A view to a Railroad

So, the Board of Directors met and have decided that its not so easy planning on just plain blue.  So by unanimous resolution they have opted to build the towns and farm and other material - just to provide some backdrop to the planning that is ongoing.

Also resolved was to remove the mountain in front of the Saw Mill - dump truck by dump truck if necessary.  Mr. Johnson provided a very clear case why his visibility should not be cut off (mostly consisted of a lot of "Well, just because" arguments).

So in order to get an idea of where the Railroads progress was the Board commissioned a series of sureys to document progress of the building.

The series provided the Board with sufficient information to move forward with construction.  Of course the Chief Engineer had to remind the board that there was still the issue of power and track cleanliness, and until that had been resolved there would not be a lot of "railroad work" taking place on the lines.  So, while grumbling, the Board approved the plan to continue track work until such time as they could be guaranteed a full reliable circuite around the track at will by the engines.  Until that time any true "fun" work would have to wait.

Meeting adjourned with everyone admiring the plans.

My Parking Lot

While attempting to fix some of the saw mill "problems" I came across an idea to build parking lots from spackle.  There are products out there to actually "create" parking lots and roads from material that dries into a hard plaster like surface, I can't afford to buy the multiple containers of it to meet the needs of all my roads and parking lots.  So I decided to see what the spackle would do.

On the sawmill scene I used the spackle to act as a surface from the saw exit down to the drying shed and then up and around where loading would take place.  Frankly given the state of my landscape I just coulnd't seem them moving a forklife over the ground.  Thus my "concrete."

So in the picture here we see the material placed outside the exit from the saw area.  This is where the lumber would be moved to stack it in preparation for the forklift to move it down to the drying shed.  I scored in some lines and added some fine "earth" to try to have it look like there are weeds growing in it.  Once it dries completely and I take a fine sandpaper to it and get some concreate color to it, hopefully it will look like that.

This is a picture of the full concreate application.  Around the saw mill itself to the door of the drying shed and up to the car loading area.  Have to see how this turns out.

In the meantime I also tried to create a much larger parking lot.  This time I took an entire block where the gas station and 7-11 will be sitting and did a similar treatment.  This time I laid out some popsicle sticks to provide a uniform depth and simulate a curb.  I placed the buildings in the goop to get a placement and then removed them.  Removing the spackle where the buildings will sit allows me to run wires and place lights into the buildings.  Once I had an idea of where the buildings would go (and the driveways) I put in some styrne sheet sidewalk.  However, as I was drafting this I realized I didn't leave enough space for the frontage of the 7-11 to have two entrances :(  Oh well.  I will get it fixed.

And this gives an idea of the finished product, or the promise of a finished product.  I'm pretty sure it won't be pink.





Been Awhile

Posting has been sparse due to work and a labor strike.  Apparently the engineers decided that it was too much trouble to work on a railroad that permitted dirty tracks and dirty locomotive wheels.  So they decided to go on strike and simply stop working under those arduous conditions.

Despite attempts to appease them, the strike continued.  Therefore management felt no option but to deal with those issues in true Ronald Regan fashion, we fired the engineers and found some who would be willing to work and not try to break the railroads bank.  Unfortunately the new workers immediately joined the union and the same pressure came on.  So we had to figure out how to resolve the probelms.

After quite some effort, we believe we have found the solution.  Of course the challenge is now being able to get enough gang laborers scrubbing track and engine wheels to meet our desired deadlines.  So far its not looking very good.

In the meantime, we have a pair of pictures that show the state of the RR progress to date.  Excuse the mess - we are actually still very much under construction.

So labor issues resolved (at least in terms of recognizing the problem and working toward a solution) work picked up again.  We are pleased to announce that the corner where the sawmill will be has been (for the most part) senicked and actually looks like real land.  While there is a bit more landscaping and some track ballasting that must be done before the next stage, for the most part it is complete.

Of course the challenge is that it will be "lost" in the corner once the tunnel and mountain are installed in front of it.  This is a conceptual photograph of how it will look.

As you can see it sort of "disappears" into the corner.  Train operations to pick up the sawn lumber will have to be observed by looking up the line.

Until next time.

Cheers!