Little Green Men

Hello, hello, hello to one and all!  

That no new posts have been forthcoming for the past 6 years does not mean work on the layout had stopped. (That 6 years could slip by so quickly can only be explained by some kind of time-space continuum issue.  Maybe aliens.)

This started out as a casual, fun way to share my layout adventure.  And it's still just that: casual and fun.  Although it's not a tutorial, please feel free to ask questions or request more detail.  My feedback is not guaranteed to make you a better modeler, but then again, your question may help us BOTH become better modelers, so ask away!

To those already familiar with my blog, welcome back. 

To the new folks, welcome aboard.

I look forward to catching you up on my layout, stay tuned!

Where I hide from my ~er~, I mean, where my wife can usually find me.

 

April 2018. Inconceivable.

What can one say?  Letting so much time pass without an update is unforgivable.
The fact that more than just a few of you are still looking, patiently waiting, quietly hoping for an update is ... oh what the word I'm looking for ... fantastic.  Not fantastic like "hey, wow, great!" but fantastic like "fantastically unreal".

So, without further delay, excuses or even commentary, enjoy these pix of progress.  (By far not an exhaustive illustration of the progress made, but evidence that stuff is a-happenin'.)

September 2016?

Over a year and a half since my last entry?  Ok, this is even worse than before.  Lots of things have been happening which just seemed to get in the way of updates.  I and my round-robin group have been (slowly) working on the Rutland, so there is progress to show.  Now that Fall is just around the corner I'll be spending more time indoors, which will hopefully equate to more train-related updates.

Blog-master wife here... Mark is being generous.  Blog abandonment is completely my doing.  Now that I've self-shamed publicly, you WILL see more updates!  Here's a teaser to prove my sincerity:

2015... seriously??

Another year has come and gone.  Amazing, really.  I am fortunate to have shared the end of it with my friends and Rutland supporters George, Ron, Robert and Scott.  The following pics, though not many, are from two separate sessions, the last two of 2014.

The second to last session was a relatively easy night for the crew. George continued assembling rolling stock kits for me.  (One can never have enough rolling stock... can one??)    I had previously laid track where I wanted it to be in the Manchester Yard and took pics of the configuration which were used later as a guide for laying down the cork roadbed.  Robert and Ron had that privilege... .

And as usual, along with the work came a lot of gabbin' and harmless jabs...lest we forget the never-ending "Management vs. Worker Bees" debate.




Is that George reading instructions?  Hey, isn't that against the Man Code??

Ron and Robert dry-fitting the cork roadbed.

Ron going to town with the cork adhesive...

More!  More!!!

Might George think about trifocals?

Take a break, boys, Christmas is a-commin'!!

The final session of 2014 ended up being just me and Scott (Electrician/Swiss Cheese Mouse).  He started wiring up the Bennington Yard and much discussion was had about having the main yard and the passing siding under their own, separate breaker (vs. the rest of the yard).  This way, in case of derailment, the whole yard won't shut down.  This will require a few additional purchases... but oh so worth it.  Thanks to Scott's tutelage, I almost feel like an apprentice!

Pushpins!!!  Blue were power drop locations, green & red
indicate polarity.  Looks like a game of Risk!

Swiss cheese and power connectors.

Scott brought his knee pads but didn't need 'em.  Carpeting.
Robert, take note.

Scott in his element.

Wiring 101, lesson #1: This is solder.

 

Engineer's view from his RS-I, Engine # 402 from Manchester
to Bennington.

Wait, what?  We're workin', we are!  We ARE!!!!

Right, Scott?  We're workin', right??

 

(I think we're snagged.)  [I think you're right.]

 

Overdue update...

It's been a long, looooong time since my last blog entry.  Seven months... is that possible? 

I have to say not a whole lot has happened on the layout.  Life took over for a while.  It happens. 

But now, I'm slowly getting back to things.  Good thing I'm not working against a deadline.  Good thing I have many healthy years ahead of me.

These pix were taken at our last work session.  Primary focus of the night was wiring, specifically snaking the two buss lines through the Swiss cheese holes throughout the underbelly of the bench work. 

 

Electrician's best friends.

...Swiss cheese...

"Head Electrician"?  Or Swiss cheese mouse?

The result of my wiring skills.  Yup, not so hot.  Or should I say "too hot"?!

Electrician's apprentice.

Can't have too many apprentices.  Apprenticii?

The paint shop.

Workin' on some detail.

Can you see me now?!

Figuring out the track plan in the next town.

Oh!  You want me to work?

Okayyyyyy.

Manchester track plan northbound (revision I).

Manchester track plan northbound (revision II)

Power!!

And joy spreads across the lands, for we have power.

 

 

For the sake of full disclosure, only 6 feet (almost a whole tenth of a scale mile, woo hoo!) of the mainline is up and running.  I'll be asking the DCC expert, Scott R to help me with proper wiring of the NCE system (Scott, what do you like on YOUR pizza?)

And certainly, big props to Jim O for hooking me up with the NCE system in the first place.  Thanks Jim!!

Work continues...

Another great round robin with the guys last week... Fueled up on pizza, we headed downstairs to the war room.

In anticipation of getting the Bennington section done (or near to it) and moving on to the next stop, our esteemed colleague, Bob R was tasked with preparing some detail parts.

We laid down some track leading into sidings that will service industries located in Bennington.  Again, there was more discussion regarding space constraints and we came up with less-than-prototypical-but-good-for-operations track plans.

George M continued assembling car kits for the railroad, changing out plastic wheels for metal and putting on Kadee no. 5 couplers.  Weathering is then done at his leisure back at his place... where Management doesn't look over his shoulder every minute.

John M assisted Robert S with laying down and spiking in some track.

Harley continued supervising, keeping everybody on task.

Queue up the barrels...

 

Barrels up!

 

Sidings...

 

Space constraints...

 

Detail work...

 

Wheels and couplers...

 

Cutting track...

 

...Laying track...

 

...and spiking track.

 

 

Fuel for the workers.

 

Keeping oriented.

 

"Hey buddy, take a break"...

 

("It's good to be Management".)