OK, so we’re down to 7 days until my first public open house during the Piedmont Pilgrimage. I’m working hard to find a good stopping point and wrap things up. I’d like for all work to stop within the next couple days and then spend the remaining 4 days hanging the table skirt and doing final cleanup. Very exciting!
Archive for October, 2009
1 Week Until The Pilgrimage…
Saturday, October 24th, 2009Layout Update 10/16/2009
Friday, October 16th, 2009With the hardshell and tunnel work in the hallway room now complete, I’ve been doing lots of work in the main room. Here are some pics:
Here you can see the build up around the entrance to the South Tunnel. The plywood on top will be for the second level of track and hardshell is advancing as well…
Here’s the entrance to the South Tunnel from head on and you can see the second level work is really going well!…
Here’s the first completed section of the large tunnel to the left of the South Tunnel, in the corner of the main room. I don’t have a name for this tunnel yet, but it’s going to be very long and complicated. This section represents about 1/4 of it…
Here’s the second level build up around the completed section of tunnel in the corner of the main room. The ramp up to the second level will come up through the backdrop into the main room onto the plywood that’s now there….
To the left from the tunnel above is this second section of the same tunnel, now complete and functional.
Finally, to the left of the section above, is the start of the righthand main tunnel in the main room, which will be connected to the 2 tunnel sections above. Like I said, it’s gonna be a big tunnel when it’s done…
Fabric ordered & other stuff
Monday, October 12th, 2009I’ve ordered about 35 yards of fabric to make a skirt for the layout tables. I found some clearance navy blue fabric 57 inches wide for $1.95 a yard! Also, some new rock molds finally came in, so I’ve now got a little more variety on the mountains. I’m going to stop working on the layout around the 27th and begin cleaning up (including the addition of the table skirts) and getting the layout as pretty as possible for the Pilgrimage, so things are getting pretty hectic in this final stretch. I’m very pleased with how much progress has been made in anticipation of the Pilgrimage.
Video Review of Lionel NS TankTrain Set
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Here’s my first video review of a product. I chose the new Lionel NS Dash-9 TankTrain set. I may do more reviews in the future.
Layout Updates 10/06/2009
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009I’m now working on the hardshell for the tunnels in the main room. Here’s what I’ve got so far…
This is the entrance to what will be a very large network of tunnels to the left of the South Tunnel. You can see that the tunnel splits off with one spur going through the wall in the corner. The open section of tunnel around the switch will eventually contain a removable panel that will allow me access to that section of the track. I need access to those 2 switches because that’s the most derailment prone spot on the layout:
Moving to the left, the tunnel work continues…
Black Crowes Roadtrip…
Friday, October 2nd, 2009My wife and I are on another Black Crowes roadtrip for a few days. We caught the Nashville show last week, Charlotte on Wednesday and tonight is the Asheville show. Then we’ll come home tomorrow and catch the Atlanta show at Chastain. Then we’ll take it easy for a couple months before going out the San Francisco for the always amazing 5 night run at the Fillmore that always concludes the Crowes’ tours. So, there obviously hasn’t been much progress on the layout in the last few days but as soon as we’re back home I will start work again on the home stretch toward the Piedmont Pilgrimage on 10/31. Cheers!
