Son of Winter Projects
Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains
On Thanksgiving eve, 2000, I asked a number of Garden Railroaders if they had any projects planned for the winter. The point of this collection of input wasn't so we could go back at the end of the winter and rub people's noses into the things they didn't get done, but to give everyone ideas for ways to "keep their hands in" when it's too cold to play outside for long.
Some of the other folks' replies to the original survey are posted in the Winter Projects article.
On April 19th, I posted a new survey to the Big-Trains list, asking folks how much of their planned projects they got finished.
For exmple, my project was:
>I wanted to get my buildings cleaned up and detailed.
My reason for this is that on my tour of area open houses last spring and summer, I saw how much more most visitors enjoyed RRs with a lot of "human interest" detail. Not just plastic people crowding the station platforms, but business signs, clotheslines, swing sets, and all that clutter that is missing on stuff you buy "out of the box." Most of my buildings seemed very sterile, and my town looked like a ghost town even with people standing on the curbs. So my goal was to add details that would add human interest. In addition, I had two buildings that needed painted: one station with a really bad out-of-the-box paint job, and an Artline "Old Western" bird feeder that I thought would look nice with some painting and bashing. Also, I had some old wooden bird feeder-type structures I wanted to make minor improvements on. The very last thing was some simple building kitbashes I had on tap in case we got snowed in for a month or something.
In retrospect, I got about 1/3 of the way through what I hoped to get done, and about 2/3 of the way through what I expected.
- I copied some old signs from an online sign catalog, printed them on my alps and glued them to some of my buildings. I still want to add curtains, blinds, etc. and selected interior detail.
- I attached some street lamps to the sidewalks (however they're not wired yet).
- I took the Artline bird-feeder apart and painted it. Looks MUCH better. Still need to add some signage. (I also experimented with different painting techniques, so it's not quite as nice as it could be and took more time than it "should have," but it was a learning experience for me, and at least I didn't butcher a $120 kit.)
- I took the old station with a bad out-of-the-box color scheme and started painting it. However it's still not done. Right now it's in my basement half masking-taped-off waiting for me to have time to masking-tape off the rest and paint the next coat.
What else didn't get done included planned upgrades to several other buildings, including the simple building kitbashes that are still in boxes in my garage.
So if you held a gun to my head and said I had to have an open house next week, I would be better off than I was, but there's still a long ways to go before the building upgrade project is as "finished" as I'd like.
New Survey
Now here comes the new survey. How much, if anything, did you get accomplished for your Large Scale/Garden Railroad over the winter?
Scot Osterweil
Scot models European narrow gauge on purpose, especially French railroads, which differ from the mostly German Euro Narrow gauge we're used to seeing in several particulars. Although Scot e-mailed me last fall with a description of his project, I didn't get it posted. However his goal was:
> Stripping, painting, decaling, and weathering 19 pieces of rolling stock for my railroad.
Now Scot says:
> I've taken some
before/during/after pictures of rolling stock, and I was going to ask you
if you'd post them (I still don't own a website). I think the pictures
represent an argument for why it's satisfying to repaint your bright and
pretty rolling stock into something more prosaic.
Personally, I'm looking forward to Scot's photos. He has also changed many of the details on the various pieces of rolling stock to better represent the French prototypes. In fact, Scot subscribes to at least one French railroad magazine to get ideas and information.
Rick Golding
Rick said: My goal for the Winter was to finish the connection from the outside tracks
to the inside yard of the KVRwy. It was eventually accomplished and can be
seen at
http://kvrwy.homestead.com/home.html
Wil Davis
I didn't reply to the original post because I didn't have any definite plans.
However, with the recent acquisition of a Bachmann Climax I am embarking on
a construction program. I plan to build at least 4 or 5 more log cars and a
caboose, all scratchbuilt with my own cut strip wood.
In order to have a place to run it I am planning a lengthy branch line
extending from the back om my house (where the trains come out of the
basement window) to the fence and down to the back fence. I expect to have a
runaround siding there and perhaps a loop sometime. The first part of this
expansion will be a fairly large curved trestle, then I have to figure how to
transition down the rest of the yard as my yard slopes away from the house.
I may build the trestle on a grade to help ease the transition. . . .
Sometime over the coming year I also plan to build a long planned service
station for Byckeye Falls. . . . . Then I will
get busy with my track survey and trestle construction.
Thomas E Bowdler
I didn't enter the "contest" but got some of the rolling stock
needed for my conversion from 1:22 to 1:20 built. Lots more to go but
then anticipation is a wonderful thing. "The chasing is more enjoyable
than the catching". Can't remember who said that but it's true. . . . Also I started a Wiener train inspired by
a Jan. visit to list member Earl Chevalier.
Diane Mann
What???? Winter is over???? It looks like the beginning of winter
here! There are snow flurries and I'm almost ready to start my winter
projects! Are you sure winter is over?? Ummm... How much time 'til G-day?
Jay (Lost Lumber Railroad)
I did get my sawmill built. Now I'm waiting to see if someone will make the
sawmill equipment in 1:20. If not, I guess I'm just going to have to scratch
build it.
I was also able to build several log cars, and I finished weathering one of
my Shays, and my Climax.
Charles Linsley
- Started a retaining wall to take the pressure of the dirt off the
wood fence.
- Dug a few more feet of trench for conduit. Did not get any more
conduit actually laid, however.
- Collected some more rocks for landscaping on the way home from
Yosemite.
- Yard has totally gone to weeds. I've *got* to put down some
weed-control fabric and/or mulch, even if I have to pull it up again
to lay more conduit.
Conclusion
Well, that's the list as of April 20, 2000. I'll leave the file open for a few more days in case you wanted to get back to me but didn't. But at least it's fun to see what some folks did manage to get done. Maybe this fall, we could provide a more formal article on "How to Keep your RR Alive During the Winter" or some such. Have a
wonderful spring and summer and a great G-Day.
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