed bobcat, and a fettler’s trolley in a box of stuff for $10.  I still had a positive bank balance at the end of the day.  Today I had many chats with people at the Buy and Sell.  I caught up with people I have not seen for a while and generally had a good time.  I understand that the sausage sizzle sold lots of snags and drinks as well.  One piece of sadness was that the other week, we must have had a lightening strike near the Club - most probably on the Telstra tower next to our grounds.  The guys inside the shed at that time apparently had kittens.  But no one went into the Trailer shed until yesterday.  Boy did they know something was wrong.  The freezer got zapped and all the snags for the Buy and Sell were on the honk big time.  So they had to buy some more snags yesterday for today's BBQ.  Hopefully we can get a new freezer on our insurance and maybe some of the cost of the snags.