Our basement layout

[scott]

:) No, that's not where that really goes--I just set it there while I was working, and forgot to get it out of the frame for the picture.

[Bernard]

Scott - Any new developments on the layout?

[scott]

No, no real news. We had a bit of a setback when I had to peel up the top of that most recent tunnel--a train got stuck right in the middle, and I realized that I couldn't reach it. I need to make a removable street scene to be a lid for that tunnel.

 

We had another setback one day when I came home after work to find two kids from the neighborhood using the layout "with" Anders. Anders was pretty much out of it, but the other (older) kids were racing trains back and forth, leaving trains on the floor (!), knocking things over, etc. I found the missing half of my Gakunan Akagaeru set when I stepped on it. X-|  The next time we tried to run some trains, we had all kinds of problems, most of which turned out to be leftovers of the chaos. I couldn't figure out why nothing would go through a couple of the tunnels until I found the engines that had been just left in them after derailing at high speed.

 

Anyway--the nexts steps are to finish one last area of plastering, make new lid for the tunnel, and start laying out the main-station area. A while back I got some of those Kato platform elevators, so the platform access can be from a tunnel from the station--which means no overhead access to build.

 

I also need to find some way to mix plaster and paint to cover the pattern of the plaster cloth.

 

Was that a long-enough answer? 

[Bernard]

Oh Boy Scott, did you come home to a surprise! :confused2:

Do you think you will have everything up and running for the upcoming holidays?

[scott]

We can run the trains at least. Plus I'm going to put together some sort of under-tree loop.

[ToniBabelony]

Oh what a hellhole that must have looked like! I'd have long and paternalising talk with my kid and make him aware of the expenses and importance of modeltraining.

 

Also, keep voltages low to about a forced 6V. That'll teach him a lesson.

[CaptOblivious]

Holy crap, Scott! I'm really sorry to hear that! My problems are as nothing...

[scott]

Oh what a hellhole that must have looked like! I'd have long and paternalising talk with my kid and make him aware of the expenses and importance of modeltraining.

 

It wasn't my kid's fault at all. He's only seven, and the other kids are significantly older. Plus he's very careful about taking care of things like that.

 

Holy crap, Scott! I'm really sorry to hear that! My problems are as nothing...

 

Thanks. Fortunately, we recovered fairly quickly. Right now our main challenge down there is flooding....we had a big rain today, and the basement drain clogged, so it was a lake down there--even worst than last week's flood. Sort of cuts down on the modelling time.

[ToniBabelony]

Oh what a hellhole that must have looked like! I'd have long and paternalising talk with my kid and make him aware of the expenses and importance of modeltraining.

 

It wasn't my kid's fault at all. He's only seven, and the other kids are significantly older. Plus he's very careful about taking care of things like that.

 

Hmm, then maybe talk to the parents of those other kids. Or just leave it that way, it seems you have other problems at hand now :(

[Bernard]

I think we all at one time or another had a similar situation when we were kids. There was a awful lot of peer pressure especially when the peers were older, you think they would know better and lead by example.

 

There were 2 brother on the block that I grew up on that their idea of fun was setting up demolition derbies with toys. I think Anders was in a situation where he just couldn't control what was going on just by being the youngest person in the room. He knows how much work you both did to make the layout and just wanted to show it off. It seems like the older boys took advantage of the situation with no regard for Anders. If these kids had any idea of the the time put into making the layout or the cost, maybe they would have had some respect for it. 

[scott]

Yeah--fortunately they haven't really come around since then. Although one of them borrowed and lost a few of my drill bits, so it'd be nice if he'd come back to return them.

 

I'm starting to sound like a very old man....:-/

[Bernard]

Yeah--fortunately they haven't really come around since then. Although one of them borrowed and lost a few of my drill bits, so it'd be nice if he'd come back to return them.

 

I'm starting to sound like a very old man....:-/

 

Scott - No you're not. It's more about teaching children responsibility and respect for others. "If you borrow it, you return it and in the same condition you got it. If you break or lose it, you replace it."

[quinntopia]

Perhaps my expectations of kids (that is, their parents) is too high, but I used to believe that most kids would have been taught to 'respect other people's property' and at least ask before touching, but it seems like every one of my kid's friends who sees my layout wants to start grabbing stuff (the ones who want to push the trains on the track are the ones that get me! Argggh!! This is NOT Thomas the Tank Engine and his wooden track!). 

 

I do have a couple of solutions...

1.)  a lock on the door to the train room, and

2.) lot's of cars. If they have to touch something, play with the cars (and Tomix cars with their moving wheels are great for this) which is why I am not trying to strategically place highways and roads in front of the track in strategic places! :-)

 

Sorry, no solution for stepping on trains though.  That hurts just thinking about it.

[scott]

Fortunately I was wired up enough that I pulled my foot back before actually squishing the car--it was more the fact that I had to find it that way that cheesed me off.

[scott]

Well, two steps forward, one step back...

 

We finally finished plaster-cloth work on the layout, and are finally ready to move on to groundcover and buildings. But after we finished, I decided to clean up the craft table next to the layout--I had been taking it over with guitar projects for way too long, and figured Robyn might like to have the table back. At one point, I grabbed and crumpled an "empty" paper bag, which  must have contained an X-acto blade. Four hours later, I was back from the Emergency room with five stitches in the inch-plus, very deep cut in my right ring finger. (I never need to see that far inside my own finger. :-P  ) I am currently typing with the modified hunt-and-peck method.

[CaptOblivious]

Oh, Scott! As someone who has been there before (I was cutting wire-ties apart, and managed to slip and flay my fingers open at the knuckles), you have my deepest sympathies. The good news is those should heal quickly: In a couple of weeks it will be only a dim memory...

 

 

Well, two steps forward, one step back...

 

We finally finished plaster-cloth work on the layout, and are finally ready to move on to groundcover and buildings. But after we finished, I decided to clean up the craft table next to the layout--I had been taking it over with guitar projects for way too long, and figured Robyn might like to have the table back. At one point, I grabbed and crumpled an "empty" paper bag, which  must have contained an X-acto blade. Four hours later, I was back from the Emergency room with five stitches in the inch-plus, very deep cut in my right ring finger. (I never need to see that far inside my own finger. :-P  ) I am currently typing with the modified hunt-and-peck method.

[scott]

Eeeuugh--knuckles sound much worse. :-P

[DarkStar]

Hobby knife cuts are the worst. When I was in school working on projects for my Associate of Arts degree, I learned quickly to have some super glue in with my stuff just for situations when I (or a fellow student) happened to accidentally get a cut. An inch-plus cut long isn't bad, it's how deep that really is a determining factor!

 

If it was pretty deep, going to the emergency room was probably the best idea.

[scott]

I've had several notable cuts, but this was the only one that taught me anything new about my anatomy. :-P

[Bernard]

When I first started in the film industry as an editor, we used what was called "block splicer" to cut the film and part of it was a sharp razor blade. The assistant editors always had band-aides on their fingers.

 

Scott - are you getting your layout ready for the holidays? 

[scott]

Not specifically--I just want to make some progress. We may have a little under-tree loop made from excess Unitrack, though.

[scott]

Not about our actual layout, but....

 

I wanted to put a small loop under the christmas tree this year. The plan was to use excess Unitrack, but there wasn't enough left to make a loop, and I didn't have a spare controller. So I decided to use my Bachmann EZ-Track "test loop", since it would make an oval and had a controller. (It came with some train set; I never intended to actually use EZ-track.) But the loop was too small, so I figured I'd just buy some extra straights.

 

Today at a hobby shop, a pack of six 10-inch EZ-track straights was $22! And that for a kind of track I never plan to use again. But they had a limited supply of Unitrack, so I bought two four-packs of 45-degree 12-inch curves ($8.50 each) and a simple MRC controller. I spent more money in the end, but buying more EZ-track seemed like a total waste, especially at that price. And now I have more Unitrack and a spare just-in-case controller.

 

Now I just have to hope that I remembered correctly about having a spare terminal uni-joiner at home....

[Mudkip Orange]

I spent more money in the end, but buying more EZ-track seemed like a total waste, especially at that price. And now I have more Unitrack and a spare just-in-case controller.

 

Good decision. A++++++, excellent seller, would rob from again.

[scott]

Happy Holidays...

 

[disturbman]

You even have a Christmass Cat to protect the tree and the gifts!!!