I thought I’d use the occasion of my 1,000th post here to start planning my summer model railroading activities. If the economy stays sluggish, I’ll probably be staying pretty close to home, so I’m hoping to move forward with some home improvement projects that will directly impact the layout. Aside from finishing the exterior painting, I’m hoping to get the front bedroom finished (insulation, wiring, sheetrock…yecch!) so my son can finally move out of the layout room. This will set the stage for the next burst of benchwork and glorious expansion to fulfill my manifest destiny! (That is a manifest of empty hoppers who’s destiny is the yard at Elkins!
Even the exterior painting is related to the trains… I’ve promised myself that if I finally get those three pairs of shutters stripped and painted, I can put the work shop in the garage back into business building the Cumberland section of the layout. Hopefully I’ll be spending those languid August evenings picking bits of blue styrofoam out of my hair…[:)]
Hopefully the robber barons at Exxon will let up enough so I can make the trip to Railfest again this year. We went last year for the first time, and had a blast camping at trackside and chasing trains around Altoona and environs for two days.
I’m also hoping to take the family back to the state park at Ohiopyle, PA to do some bicycling on the former WM.
That’ll keep me pretty busy… So what are your plans for your railroading this summer? Fan trips? Train Shows? Museum visits?
Next week I ride the Texas Eagle from St. Louis to Longview, TX, to pick up my son from college. This trip has become an annual train ride indulgence that I’m looking forward to…a roomette to myself and it doesn’t really matter how late the train runs…Hertz will pick me up when I get there.
I dread the coming of summer. I have my layout in the garage (Phoenix, AZ) and with in the next couple of months, it gets pretty freakin hot. Pushin’ high 90’s in the garage. I had a good winter and got alot done so I cant complain.
I am in the sameboat as far trips go, with gas being the way it is, hurts too much to drive to far and only place you can rail fan in Arizona during the summer months is about 150 miles one way. Ouch.
Probably work on some structures and do some weathering inside. try to pick up another big bunch of metal wheels and finish off the upgrad project of Kadee’s and P2K wheels.
Summer is the time I normally hope to get alot done on my layout, since I’m not spending all of my time ferrying the kids all over creation to school and other activities. I don’t expect to go on any out-of-state vacations since gas will probably be over $4.00/gallon by then.
I’ll be spending most of my summer outside. I will take my bicycle to chase some local trains (as I have in past summers). We are planning no major trips this summer but not due to gas prices. We’ve been fairly busy the last couple of summers and this will be a “take it easy” summer. We will be starting the prep work for the garden layout and we may got to Omaha for Railroad Days if they have it again this year. I will also be heading to Beatrice for the B.A.R.E show in August.
I wouldn’t mind the change in gas prices so much if it didn’t change more than the weather. Here it doesn’t stay the same price for more than a 24 hours if that. Lately when it does change after the 24 hours it goes up by 10 cents or more. It NEVER goes down anymore.
That’s my gripe on gas prices… roughly dictating what travel plans I have (as well as the sluggish economy and whatever else I have to spend $$ on).
As far as trains go, I’ll probably look more into sight seeing via bicycyle; I enjoy getting out on a nice day and getting some exercise. I’ve been thinking about some longer rides and perhaps taking the camera and photographing some trains/rails/etc. I’ve been trying to do more research on the local railroad as far as the history of it goes and where it ends (as far as I know, there is a mile or so of it in the weeds and trees somewhere that is no longer used but where it ends I don’t know).
Guys,Unless gas goes to $6.00 a gallon I plan on making the following railfan trips since these are around 100 mile round trips except for three…First know and understand these will be full day outings.
1.Fostoria-CSX-NS
2.Bellevue/Sandusky.NS-W&LE
3.Willard/Greenwich-CSX,W&LE
4.Coshocton -Ohio Central.
5.Logan-I&OC-Hocking Valley Scenic…Possible 2 day outing
6.Columbus-CSX,NS,I&OC Camp Chase Industrial and 2 hobby shops.
7.Fostoria-CSX,NS and Fostoria Rail Festival
8.Norkwalk-Norwalk Club’s open house.
Less then 60 mile round trip.
9.Shelby/Mansfield-Ashland Ry NS.
of course
10.Marion at least 2 times per month.Less then 40 mile round trip.
Its not that I am rich…Its the cold fact I am no longer a spring banny rooster and want to enjoy my “Golden Years”.
Except for my annual trip to visit family near Strasburg, PA, I don’t really have any trains in the plans.
This weekend I’m boxing up my layout to put the house on the market. I have to defend my PhD dissertation in June… then in late July/early August I’m moving to Nebraska.
Hopefully by this autumn I can hit the rails full swing after I put my layout back together.
Railfanning in Omaha will be great, what with the UP transcon through there… Unfortunately, it’s UP [swg], but trains are trains!
I have big plans for this summer, no school for my friends means operating sessions, plus the basement is no longer freezing cold, it’s actually a nice respite from the un-air conditioned house above. (my parents never turn the A/C on, which is nice because it saves the enviroment, but it gets a little old sometimes…)
I always get a lot of work done in the summer, plus friends are free (as mentioned above) so op. sessions, railfanning, and other train-related activities are a great source of insperation for layout work. I can’t wait! [:)]
Dave Vollmer, You probable haven’t heard yet, but there is a local ordinance in Omaha that prohibits anyone and anything associated with PRR from staying there any longer than it takes to have a burger, then you have to move on… Lol.
Anyway it will be great to have you west of the Mississippi. Maybe we can even get some western culture to rub off on you,
I’m already pushing 100 degrees in the train building here in Tn![V] We go from freezing to 90* in a matter of 2 weeks in the Spring. I’ve got to put some insulation and AC out there before I go any further with the layout.
And did I mention the hordes of wasps?? Any tips for repelling those??[banghead]
The area you model is near where I grew up, so I am always fascinated by the photos of your layout. In the “water…” thread, your photo of the waterfall does remind me of Blackwater Falls, except I don’t recall a rail line alongside the Cheat there.[:D]
This spring, I’m fairly preoccupied with the upcoming marriage of my oldest son and his fiance, and the expected birth of my first Grand child!
Once electrician installs the wiring in the new garage, the existing n-scale layout moves to the loft, where I am beginning work on an extension (table is finished). That should keep me occupied for the next few years.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on some structure kits that have been laying around here for a while.
Warmer weather means that I’ll be doing less model building and more work on the house/yard. Lots of painting is on the agenda this year. Looks like we have a few days to go - as I write this it is snowing.
I am planning to drive the trans-continental RR roadbed from Lucin to Promontory Point in a couple of weeks. It’s about 140 miles with dozens of 100+ year old trestles and a few ghost towns along the way. The track is gone, but the roadbed is there and it’s drivable if your “locomotive” has plenty of ground clearance and 4 wheel drive. I’ve done it before in my Toyota 4X4 truck.
You can see it on Google Earth. Start at Kelton UT and you can follow the roadbed from there, either direction. You can see wyes and even the depression and foundation from the roundhouse and turntable at Terrace, UT.
The first week in August they are having an event in Evanston, WY to raise money to restore the roundhouse and turntable there. One attraction is that they are offering turntable rides - cool! I’ll be there.
Other than that, I’ll do some shopping for brass on ebay, take in a few minor league ball games, participate in a couple of car shows, spend 4 hours per week on my lawn mower, provide a few trout an “out of water” experience (catch and release), etc., etc.
One thing I like about model railroading is that it’s there to occupy my mind through the dark cold days when there is no baseball or yardwork.
The average price of a gallon of gas in California is $3.87 according to the news last night. Where we are, it’s about $3.90. Diesel runs about 40-50 cents a gallon more.
How are gas prices in Sweden compared to 10 or 12 years ago? I was on a business trip to the Netherlands in 1996 and paid roughly $4.50/gallon. Six years later, I was in the UK for a vacation and, as I recall, the price was roughly the same.
Here in Northern Virginia (Fredericksburg) regular gas at the Waw Waw was 3.499 yesterday and Diesel at the East Coast was 4.099.
We have a 35’ fifth wheel that we take to Myrtle Beach for two weeks during the summer and a go to a few places closer to home from April through November. All the while I’ll still continue to work on the layout. Unfortunately, I’ll be spending my “extra” money on fuel instead of the layout. The F350 Duely Diesel gets 8 - 9 mpg pulling the 15K pound camper. So it’s gonna cost approximately $450.00, just in fuel, for a round trip.
During the summer months I’ll continue to work on the layout since it is in the basement which is tempereature controlled.
What I see in the furture for Model Railroading is the price of stuff going up due to fuel prices going up.
My goal is to have all the track down and running flawlessly by Christmas. Right now I have about 1/5 of the track down.
Warmer weather for me means allot of work coming my way, siding, windows, concrete, and other construction needs. This spring has been a slow start with money being tight and high gas prices. Just last weekend I closed the door to the train room and unplugged everything, put sheets over the layout and work bench.
I just don’t hardly touch the MR in the summer months, but do enjoy some railfaning. Wife and I are planning a week long trip to Arkansas to see my great Aunt who has to be in her 90’s I think.
Unfortunately for me my layout in progress goes into hibernation for the summer and fall months. I covered it up this past weekend and won’t touch it again until after deer season. Between working, gardening, fishing, ATVing, R/C car racing, working on my Trans Am and drag racing I simply don’t have the time to work on my layout. I still go to shows and run trains with my club so I’ll still get my fix once in awhile. On rainy weekends I might build the odd building but thats about it. Model Railroading probably will be a winter time hobby for me at least until I retire in 12 years.