Greetings everyone and if your stateside, welcome to the gateway to a long weekend. It seems like just yesterday we had just celebrated Memorial Day. Despite warmer temps, it seems like most of us are getting a lot done in the workshop and at the layout. Let's keep it going! Saturday: I'll need to change gears and start early on the yard. Mowing first, trimming next and brush removal last. If I'm fortunate, I'll be done by noon. After that I need to lay out the two pallets of pyrotechnics for Sunday's 4th of July celebration. For the last three years, we have had a 4th of July party at my place complete with fireworks. It's my favorite holiday for many reasons. I'll lay out the pyrotechnics by size then fasten them down to the pallets. They are arranged smallest to largest and connected with a slow burning fuse. That way, once finished, they can be walked out to the site, set down lit and music added. I'm getting better at this. After that, more prep work for our largest gathering of the year then some rest, I hope. Sunday: The big day. I'll set up all the yard furniture, stereo, speakers, all the other items needed and probably start the grill around 3:00pm. People will arrive at 4:00 and it will be a good time with friends, food and good tunes. I love summer. MONDAY: The actual Independence Day. I will likely walk my yard as well as neighbor yards and pick up spent shells and casings, clean up and see what I can do on a major project I have started that will benefit both myself and my employer. My Father-in-law has stated he is bored and since I have had zero time to install a set of hard bags on the Harley, we may end up doing that. I would like to run a train or two somewhere in there however I think that other than tonight's special Athearn Live Feed, I may not see trains again until Tuesday, but it's summer. So how about you? Are you busy with festivities or will you be hunkered down in the layout room and staying cool? Let us know your plans for this special weekend. We'll return on Tuesday, July 5th to see how we all did. Until then, have a great long weekend, be safe, stay healthy and for all my fellow Americans... HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!! & High Greens!
Yesterday the cardiologist cleared me for wadding in the river, carrying a light daypack and having occasion adult beverages! Friday We have about an hour ride to the shop that is going to make the soapstone sink for our powder room renovation. Depending on temperature when we get home, I'll either work on the layout continue making sidewalks or, I'll load up the trailer with cut down brush and dump it at my neighbors. After dinner take a walk to the neighbors and see if the trail I cut to the river is still passable. Saturday Take another load of brush to my neighbor's place along the river and do a little fishing while I'm there. Charge up the battery on my old compact back hoe and service backhoe. Start pulling small stumps from small trees. SUNDAY Take my Thermos of coffee and throw a few plugs before breakfast. After breakfast work on the layout. I should be able to finish cutting out sidewalks. MONDAY A day of celebration and a day to remember those, in and out of uniform, that risked everything to be free of a tyrannical monarchy. I can't imagine what life was like in my little hamlet during the War for Independence. What is now a house a couple hundred yards from here was a rifle barrel factory. The near by iron furnaces where producing shot and cannons all under fear of being set upon by The Kings forces. My friends house along the river was an inn and coach stop between Philadelphia and Reading. If only the walls could talk. In the morning we plan on attending service at a local Revolutionary War Cemetery. After that we have a couple picnics to go to. The second one is at the neighbor's place along the river. I'll be able to have a few beverages while bank fishing, then walk home.
Happy Firecrackers everyone. 4 day weekend here, starting today. Hope to spend as much time as possible in the train room and/or workshop. There are some "honey-do's" to take care of, as well as grilling St. Louis pork ribs on the Green Egg on Sunday. Fortunately, once the ribs go on, I set the temp and check on them every half hour or so. So that may be some good workbench time with a project I can walk away from periodically. No specific modeling goals other than to get something done. I "may" extend the elevated platform housing the buildings at Albemarle City given I straightened out the existing buildings last week. That will involve some serious studying of exactly how I want to pull that off, but I have some ideas. I have been looking at large city HO layouts to get some ideas. I found a few ideas from the Franklin and South Manchester layout. So, we'll see come Tuesday AM what I get done. As of now, I have no clue! Have a great and peaceful long weekend everyone!
Happy Independence Day weekend to Y'all My plans -- get the last two colors on my SSW PA project. Then - hopefully start applying the decals. Other then that -- relax and enjoy the weekend Y'all have a great and very safe weekend Wolf
The wife and I are recovering from our recent vacation to Punta Cana the end of last week and early this week. It was a very needed five days of being pampered after the last couple of years. I am still trying to catch up on some sleep. There is a huge pile of laundry to deal with. We have no real plans this weekend. We will be keeping an eye on the puppy and her reaction to fireworks. We want to and pick up flowers for the front garden and the window boxes. We will probably grill a couple of times. I have a backlog of modeling projects which mostly revolves around tuning up a bunch of rolling stock. I hope to run some trains.
Happy Fourth! Good news all around. Big plans all around. Did somebody say FISHING! (me foaming) Earlier today the hood component was test fitted. Will check it and glue it. The Olds looks more like a car now. All be fun and safe.
Good morning and happy Independence Day weekend ! It's normally fairly quiet around here on the 4th. Will be carrying on with the normal household chores and projects and trying to fit in some time on the layout. I have a start on the scenery for the hillsides I was working on last weekend and will continue with that. I need to weather the tunnel portals so I can get them installed. Will be firing up the BBQ at least one evening this weekend, listening to some baseball on the radio, and enjoying a few adult beverages. Everyone appreciate, enjoy, and be safe.
Hope you all enjoy the Independence Day Celebrations. No fire works for me. Thank you. They bring back memories. As well as fire arms at funerals. I'll just dream of travel on trains.
Will be doing a lot of nothing this weekend, except for walking and my PT excercises. I also hope to start on a couple of car projects and continue work on the GP35 I am building. Yesterday I went to my niece's restaurant in Ohio City and had lunch with my brother who came in from Toledo, had a great time but it sure tired me out, have to do extra PT to get my endurance up. I am planning on building a 2'x8' Diarama for displaying some of my trains and as an addon to the eventual layout. Rick Jesionowski
A lot of great plans listed above. I will add my "Happy Independence day" as well. I have not posted anything on TB for 2-3 weeks because : On 6/14 & 6/15 my wife had some pretty extreme back surgery done. In the 2 day event she was in surgery a total of 9 hours, recovery a total of 6-1/2 hours all the time pumped full of drugs. She was on some other planet for ten days and then slowly came out of it. She has been in the In-Patient Re-hab since 6/19. She will be released tomorrow 7/2, so my work will increase as she will need some help. I will not be going to visit her twice a day so I should have time to get back to my cabforward project. I have started applying decals on the tender, I'll post some images in my build thread. Oh, I failed to mention the surgery has proven to be quite successful, absolutely NO PAIN in her back, she has some very sore muscles from all the PT work
Howdy All, Still working to make some progress on these Bitter Creek kits and a Westerfield resin kit gondola. Trucks from Tahoe Model works have come in, so I hope to get to final assembly and priming this weekend. Also working on "Dill's Market" from AMB to be part of a mining camp scene. Hope you have a good one....Happy Independence Day! -Bob T.
Happy Independence Day, from Limey-Land! We've got a related scene on a club module. We decided that the Courthouse needed a suitably heroic looking statue from the American War of Independence outside, along with a flag pole. We raided a wargamers stash for the statue figure. Enjoy the holiday!
I’m back in Japan from the last three weeks of vacation in Denver. I spent yesterday recovering from jet lag and running errands. I bought some paint and opened a few packages of train things that came in while I was on leave. Today and tomorrow we’re supposed to have some rain, so it should be cool enough to sit under the porch and do a little airbrushing. I’ve got 6x ICE ex-MILW hoppers to weather and a couple of other things to touch up. I also have 5 July off, so I’ll probably head out to the Omiya Railroad museum and the Kato store. It’ll should be less crowded since only some Americans here have the 5th off. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So when I originally started working on the C&L a few years ago, I didn't own the Kato ES44DC's so when they run on my main 2' x 4' base that is up all the time, they tend to barely touch each other when going around the curve at the same time Of course the Atlas U25B's, and other DCC locomotives have no issue. Which is all I owned for years in DCC. Trying to make some small adjustments to the track but it still look decent, well to me, and not kiss each other as I call it Now I have to try it with the ES44DC's and the Kato well car sets. I feel sure more adjustment will be needed If they do, might completely or near completely pull up the track and start over. It kind of needs it anyway to be honest. Like I always say, live and learn, that's what this hobby is about Alright, so further adjustment needed for the Kato Gunderson MAXI-IV well cars for each other to pass. It might be possible it does NOT work on 11" radius and 9 /34 radius. I'll know soon I mean they do run with the ES44DC and Kato well cars on the 9 3/4, but when I make the adjustments we will have to see if both work. I hope so?
Carl, makes my surgery seem like an outpatient thing, glad your wife came out of it successfully and continued recovery. Rick Jesionowski
Rick, Thank you sir, I brought her home today. I am amazed at how well she is doing. Best thing is NO BACK PAIN, first time in about a year of putting off the inevitable. Carl