More Wood

Went to the Home Depot today and bought the lumber to finish the layout.

1/4" Sandply Ply Wood - had them rip it to 16" sections for view blocks
1/8" Masonite - had them rip it to 16" sections for back drop
1 can of black spray paint

You know, Home Depot will make two cuts for you for free, so why not take advatage of it.  The panel saw is very straight and makes a nice cut.  Plus, it makes it easier to carry!

Now, off to the basement.

Cleaning Up and Organizing

I'm about to start a lot of detail work on model railcars and structures and my model shop is a wreck.  So, in order to prepare I will have to clean the shop today.  The company let us out of the salt mine early today so I got right to it.

Here is the before example.  The main workbench is a disaster!  Stuff is piled so deep that I can't even see the table top.

Lab stone plaster is everywhere as well as casting cups and tools.  The floor is so bad I won't even show you a picture.

Organizing is the priority.  I have built layouts in N, HO, S and O so I have stuff from every scale and gauge laying everywhere.  As I collect stuff for the Dixie Central I need to keep it together and safe from damage.  Right now I have four long flat storage containers.  Let's consolidate and open up one for Dixie stuff.

The first one has track of all sizes.  These long sections fit well in the long box but there is very little in there. 

Box two has Ho track and tons of cork roadbed.  I need roadbed!  So I take out a carton and put it with the Dixie supplies.

Wood, dowels and other buidling material is in the next box, which is almost full.

Plastic, odd wood pieces and chicken wire are in the last box.  Let's combine the HO track, cork and the other track box into one, opening up one box for the Dixie.

I checked to make sure the cork roadbed was not brittle from age.  Nope, ready to lay!

I'll post the cost later tonight.

Some wide sheets of cork were in the other box, so I put them in the Dixie box as well.

Rats!  Only a couple of sticks of Micro Engineering Code 83 Weathered rail!  I really didn't want to buy any as it is expensive.  Maybe I can just use some Code 70 since I have a whole pack.  The 70 is for the On30 layout.  All I need is a few sticks, so maybe I can buy some off a friend.

Empty box for the Dixie is clean and ready to go!  I buy them on sale right after Christmas when they are cheap and always keep some around.

The track that came in before Christmas was in the shop along with the crossing.  I had a thick tube laying around so I'll cut it down and put the flex track in it to protect it.

Fits perfect!  I put duct tape on the end and labeled the tube for easy identification.  Label everything!

The turnouts that I purchased will go in the box as well.  Keep everything together!

The company coffee pot is kept on the Electonics Workbench.  I cleaned it up first as coffee, creamer and cookie crumbs get all over it.  Nice and clean!  Found some tools I was looking for, too.

While putting some stuff away I found the HO crossties that I will use for the hand laid turnouts and track.  I used to sell track laying components and had tons of ties left over.

The locomotive and cars are going into the box as well so they are protected from damage. 

Several drawings and notes pages are laying around so I'll consolidate them all on to one brightly colored clip board.  The Swamp layout clipboard is yellow.

The rail cars that need repair are wrap in a cloth and put in a plastic shoebox for protection.

As I clean up I always think of things.  Having the camera around is handy.  This reminds me that I need some kind of large bar compass for drawing large radii circles on wood.

This reminds me to buy more glass cleaner.

I'm out of single edge razor blades.  Mine all rusted.  I've had the box for 10 years.

Each of the four work stations in my model shop are covered by a 2'x4' piece of Masonite.  In this case where the board is so damaged, I'll just throw it away and get another piece of Masonite.

This reminds me to buy myself a nice Panavice some day.  I hate this thing.

The metal and heavy work station is now clean and free of casting compounds.  The stuff stored in the spray booth is goine.

The wood and plastic assembly area as well as the paint station is now clean and free of tools and supplies.

The fine assembly station is now clean.  I use these 1/4" smoked glass panels for model assembly as nothing sticks to them and they can be easily cleaned, plus I can store notes and plans under them.  The smoked glass helps me to see the panel and keep from breaking it.  Glue Bob gave me a stack of them.

The floor has been cleaned and everything is tidied up now!

Lots of people like the "pretty" floor, but few realize that it is actually a tool unto itself.  When you drop a part, if it is a dark color, you sweep to a white spot and can find it more easily.  Same with a light colored part swept to a dark square.  Everything in the model shop is carefully planned.

Wood/plastic shop is good to go.  Lathe, mill and all the tools and parts are stored underneath. 

The paint booth is read and the microwave is stored underneath.  My cypress tree carving box is also there as I use it often.

All of the Dixie structures are stored in the box for now.

There!  Everything for the Dixie fits in two boxes and they will be stored in a separate place from other train gear.

I cleaned off the layout section to get it ready for assembly tomorrow!  Things are looking good.  From now on I'll alternate between heavy construction, track work and railcar/structure detal work.

How Could You Forget the Caboose?

This morning I woke up feeling a little better for the first time in a week. Still, I didn't want to push it by going to work or Church and it was rainy and cold here in Georgia. So I stayed at home and played with trains all day.

Early this morning I went to the basement and worked on Section 3. Here is the top that has been marked for waffling.

It takes me about 10-15 minutes to cut out the waffle. I then glued it to the base section and screwed the sides down to the side panels. A few reinforcing blocks were added to areas where the glue didn't take.

Here is one of the 1 1/4" drywall screws that must be flush with the top surface so the foam will adhere.

I keep a note board going in the basement when I work so that I don' t forget to tell you things. Bob wrote on it when he was over. One thing I didn't mention was the idea of a third leg. Bob suggested that one module have a third leg (which is more like a kick stand) so that the first module will stand on its own while I attach the next module. Great idea! I'll do this if my Harbor Freight legs ever show up. Arrrrggh!

To make sure the glue takes, I put some weight on top of Section 3. The other sections make perfect weights. I was down in the basement for about 45 minutes before I took the family to the store and to lunch.

Steve told me that I could come over today and we could talk about his Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in HO Scale and kick around some ideas. I also wanted to test run the new Southern ten wheeler with sound, so after my family all went to take a nap I slumped out into the dreary, rainy day.

Steve and I always have a good time. Elaine, his wife, was there and helped us. We re-measured his basement and checked the dimensions. While there, I noticed some structures that he acquired from a collection buy out (he sells trains on Ebay). A few items were PERFECT for the layout, so I grabbed them.

The locomotive ran very rough at first. Steve noticed the connector cables were dragging, so I fixed those. There most of been something on the wheels, too, but once we let it run for about an hour it was running perfectly. The sound is amazing! Micro Mark has these locos on sale and I highly recommend them. They are heavy an pull very well. Steve took a picture which I'll share with you later.



I made a quick trip over to the Trainmaster Models hobby shop to see if my track was in. I ordered some Micro Engineering HO track, code 83 sections. They still don't have them. Then I gave Scott Chatfield a list of the rolling stock I needed. I already bought the boxcar above lettered for the Central of Georgia. He showed me some others.

This car is very poorly put together and will require some work. The weight is loose and one of the brake parts was loose in a box. Price wasn't bad and it did have metal wheels and automatic couplers, but it is going to the rip track.

While looking through the abundance of rolling stock I noticed a caboose. Then it hit me. I FORGOT TO PUT A CABOOSE ON THE LIST! How stupid! I guess I just normally like modern railroading and forget about the old crummy on the back end. Silly me. Ok, now I need a Southern caboose for the 1940's. They didn't have one and didn't know of one available. I looked to repaint one, but decals aren't available either. Oh shoot.



I bought another boxcar, one painted for the Seaboard. It is perfect for this era.

I love it when Johnny Cash sings about the Orange Blossom Special and this just reaks of Southern heritage.

Steve took a look through his collection and I bought this Norfolkd and Western boxcar.


It was missing the weights and the floor is falling out, but it was a good deal since he gave it to me as a gift. Got to love train friends.

This little shed and platform will be used to house bagged sand for the locomotives at the turntable. Whoever put these together did a great job!


The shot is blurry but this small water tank is great for the layout, as is the speeder track for division maintenance. The water tower isinsulated, so I may modify it.

Steve had two small warehouse looking buildings with tin roofs on them. Ibought both for the cotton Gin. It seems his wife knows about ginning and cotton and gave me a lot of new information to think about.


Here is the other gin building. She picked cotton for$0.03 per lb, and the gin bought it for $0.09 per lb in the 1950's.


This structure is beautifully built and painted. I bought it for the harbor area. It could also serve as the railroad office.

When I designed the layout I put in a very skinny and tall knitting mill. I figured that I would have to scratch build it since no model is that tall and skinny. When I saw this model I knew it was a perfect fit and the quality of the craftsmanship was excellent. It just needs a few tweaks! I'm so happy!

The mill will need power, so I bought the stack to go with it. Steve and Ihad a great time together today!


My wfie Marie, Taylor and I went to Lowe's for some curtain parts. I bought this small sander for her, but I intend to use it on the layout to remove splinters.


More glue. I keep running out of glue. Really, I should just buy a gallon. That's it for today. I'm going down to make dinner.