Hide Your Children!

Hide Your Children!

I added a photo of a new module I started today. I named it after the mythical Mexican beast, la Chubacabra. The name fits because this thing is a monster! 17" wide and eight feet long, it is 45 pounds of fury!

Seriously, I decided to build it sturdy so that it could serve as a home base at shows and runs. There will be no scenery, just staging yard, programming track, engine/caboose storage tracks, a power strip, DCC booster, transformer, and refrigerated cup holders (just kidding about the refrigerated part).

The photo was taken before I added the endplates so that you could see the channels for storing tools, car boxes, etc. It is a couple inches under eight feet so it can be stood on end without hitting the ceiling.

The far end in the photo is ten degrees from square so that the ladder real estate is optimized. The mainline is the ladder track on the far end, and maybe the middle track on the close end.

To keep things bulletproof, I used Code 80 Peco turnouts and Atlas flex track with a transition to Code 55 at the ends. I'm going to ask Sherry to sew a large canvas sock to cover the beast when I transport it outside my truck. I'll be adding casters on one end so I can wheelbarrow the thing into shows and setups.

Everything you see in the photo was completed in about four and a half hours last night. With track, transformer, legs and wheels, this beast should end up being 50 pounds.

New Caboose

New Caboose

We just got a new caboose for the family's iron horse. After spending a great weekend car camping in a fantastic camp site, we decided it was time to upgrade from sleeping on the tent floor. I'm looking forward to some great weekend trips and maybe some longer trips too.

SoCal Railfan has GPS coordinates for most of the railfan areas around Southern Calfornia, so with a little coordination with SoCal Camping, I may find that perfect spot. Somehow I don't think my wife will be interested in camping next to the tracks, so I'll save those trips for the boys.

The Grand Experiment

The Grand Experiment

Last night I worked until three in the morning, so I skipped the office today. After waking up with the sun, I decided to play trains for a while.

Those things that look like cookies gone bad, are actually test blobs of the static grass. I put a handful of dirt in the bottom of a paper cup, made a depression in the center, and then poured in some plaster. Once it dried, I painted the plaster blobs Trail Tan and then tried different ratios of the Woodland Scenics static grass. I ended up liking the Honey Gold sprayed on and then mottling some Burned Grass over the top of it. Solid colors just looked like I took a giant hole-punch to a deer pelt.

I painted the concrete abutments, and then the canyon and other areas of the module. I'm pretty sure I will be repainting the canyon because it looks too Arizona Highways and not enough like the local scenery. Once that gets done, I will be adding lots of shrubs and some grazing cattle, barbed wire fence, creekside clutter and the usual trackside details. These elements will go a long way in making the grass look like something other than the back dash on a Caprice.

Design Improvement

Design Improvement

For those of you making your own "little-flocker" you might want to change the output pipe to this new design. With sustained use, the gap between the two barbed adapters collects flock and eventually makes a clog. This new design eliminates that problem. Just go to the electrical department of your local hardware store and get a 3" steel nipple (Westinghouse 70603) and a set of locknuts and washers (Westinghouse 70628). Use the rubber washers from the previous assembly to keep things airtight.

Mother Flocker!

Mother Flocker!

Back in December, I was trying to come up with a cheap method of making tall grasses in my scenery. I tried the auto carpet route, but as Steve told me, "The only thing that sticks to auto carpeting is dog vomit and Milk Duds." That made attaching bushes a little tough, though I enjoyed the Milk Duds, especially with a bowl of popcorn.

I remained envious of the results that Bernd had with a very expensive electrostatic flocker (click on the barn for an up-close look), but I had a hard time spending $120 or so on the device. Bernd uses a blend of three different types of electrostatic grass from German manufacturer HEKI: Sommerwiese (Heki 3360), Winterboden (Heki 3363) and Wildgras (Heki 3367). He says the fibers of the first two are about 3mm long, the Wildgras is about 5mm long.

A Google search came up with an alternative to electrostatic applicators for half that price, but I'm a tight-wad, and convinced myself that I could make something at home.

Ignoring the sickly color of my sample flock at right, my home-built device worked fantastically and it only cost $20 for the parts. I'm sure someone with a decent scrap box could cut the cost even more. Make sure you click on the photo below for a good look at the parts list.

One of the things I like about my flocker is that the cup is translucent so I can see how much static grass is left. Make sure you don't go over 25 PSI and keep the nozzle about ten to twelve inches from the surface. I would also recommend that you keep the air intake centered, and the outlet off-center, that way the fibers swirl around and ultimately line up for the trip down the tube and into the glue. Assembly should be self-explanatory, and I wouldn't bother with any teflon tape because of the low pressures. I also wouldn't skimp on the plastic cup, I liked the EZ Touch-Up Cup because it had lots of deep threads to hang on when pressurized (just cut off the brush with a hacksaw). NOTE: please see the design improvement here.

Get to work

Get to work

Apparently tired of being the primary workers at the N-Land Pacific Work Day, Jeff and I cruised while Bob and Stan did most of the work. Here Jeff has donned the BNSF Supervisor's helmet and directs Bob and Stan in the scratch-building of a hangar for Stan's new helibase module.

If you read the bucket, it says "I can't Believe it's not Butter!" and that's not a big leap. Here Stan is spreading the sanded grout we all use for soil on our modules. This new module is going to be pretty cool. There is going to be a farm house on top of the hill, with a palm-lined driveway going down to a rural road. On the other side of the tracks from the hill will be farm land and a crop-dusting helibase.

I spent the day working on some miscellaneous projects, some module legs, and fixing the broken scenery on El Gato. Another great day in the garage. Thanks guys!

Only 17 Months to Go

Only 17 Months to Go

The National Model Railroad Association will be having their 2008 convention in Southern California, July 13-19th.

Prior to the tearing down of the Cajon layout, I was asked to participate by having my layout included in the layout tours. Once I had torn it down, I was told by several folks that the tours were a year-and-a-half away, and that I needed to get my butt in gear so I would be ready for the show. Just the motivation I need.

The N-Land Pacific group was also invited to attend the National Train Show by setting up a modular layout. At Saturday's monthly breakfast meeting, we decided against displaying our modules at the Train Show. Instead, the modules will be incorporated into the layout tour at my home. I think this is a great opportunity to show how home layouts and modular layouts can work together, and may inspire others to do the same. The group also believes it is a great opportunity to hang out at the pool and drink margaritas in between tour buses!

Road Rage

Road Rage

I was driving into the civic center today for a meeting with a bunch of lawyers when I noticed this truck behind me riding my tail. As I drove on, the driver of this truck seemed to grow more desperate to follow me. Being the suspicious type, I did my best to ditch the guy, but he became even more aggressive in chasing me. I pulled into a busy construction site, hoping to have at least some backup if things got rough, and to my amazement, the truck flew through traffic cones and pulled along side me. Having shed my seatbelt and opened the door in anticipation of a quick exit, I stopped cold when I recognized the logo of a railroad on the side of his truck. I looked up to see the driver just five feet from me. Like nothing had happened, he very calmly asked, "Where'd you get that cool knuckle hitch?" He was talking about the trailer hitch on my truck being a replica of a railroad coupler. It turns out he is a signal maintainer for a railroad (to remain nameless) that operates downtown. I'm glad to know that safety is his number one priority.

Cool campfire

Cool campfire

I remember paying six bucks for a single LED and seeing a model campfire effect circuit for $36. Now, LEDs are everywhere, and are so cheap they are almost disposable. Here is a case in point. GE sells these "tea lights" for under two bucks each. It uses three of the button batteries (included) and a circuit that makes it flicker.

I bought one of these, dissected it, and I'm convinced I will be using it on a model. It was easy to cut off that plastic flame and the outer case with some wire cutters. Inside is a circuit board smaller than a postage stamp, a slide switch, a battery compartment and an orange LED. The circuit melts down with more than 3 VDC, but rewiring it to an AA battery should make a flame that will last for at least a week. A quick touch with a soldering iron and the orange LED could be replaced with a white LED for a welding effect. Not bad for two bucks.

Train Stolen by Teenager

Train Stolen by Teenager

Two boys, aged 13 and 16, escaped from an Ohio group home, started up a locomotive, disconnected the train, and drove it twelve miles down the tracks. I guess the Microsoft Train Simulator works pretty good as "training" software too.

Over on SoCal Railfan, they're talking about how a couple days ago an engineer was removed from the work site and terminated for having a photo of the locomotive's cab on the web. According to the thread, the Feds are investigating all cab shots and removing guilty engineers. Reportedly, such acts are a threat to national security (and the security of Ohio group homes). I've got to wonder if Microsoft will continue to sell their product.

Petticoat Junction

Petticoat Junction

Today, we had a work day in the garage for the N-Land Pacific guys. Bob and Jeff visited for a few minutes, but then headed home to finish a bathroom remodel. Stan and I spent a couple hours working on a new module for him, and then after lunch Steve showed up. As usual we had a blast, and talked a lot of trash. My favorite line of the day was classic: "It sounded like someone was f------ a cat. It was with his finger, but that is still wrong."
Stan had asked me about Tyco trains, so after dinner, I did a search for Tyco images. I saw the image on the right from Petticoat Junction, and it hit me.

I flashed back to the image on the left of Jeff and Bob at a previous work day in the garage.

I'm sure they'll hate me for posting it, but damn, it looks to me like they came from the same gene pool.

Train Taggers

Train Taggers

There is nothing that will set off a flame war on the model railroad boards faster than a discussion about graffiti. These guys will obsess over the diameter of a rivet on a boiler plate, and how a handrail height on a model isn't prototypical, but they won't consider having tagging on their trains because somehow that endorses or promotes tagging.

One of my primary reasons for liking trains is the raw power of them, the primitive nature of smelling exhaust and feeling the rumble. I think of the tagging like the primeval cave paintings. It is the base of mankind to express themselves. It is an expression, no matter how crude, that sets us apart from other animals. Perhaps it is that anthropological side of me that let me relish the several years I spent as part of a graffiti task force catching these bad guys.

Recently, Ken Szok posted this image on the SoCal Railfan board, and I thought I would share my professional analysis of the tagging. Click on the photo for a much larger view (Hold down the shift key when you click for a new window, or if you're using Foxfire, the Ctrl key for a new tab).

It was a female tagger (yes, they are out there). The two sets of three lines around the "27" are often indicative of eyelashes (and vanity). The stars around the 27 and date likely represent the "star" personality of the tagger. 27 is the tagger's initials , or more likely, the initials of their moniker (or nickname) . It is probably "BG" for the second and seventh letters of the alphabet, but it could also correspond with the letters on a phone keypad. You might be able to catch a fingerprint off the four horizontal drags on the left panel. The tagger's eye-level is most likely equal to the top of the date as suggested by the alignment with the strong horizontal segment of the scrolling in the right panel and the start of the better penmanship of the looping e's on the left panel (the spacing increases as it goes up, indicating the perspective change). This also places the four horizontal finger drags at mouth level, which is a natural position (go ahead - try it)...

This is the critical eye that haunts me when I look at tagging on walls, bridges and trains. It is not all gangsters marking their territory like dogs. It is an expression of emotion in a primitive form. It is a necessary element in modeling a railroad, and an unnecessary element in modeling a train. I am a model railroader, so I will be tagging the crap out of my trains and scenes.

The Train Show

The Train Show

The guys from the N-Land Pacific met for breakfast this morning and then headed over to the train show in Anaheim. I'm pretty sure that was my last public train show ever. It was the same Tyco trash on cookie sheets that I've seen for years, and I had to pay $7 for the privilege.

The people attending the show continue to inbreed and apparently somewhere in the evolution, they stopped bathing. It would have been more fun to do a tractor-pull with some of the dozens of electric wheelchairs that took turns ramming my ankles.

Andy and I split after just an hour and headed across the street to Disneyland. The highlights of the day included talking the tram dude into letting Andy do the spiel (Driver, we're all clear), getting a WPM DVD from Bob and Jeff, and trading El Gato to Robert for a Maxi-Stack. You can check out a four minute edit I did of the DVD here.

Sociology of Model Railroading

Sociology of Model Railroading

I was just reading a great essay, The Sociology of Model Railroading. Imagine my surprise when I found the author has a link to my website on his site. Great minds and all.

Lots of email on the demise of the Cajon Layout. Stuart writes, "Trashed the layout, have we? Looking to socialize more while running trains? I wonder what Freud would have said about that." He goes on to say, "Let me be the first to predict that your little Porter venture will soon lead you into HO. You heard it here first."

Stan writes, "I just got on the computer and one of the things I like to do is read your blog. I find it humorous, fun and most of all a good release. So I'm in there reading your last two entries and I see something that your tearing down Cajon? What happened? I've heard about realigning for 2007 but..."

The End of an Era

The End of an Era

You might think it was a New Year’s Eve thing, but I’ve been thinking about it for days, if not weeks. I’ve decided that staying the course with the Cajon layout is not what I want to do.

My style of model railroading has become social, and consumable. I love the interaction with others, and once something is done, I’m done with it, and I usually give it away. I look at the Cajon layout and see all of the extra infrastructure like dust control, and lighting, and realize it is not what I enjoy about model railroading. I look at the compromises of a 12” minimum radius and realize I’ll have to apologize to others and myself for the rest of the layout’s lifespan.

I like modular railroading. I get the social interactions. I get the vain displays of my work. I get to experiment. I get the freedom of ditching what doesn’t work for me. I get to feel the satisfaction of completion over and over again.

I’m ready to tear out the Cajon layout and re-task the garage as a workshop for modular model railroading and other projects. I am imagining cabinets for dust free storage of modules. I am imagining a modest test layout, a spray booth and a workbench.

I think my next modular project will be a staging yard similar to what Bernd built for their group. Even though I will be using Code 55 for all my modules, I have a considerable amount of Code 80 turnouts and track that will work for a utilitarian staging yard. Sure there will be a transition to Code 55, but Code 80 is robust and perfect for the utility of the yard.

The yard, and most of my modules for that matter, will probably be 16” wide. I think that is a great width for single-track modular railroading. A 24” wide module is too cumbersome for one person, and a 12” wide module is too skinny. A module width of 16” has the advantage of portability and the economy of a standard dimension that cuts cleanly from four-foot timber.

I don't regret any of this. It has, and continues to be a wonderful hobby for me. Cajon Pass is still in my neighborhood, and I will continue to draw upon it for inspiration. Now if you excuse me, I have to go clean the garage.

Demolition Day

Demolition Day

Today was the last day of the Cajon layout. It went fairly well, but I have a cut on my forehead from a snag on a nail, and a sore back for my troubles.

The rubble filled the bed of my truck and six large trash bags. Of course not everything is heading for the landfill, but the lumber, foam, cork and track is gone from Devore to Summit.

That area of the layout is now going to be a 3'x12' workbench with cupboards and pegboard under the worktop. The area on the other side of the garage is going to be a 4'x20' layout with a connection to the Free-moN modules.