Takin' a break from layout building!

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi

I just needed to stop for a while and chat. I’m in the middle of building my new layout. It’s HO, it’s 15’ x 12’, it’s a double decker, it’s DCC and it’s in my loft. I spent about a year planning and designing and drawing and measuring and reading and re-reading and re-designing and 10 weeks ago started my build. Well, first of all, I had to stregthen the floor. That took a good three weeks. Then I had to recover from hitting my head on the beams supporting the roof. Then I went out, bought the timber, passed it up one length at a time into the loft through the opening where the ladder goes that enables me to get up into the loft. Then I started. Measure, measure, saw, saw, drill, drill, check, re-check, throw away length of wrongly cut wood, measure measure, saw, saw.

All the while, being in the loft, I continuously hit my head on the beams that held up the roof. Not intentionally of course, accidentally. My wife’s belief that I was born accident prone being proven over and over again. I put down the drill before it had stopped spinning and it wrapped the underlay of the intended carpet around itself. Stop for 10 minutes to unwrap underlay. I clamped the wood base together with all my clamps leaving just one to get. I only had a very large and heavy G clamp left to use and had to balance wood, clamp and hold in position. Prayed for one extra hand to no avail. Reached for drill, largest clamp fell, foot in path of trajectory, bruised toe, much swearing, much hopping.

Tools disappear just at the moment you need them. Use a tape measure, put it down. Hold timber, look for clamp. Clamp vanished. Look around cannot find clamp. Put down timber, clamp miraculously appears. Clamp timber, look for tape measure to double check measurement, tape measure vanishes. Look for tape. Clamp falls off. Tape suddenly appears.

Occasionally my wife Hilary will call up after a particularly heavy BANG! or a THU

2

Try this response…it works great for me:

“Yes…don’t come down here.”

Also good:

“Ah…are we out of band-aids?”

3

Oft times my wife will hear me, after soldering something, call down something along the lines of:

“Which degree burn causes blistering?”

Or she may hear:

“Can you come check this out and see if you think I might need stitches?”

Or she’ll happen by and see my on all fours, again, under the workbench, looking for that elusive N scale coupler spring the tiny little screw that holds the whole locomotive together.

“This is FUN, [censored] it!!!”

4

Never work under a layout. Especially if you are soldering. First of all you are guaranteed to hit your head. If not when you get under there, if not when you’re under there, it’sll be when you try to get out. If you’re soldering, this is a recipe for disaster. First you have to get under there with a hot soldering iron. Now, if you put the solder iron under there first, you’ll either sit on it or you’ll put your hand on it as you go under. If you take it in with you, you’ll burn your hand, drop it and burn your foot. Then while you get out to traet your foot, you’ll bang your head and then burn your rear as you get back in and sit down … on it.

So … what is the definition of first degree burns?

Cheers

Barry [8D]

5

Barry,

You are not alone. Please see my thread on the village of Klutzdom…'nuff said.

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/1057214/ShowPost.aspx

6

Sorry, but I do. All the time. (Well of course im a shorty 12 year old…) Its easy for me. Even with my 35" table.

Mark

7

Another one that works is-Honey? Is our house insurance paid up?

Sounds like all the fun of building a new layout![B)] I always misplace marking pens, tape measures, clamps and such. I bought about a dozen of each so I always have one close.

8

[(-D][(-D]

sorry but that is quite funny. And do you have a headache? not you the person who started this thread.

One thing that might help is get a work bench. 2 cut number letter and predrill holes before going up there. see then you go up withsmaller lighter and easier to handle pieces of wood.[:D]

9

I have a work bench and a power saw and power drills and a router. Of course, I have to measure up, mark up then climb down the steps, then go downstairs, then go to the garage then cut, then go back indoors, back upstairs and then back up the loft ladder into the loft and then find out I’ve cut it short while I sit on the soldering iron, jump up, bang my head. Then my wife shouts… ‘are you OK?’

10

Been there! Done that! Further deponent saith not.

(Most popular line in the train room; “If I was a ???, where would I hide?” For ???, fill in tool, raw material or finished modeling item of choice.)

Yesterday I mislaid the clipboard holding the sketches for the immediate top priority project. I looked all over, while the muttering began to approach ultra-violet. Finally found it -

Right in the middle of my not-too-cluttered work surface!

Of course, there was a multimeter, two pairs of pliers and a file on top of it, but still…

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

11

really , i’m laughing with you , not at you

[:D]