Painting Has Started

Painting, at least the drywall primer, has started on the P&LE. It's going slow, but we (wife Sue and I) should have the primer and paint coats on by the end of the week, and then construction on the railroad can start. No need for a photo at this time; I'll attach one when the painting, complete with the sky, is done in few days.

Ike Washes Out Trip

The Amtrak trip from Chicago to LA, to Seattle, and back to Chicago was washed out. Thanks to "Ike", the Ohio guys could not get from Cleveland to Chicago, and I could not get from St. Louis to either Chicago or Kansas City to hook up with the SW Chief. Oh well, we'll plan to do it in the spring. More later.

No Connection to LVRR

When I selected Black Diamonds Route as the name of my blog, I did so because my model railroad is primarily a coal ("black diamonds") hauling railroad. Period!

Imagine my surprise this afternoon when looking up the Lehigh Valley RR, I found its slogan to be "Route of the Black Diamonds" (for the same reason), and with a crack passenger train "The Black Diamond". I in no way meant to infringe or encroach on that storied railroad's name.

For those logging on expecting to see something about the LVRR, my apologies and sincere hopes you will keep coming back to see the progress on the Paducah and Lake Erie.

Railroad room ready for paint!

Drywall is complete in the railroad room. Now the painting (starting with primer Monday) begins with yours truly wielding the brush and/or roller. Some decisions have been made. It will be a single level with a unscenicked, return loop/staging area on a slightly lower (~12") level. I finally gave in to a reality check about working underneath something only 36-40 inches off the floor, plus we really need some storage area to be available underneath the railroad (moving from a house to a condo you know). Nothing is on paper yet, but ideas are starting to crystallize about the design. There will be coal mines on Howard Mountain, a small steel mill reminiscent of the one in my hometown, a gravel pit (steel mills use a lot of sand and gravel), the engine facility built by Dean Freytag, a replica of the Station Inn B&B kit bashed by Ken Heyl, and a greatly condensed version of the Paducah flood wall. I'm looking forward to getting started.

As An Aside

For a break in the action as they say, I'm taking a couple of train trips in September and October. In September, four of us -- Ken Heyl and Alan Steiner of Ashland, OH, and Stan Swope of New Philadephia, OH -- are meeting in Chicago and taking the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight from LA to Portland, OR, renting a car and driving the rest of the coast to Seattle, and then bringing the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

In late October, there's a bunch (10-12) of us who gather at the Station Inn Railroad B&B in Cresson, PA (great place for railfans) for several days. Cresson is six or seven miles from the world-famous Horseshoe Curve, and only about 20 miles from Altoona. I checked, and I can take Amtrak from St. Louis through Chicago, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh to Altoona for about half what it would cost me in gas (750 miles, one way) to drive it, and guess what? It's more rail travel for me. Good friend David James will pick me up in Altoona, and then I'll be joined by Ken Heyl, Dick "Sarge" Bloss, Stan Swope, and Alan Silverberg among others. And we'll enjoy the wonderful hospitality of B&B owner Tom Davis, and his right-hand gal, Sandy.

Starting RR Room

Work has started on the railroad room here in Missouri. The space is approximately 13'x27' with an additional 4'x 8' bumpout. As you can see, drywalling is well underway. As I write this, it is finished, and we're awaiting the inspector to approve it so the taping can start.

Nothing is on paper yet as far as design of the railroad; this space is about 1/3 what I had in Ohio, so I am giving it a lot of thought. I do know I want to keep the same concept, i.e., a coal-hauling railroad with a western Pennsyvania flavor. What I have not yet decided is whether or not I want to do a double-deck railroad. The obvious plus factor is doubling the space; the primary negative (in my mind) is the "under the bench" work (wiring, etc.) under the lower level. As a 300-pound 69-year-old, I'm not sure how much I want (can?) get down on the floor to work under a bench that's 36-42 inches off the floor. I'm anxiously awaiting Tony Koester's book on double deck railroads - due out, as I understand, in October or November -- in hopes it will direct me one way or the other. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and buy a "creepy crawler" and get started.

Actually, with the work left on the room, a couple of railroad trips in September and October, and finishing chemotherapy the first week in November, awaiting Tony's book will not delay design and construction very much.

Keep checking back for progress.

Vital Statistics

Covering an area of approximately 13'x27', the P&LE, version 3, is a free-lanced single track built on an open grid of 1x4's. The 0 elevation is 48 inches and rises to (tbd) with the steepest grade at 2%. It is a shelf railroad, with the shelves 24" wide. Great care is taken to maintain accessible aisles at a minimum of 36" wide. Sub-roadbed is 1x4 and 3/4" plywood; roadbed is Woodland Scenics Foam Roadbed. Track is Code 100 Atlas Flextrack. Roadbed and track are glued with white glue. Turnouts are Peco (primarily medium), and switch motors on the mainline are Tortoise slow motion machines, and in the yards Peco snap switch machines. Industrial siding switches are hand thrown. Control is Digitrax wireless infrared controllers.