Kudos ... and whatever's greater!

I have to mention the temendous help provided by four people. David James of Brecksville, OH, decided that St. Louis was "on the way home" to the Cleveland area from a meeting in Sioux Falls, SD; thank goodness he has a better sense of direction when routing the bus fleet he and his family own. His 27 hours in two days work on the helix, electronics, and laying track is appreciated far more than I can ever say. Ken Heyl of Ashland, OH, drove the 500 miles (he came a more direct route) to St. Louis and spent the better part of four days helping with bench work and the helix. Ken is the guy who got me away from the model railroading magazines to actually building a railroad almost 20 years ago and has been there to help with three different layouts, but never more than with this latest effort. Bob Gouirand, a neighbor from just up the street, who has never been involved in the slightest with model railroading, showed up one morning with his pick-up truck and said, "... let's go get lumber and start building this railroad you're always talking about." He's been here almost every day since, building bench work, sawing, measuring, inserting drywall screws, and shaking his head at these model railroad guys. I think we've recruited a convert. Fourth, finally, and certainly not least, is my wife Sue. She has done nearly all the painting, starting a year ago when I was too beat down with chemotherapy to get out of bed, and as the accountant of this circus, watching with gracious good humor the $$$ outflow a project like this entails. Without these four, this railroad would not be happening.

This will be the last post for a while; I'll send out an email when it resumes, or you can check back periodically.

Trains Are Runnin'

Trains are running on the Paducah & Lake Erie. Sunday was a looooong day, but the helix is transitioned into the upper deck mainline, and the eastbound track is in from the helix to the entrance to Paducah. The westbound track is in from the helix to the end of the James Creek Railway spur at one of the three coal mines. The work bench is also installed. Below are five photos from Sunday: from top to bottom are 1) the first train to run (David James' Alco) at about 6 pm Sunday; 2) the transition from the helix to the upper deck; 3) David laying track on the upper deck; 4) the Digitrax power components for the helix, which we've made into its own power division; and 5) the work bench, which will include a spur off the lower level that will have the programming track and a RIP track.

I mentioned a couple of days ago about a silicone product we're using to fasten down roadbed and track, and we're quite happy with it. It's fast drying, with no need to tack down either roadbed or track until is dries, and it goes down easily. The first tubes we used on the helix dried white in color and looks messy, but since this will all be hidden, it was a good trial run. We have since gone to a clear-drying silicone and have become much more adept at putting it down, so it looks pretty good. For those interested, the product is "DAP Alex Plus, Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone" and be sure to get the drys "clear" version. It's about $2.25/tube at Home Depot.

Helix is In!!!

The helix is in (as of 4:55 pm today), complete with trackwork. (The kink pictured in Thursday's posting was "fixed"; we cut out a 18-inch section of track and replaced it.) It only needs to be attached to the rest of the layout and wired. Four photos below from today show (top to bottom) David James soldering in feeder wires; Me, David, and Russ Hachtel putting on the final 3/4 turn of the helix; same three continuing the installation; and the completed 2 3/4 revolutions of the helix dropping about 12" from top to bottom. Russ, his wife Judy, and their son Larry stopped by for a few minutes on their way from Ashland, OH, to Yuma, AZ, and we put him to work. Tomorrow trackwork and wiring starts in earnest.

Mainline Roadbed In

Mainline roadbed is in (top photo), and ready for track, which starts tomorrow. You're looking down the longest (about 27') straight, that includes a couple of tunnels and two coal-loading facilities. Past the monster post, which has been an absolute #@$%?&# to work around, the railroad does a 90-degree right and runs about 14' to the helix, a work in progress. The second photo is of a truly ugly kink on the helix, and all work has stopped on that helix until track doctor David James shows up Friday and works some magic. More photos tomorrow, of track work, and hopefully of a smooth track on the helix. I should mention that to glue down the foam roadbed and the track, I am using an adhesive caulk with silicone, which is fast drying and precludes the need to use pins or tacks to hold the roadbed and track in place until dry. It's the first time I've used the product and I think I like it.

Mainline Sub-Roadbed Complete!

The sub-roadbed for the mainline is complete as of 8:30 pm (CST) today. Top photo shows me driving the final drywall screw as Bob Gouirand looks on. The next two photos are views of some of the completed sub-roadbed. Tomorrow (Thursday) starts the laying down of the foam roadbed (I use Woodland Scenics and really like it), and I hope also to get some track work complete. David James arrives from Cleveland Friday and we'll get a lot of the electronics in, and hopefully complete the helix.

Benchwork Continues

I haven't had a post for several days, but we've been busy. We're working on the sub-roadbed, and it's about 80% finished on the main line. One more major curve, and we'll be ready to start (Wednesday) laying roadbed and even track! I'll add photos Wednesday.

Progress on helix installation

We're making progress on the helix installation. This morning, Bob Gouirand showed up, and we got the first of two and-a-half revolutions installed. I now have to lay roadbed and track on the portion completed since the second revolution is only 4" higher and would make track work quite difficult if not impossible. More later.

Helix Installation Underway

Helix installation is underway! It wasn't expected to arrive until late in the week, but it showed up Wednesday morning. Ken Heyl and I spent the rest of the morning looking at the parts, reading the directions, scratching our ... heads ... and sounding like a married couple. Then we went to lunch. When we came back, we worked on the curve radii on the roadbed. Finally, Wednesday evening we decided to start Thursday morning with a platform. Bob Gouirand showed up this morning and lent a hand, and we're now underway and once again making progress. Kenny has returned to Ohio, so it will be up to Bob and me to carry on.

Makin' Sawdust

Friend Ken Heyl arrived Monday (11/30) and we started literally making sawdust as we continued the attaching bench work. We got most of the basic bench work done except for the helix, which should arrive by the end of the week. The helix is coming from "Easy Helix" (easyhelix.com) and we're looking forward to it arriving. Today's efforts will be largely devoted to laying in curves and planning mainline runs. There may be still another trip to Home Depot (only 5 minutes away) for odds and ends. We also have to make a decision about the lower level height (poor planning on electrical wall outlet placement). Heyl refers to this photo as "the three clowns" in reference to my circus poster to the left.

Helix On Order

This afternoon, I ordered a helix from Easy-Helix in suburban Milwaukee. It is a company that Jim Hedinger of Model Railroader put me in touch with. It will be interesting to see if we (Heyl, Gouirand, and yours truly) can get it installed. I'll keep you posted. I'd love to include some photos, but am suddenly having trouble with downloading pix from my camera to my computer. Am I the only one out there who thinks Microsoft should be run out of business for ramming Vista down our throats?

A Hybrid Two-Level

I have finally settled on the design, and it will be a hybrid two-level layout. I had mentioned some time ago about realizing that I did not (could not!) want to work under a lower level only 36" - 40" off the floor. But I couldn't bring myself to give up the advantage of a hidden storage yard and extended running a second level would provide. Thus, a compromise. There will be a lower level, just 12" below the upper level. It will provide the hidden storage and the extended running. But, it will not be scenicked, and everything -- switch motors, wiring, etc, -- will be above the roadbed, keeping this old man off the floor. Sue did not want to have to call a neighbor to help me up each time I got down there to work on the railroad.

Things Are Progressing

Things are really moving forward. Thanks to wife Sue (painting),a wonderful neighbor Bob Gouirand, and another great neighbor Don Brien (saw), we've made great progress the last week. The blue sky backdrop is all painted; Don arranged for the loan of a "chop" saw for as long as we need it, and Bob has taken me to Home Depot on two occasions already for lumber, saving a lot of money and providing a lot of grunt labor. Today, Bob and I cut and assembled 13 of the 2' x 8' grid panels that serve as the base for the roadbed. Earlier this week, he and I put in the 2 x 4's around the walls to which we attach the open grid work. I've pretty well settled on a design, so we are only days from starting the roadbed and maybe even early stages of track work.Yeah!

Railroad Activities Update

The last post on this site was over a year ago, and I am embarrassed to say little has been done in that time, until just the last two weeks. I had no idea as to how debilitating chemotherapy would be. But that is all behind me, the energy has returned, and it's full speed ahead. The sky was finished today; the initial bench work starts tomorrow.