Derwin and I decided to head to Moncton yesterday to bring a thank you gift to Ryan and Jodie for putting up with us when we stay there during train shows.  They are very good hosts (except for the locking us out of their house on a very rainy night incident during RailFest) and we wanted to show our appreciation.  After that incident we were wondering if they really wanted us staying there at all.  So we thought a little payment might be in order.

It was also very good timing because it turned out that Chuck at Don’s HO was having a customer appreciation corn boil and barbecue.  Now, if you don’t know Derwin you do not stand between him and food!  Once he heard there was free corn involved there was no stopping him.  As soon as we got in the door he shoved me to one side on his way to the kitchen.  (It was either the food or he was trying to find the Tide To Go to remove the coffee stains from his shirt and pants – both separate spillage incidents – ’nuff said).

Anyway, the place was packed.  Ed was even there all the way from Yarmouth.  He and Dar were out the door heading for Moncton about 5:00 that morning and arrived a little before 10:00.  You just can’t beat dedicated customers!

Derwin even bought a few things just so it wouldn’t seem like he was only there for the food!  I spent a fair bit more because I felt had to at least cover the cost of the food he ate.

The photo at the left shows Ian waiting on Derwin while Ed, Dave, Dave’s wife, and a few other customers listen in awe as Derwin talks about the food he ate.

Most of the time Derwin has to explain to people that everything we say about him is a lie.  He says that we never tell the truth and that our stories are complete fiction.  That’s what he’s trying to explain to Dave and Ed, but from the look on Ed’s face he doesn’t really believe him.

Truth be told, most of the things we say about Derwin are lies.  But he leaves himself open for most of them.  BTW – the bit about the coffe stains (above) is NOT a lie.  I almost got into a car accident I was laughing so hard!

Most of us can relate to this picture.  Chuck is installing a drop in decoder for a customer.  He’s like me in that he needs a big magnifying lens on an adjustable arm!  My eyes just don’t work a s well as they used to.  I have no problem installing coupler springs.  I rarely loose them and usually get them positioned with one try.  However, I need my glasses on to find the box with the springs and get one on the end of a screwdriver.  Then I have to take my glasses off to install the tiny thing.

It was a very good trip.  We got to thank our wonderful hosts and got to spend time with great friends at Don’s HO.  If you’ve never been there before you should.  If you don’t live handy then you should visit on-line (he does mail order).  Visit his web site here…

Scott

… where ever I was.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on this site.  I hope to get back into regular posting again.  Perhaps not as frequently as I once did, but maybe once or twice a week.  It will be difficult over the summer with so many other things competing for time.  I’ll try.

Between my fledgling business and planning for the MFMR Annual Convention (read the wrap up post on Island Rails 2009) it’s been pretty busy around here.  With the Convention out of the way I hope things will return to some sort of normalcy.

Now for a quick catch-up on what has happened on the layout recently (photos will follow in subsequent posts).  I did not achieve my goal of having 90% of the basic scenery done before the convention.  I was working very well toward that goal and then I got a cold/flu that put me out for about a week.  I just couldn’t get the gumption back to work on the layout after that.  Then the Convention was looming closer and planning started taking more of my time.

I did manage to get Kenville finished, for the most part, as well as the stretch between Kenville and Chappellton.  I have a few more structures in Chappellton and have a good start on the train station and underground platforms there.  The new Rail-Tug is almost complete.

The other evening I installed a decoder in a Kato RS2 that I picked up at the Moncton show (could not resist!) and consisted it with the old one that’s been sitting in engine storage for a long time.  Even though my coal drags are small they require more than one loco to get them over “The Ridge”.  So these two units will be the new power for that train.

I picked up (won actually) a Proto 2000 SW9/1200 switcher in CP PacMan scheme that I tried installing an MRC EMD sound decoder into.  Darn speaker just will not fit!  So I guess it will get the TCS decoder that I have on hand.  I’m not sure where this loco will do its thing.  I would like to add a milk train to the operations and it could power that.  Until then it’ll likely just sit in storage for a while.

Anyway, I hope I’ll have some pictures to post in a few days.

Until next time!

Scott

I’ve taken the plunge and moved this Blog from WordPress to my own server (well, not really my own, but one that I pay rent to use).  It was an experiment to see what was involved in moving a website from one location to another.  There were a few glitches, but it finally works.  The advantage is that I can customize to my hearts content.  There’s a lot of “stuff” available to WordPress Blogs that are not hosted at WordPress.com!

Anyway, please bear with me as I get a few of the bugs worked out.  The header is still not quite right and there are some other tweaks I’d like to make to the design.  Please let me know if you encounter any problems with things.

Later!

Scott

Note:  I think I have the design ok now.  At least the header looks better!

[email_link]

After an almost 2 year vacation from model railroading Clayton decided it was time to come back.  We spent last Sunday evening there repairing some of the damage that mysteriously appeared since we last operated there.  The list of repairs included the “lift out” bridges, cleaning the track, and replacing the rolling stock on the layout.

We’ll be operating there this evening.  But first we have to put all the freight cars back to where they were, or at lest where the computer expects them to be.  It should be a fun evening – almost like operating on a new layout.

I’ll post some pictures later in the week.

Scott

We were supposed to go to Moncton last Saturday for a day of operating, but it was postponed due to a death in the family of one of the guys we were going to visit.  We were supposed to go today, but this happened…

7am - November 22, 2008

Needless to say we didn’t go to Moncton!  Amazing what a difference a day makes.  I could see green grass yesterday.  Now this is what I see when I look out my front door…

4pm - November 22, 2008

4pm - November 22, 2008

Going from green to that in one morning is too much!  I hope we get some warmer weather and rain to get rid of this soon.   It’s too early to have snow!

Hopefully we’ll get our Moncton trip in before “winter”!  Official winter at least.

No, I didn’t get to work on the layout today.  We were without power this morning so it was too dark in the basement to do anything.  I cooked breakfast on the camp stove and went out to blow out the driveway and walkways when the weather calmed down around noon.  The snow was so wet and heavy it took a good 2 hours to get it cleaned up.  The power came back on about 3:00 this afternoon.  Then i worked on our outside door that was damaged in some high winds we had last weekend.  Will the chores ever end!

Tomorrow is layout day.  I have to get it cleaned up and ready for operating tomorrow evening.

Scott

It has been a while since I’ve posted here and a lot of you have noticed… and commented.  As you’ll read I have been a little distracted.  I guess it’s time to post an update.

A lot has been happening lately.  To start with, for the first time in 26 years I am unemployed.  The company I worked for was sold.  To make a long story short I am starting a technology consulting and support business.  I’m looking forward to the new challenge and independence (hopefully financial as well as personal).  Stay tuned for the launch of the web site.

This has been our busiest summers for model railroad visitors.  To begin the summer we had an operating day with a gang from Moncton (James Whatley – living in Ontario, Milne Hall, Jim McMahon, and Dave Wood) on July 27th.  Ed Cooke, a new friend from Ontario, joined us that day as well.  Ed has a family home not far from Summerside and comes to the Island quite often, so he’ll be operating with us a few times a year.  On August 10 we hosted Stanley Conley from Ottawa who was vacationing on the Island and Wayne Woodland from Halifax (a former Islander).  Another group from Moncton (Jim McMahon, Dave Wood, Allan Bishop and his son) came on August 31 for another full day of operating.  Ron Day from Yarmouth joined us for a special operating session on September 2. 

This is the operating group from July 27th.  A fairly rag-tag lot, don’t you think?

We also had the pleasure of hosting Shawn Naylor for a few operating sessions.  Shawn is a summertime regular when he is home from work for the summer months.

Ed getting the prelim on the train orders (July 27th op session)

It was fun meeting the new folks and sharing time with old friends.  Bringing people together is one of the great things about model railroading.  You can be a loaner, if you want, but you can have a great time with a group if you want to do that too.

Shawn and Milne working in Stevenville (July 27).

As for the garden layout, the MTR didn’t progress much beyond the last photos I posted.  I guess I got a little sidetracked and couldn’t get my mind back on the project.

Look at the evil grins!  You just know these are the bad boys of the op session! (July 27)

Now we are busy getting ready for the Truro train show.  Brian and I have a little over a week to get some scenery done on our new 5th Street modules.  I’ve also been busy making trees that I will have available for sale at the show.

Later

Scott

I thought it was time to post a short update on what’s been going on lately.  Some of you are aware of the little accident I had with my table saw.  If you aren’t – I darn near cut my left thumb off about a month ago.  It is healing well, although it is still a little numb and tingly and, because of that, I try not to use it too much.  Hopefully the feeling will come back.  In the meantime I’ve been able to get a few things done the last couple weeks.

I’m on the last stages of finishing the fence in our back yard that I was working on when I decided to mangle my thumb.  It’s about 1/3 stained.  When that is done my last few chores are to stain the deck and steps before I can start my garden railway.  I’ve decided to call it the MTR, or Mucked (up) Thumb Railway.

About a month ago I ordered an MRC G-scale sound decoder to put in my S4 loco. It was about the same price as a non-sound equipped decoder so I thought I’d risk it.  I installed it this past weekend and was quite disappointed with it.  There doesn’t seem to be any volume or speed adjustment other than acceleration and deceleration.  It is a VERY basic decoder.  I think I’ll be able to add a manual volume control and will live with the lack of speed adjustment.  It’ll do.

I’ve started clearing the right-of-way for the MTR.  So far I’ve trimmed some of the lower branches of the pine trees on the border of my property where some of the line will run.  Depending on the weather (if it’s to nice I’ll be staining something) I should get that finished by the end of next weekend and will start placing track to see where I can get things to fit.  Then there will probably be some more tree and shrub trimming required.

I’ll get some pictures this week to show where the MTR will run.  Stay tuned!

Scott