Rainier Great Western Const Update

Tonight I was able to spend some time on the walkway.



The scribing is done and I've drilled 31 holes with a .8mm drill bit. Then I cut 31 pieces of 030 styrene rod. Each piece was cut 3/4 inch in length and I began putting them in one by one.

I used a depth gauge to set the stantion height and let the rod run long through the hole. Once the plastic weld took hold, I cut off the excess from the bottom.

As you can see, I'm a little more than half done. The other side has fewer rods to set so I should be able to finish this phase tomorrow. Will probably not get to the railings until next week. As always, thanks for checking in.



RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD

 

We keep talking about it, but every time we get close something gets in the way. My guys are not getting any younger and health is becoming a hurdle.

About a month ago I had Doug and Rey spot and retrieve cars and bring them to Renton. That went very well. I'm still concerned we need another passing siding, but we won't know if that's true unless we try it as is.

RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD

 

Normally I'd like that post, but I don't want to send the wrong message to a buddy.

RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD

 

After 10 days in Virginia enjoying the in-laws, I final got back and set to work on the bin walkway. It started with setting the final height of the posts. I cut a piece of styrene tube just under a scale 42 inches high. You can see it here on the right.



Then it is just a matter of putting the tube over each post and trimming off any excess.



This process is important that you take your time. Getting the tube seated properly is the difference between the correct height or not; you'll see what I mean later.

Once that was done I started with a trim piece to give the front edges a uniform look and to cover any imperfections that developed along the way. I started by bending the piece to fit the most complex angle and then gluing it in place. Once done it needs to be set aside to dry thoroughly.



After about 20 minutes I came back in and started gluing the edge to the rest of the walkway. I glue about an inch at a time, then place a 123 block against it to hold it in place. Then it's rinse and repeat until done.



Last night I added the railings. The process is slow but steady. First step was to rough up the rod to get a better adhesion once glued. I put a dab of plasti-weld on both pieces, usually working two at a time, and worked my way to the end. Once I got close to a bend I grabbed the rod with tweezers and formed the bend, then came in and glued it in place.

Here is the nearly complete walkway being test fit between the bins. It looks good so far, actually needs a couple of tweaks on the far left edge as it appears the posts are too high there. As I said earlier, the post trimming stage is very important.



I'll let that sit in place until tomorrow. Then I will decide if I can live with the railing issue. If not, I'll pull the last couple posts, drill them out and put in new ones, this time at the correct height. We'll see. The final item is the middle railing, I normally use 010x020 strip and as fate has it, never checked if I had any before starting. So we wait.

Thanks for checking in.





RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD

 

Looking great

 

Here is tonight's recap of the regular meeting of the RGW crew. As I mentioned yesterday, I would think on the irregularities in the Bin walkway rail and the decide what to do about it. Well, does this help answer the question?



Yeah, no way I was going to settle for that gaffe. So here it is in place until the rest of the parts arrive.



Once that was done, I retaped the Boeing inserts and filled in the low spots from the molding paste shrinkage.



This weekend I hope to sand it smooth so next week it can get painted. Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile Scott agreed to complete a nagging project that, every time I walk by it, I cringe. Three unroofed homes for the mine scene in Franklin. I started this years ago and after one side of one roof, set it aside. I lost interest in cutting all the pieces to fit and the snipping of individual tabs on the shingles. I recently bought Scientific Laser Cut shingles and Scott started applying them tonight.



One last item, Rey is back at his car building station. Tonight be brought in a 3 pack of Athearn well cars.



At this point he is fine tuning the wheelsets, but later we talked about 3D printing the draw bar that sits between the cars. Actually, if you look just to the left of the file between the rails, you'll see one of the broken draw bars. Both came this way in the kit and while I'm sure Athearn would replace them, our experience with them hasn't been fantastic. So we are going a different route.

Well, that's all there's is for tonight, until next time, thanks for checking in.


RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD

 

Busy beavers on the RGW