Exploring the World of Model Railroading
Looking at all the stuff lying all over the staging deck surface, I realized I needed a cart for all those tools and supplies and what not. After checking the prices, I decided I wasn’t going to pay from $150 and up to $500 for a molded/extruded piece of recycled plastic on 4 rubber wheels. So, I set on to build me a utility cart of materials at hand (I had to buy the wheels though).
I knew I needed a way to cut 80+ spacers for the upper helix loops, and I definitely did not want to use a simple blade knife. All of these spacers need to be exactly the same length (height) in order the maintain the grade across the entire helix so some amount of precision is needed. Thus I spent the day fabricating my own chopper block. I ended up buying a PEX/Tubing cutter blade and then finding a way to mount it on a sturdy handle that won’t deform from pressure.
Slow start to the day…as always a lot of time wasted at Home Despot and Lowers, with multiple trips, plus running other errands, etc. Fun. Not. Oh yeah, check out the reverse super-elevation (1/16″) on the inner rods. I opted to do this instead of adding hundreds of tiny plastic bits under the track. The effect is the same, yet the time spent is minimal.
As I wrote in an earlier post, I was going to use rubber door stops in combination with large washers and nuts to hold the threaded rods for the helix. After sleeping on it, I decided to go back to my original idea of using a piece of rubber as a base into which I would hammer a T-nut and run the rod through.
I was on my way to start mounting the threaded rods and building up the first loop of the helix, thinking I’m finally going to get a breakthrough. Not…so…fast. Even the best laid plans can bite you back in the ass when you are not paying attention.
After painting the cork, what more is there left to do on the roadbed? It feels like all these mundane things you do inch you towards a milestone, and when it finally arrives you don’t really feel it, or you keep asking yourself: “Is there anything else left?” Left before starting the track work that is.
Moving at a snails pace, or more precisely at the pace the caulk dries, I finally completed laying the cork sheets down across the entire Staging deck. This took about a week, as I worked in stages, couple of hours each day after work, and letting it dry overnight.
