Sunday, May 31, 2020

Bright sunny days then rain!

Amidst the chaos currently going on, COVID and the protest in the United States and Canada, here in Vancouver it is turning out to be a semi normal spring. Last Monday it rained, no biggie it is a work day after all, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday bright sunshine warm temperatures. Great days to outside but I have a full-time job, not retired yet. So, no work on my modules during the week. Saturday, rain. Well, Saturday is my wife’s day, so I had never figured I would be working on the modules anyway but Sunday, now that’s my day, great plans hang the French cleat on the wall, build one maybe two modules and hang them and rain. Poo, postponed for another week.

We are model railroaders, you say, are trains are in side, rain means we don’t have to feel guilty about staying indoors. You are correct, and I personally like the rain for just that fact. However, my office/train room does not have the room for me to build the modules in it. I do not have a garage or indoor space to build the modules in. So, I need to build my modules in the back yard, that was the plan for my Sunday. Just another spring weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

That being said I did get some work accomplished this week. I did build the turnouts for the Sugarwood Yard and main line and I hope to complete the two on Sugarwood Siding this week.
SugarwoodYard.png
This is the right side of the trackplan ( see Trackplans on my website for the current trackplan. ). The grey under the turnouts is the sub-roadbed, 1/8 inch basswood sheets. As can be seen, the #5 turnouts for the entrance to the siding, yard and service/RIP track are built on a 6 inch by 24 inch sheet. The #4 turnouts for the yard ladder are built on a 3 inch by 24 inch sheet. The #5 turnout for the east turnout of Sugarwood Siding ( to the right ) is built on a 3 inch by 9 inch sheet.
#5 turnouts for the entrance to the siding, yard and service/RIP track
SidingYardAndService-RIP_Track.jpg
#4 turnouts for the yard ladder
YardLadder.jpg
#5 turnout for the east turnout of Sugarwood Siding
EastSidingTurnout.jpg

Now, I probably should explain, I am hand laying my track and I am not using the Fasttrack turnout jigs, though I am using the Fasttrack filing jigs for frogs, points and stock rails. I am doing it the old fashion way and since I will be using 1 inch foam on top of the 3/8 inch plywood train deck, I need a solid ‘ish’ base for my track hence, the 1/8 inch basswood sheets for roadbed. Though I am considering using 1/8 inch birch plywood going forward.

I did manage to get the French cleat on two of the walls so a start.
Before: RoomRightCorner-Before.jpg

After: RoomRightCorner-After.jpg

So, progress this week, just not in the progress I was hoping for.

Until next week.

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