Well if you follow the Facebook page (Southern Pacific YPG Lines) you know that the blog has been on hiatus since January. There are a wide range of reasons for this, both personal and professional, which I dont feel like delving into at this point. Also this post does not mean the blog will be back on a regular basis. I am moving more to a blog when I feel like it model and while I had some ideas for posts at the time of the hiatus I feel that some of them did not stand the test of time.
There has been another underlying reason for the hiatus and that is that the Facebook page was a better platform for the updates that have been occuring. So if you haven't already give the Facebook page a like and keep abreast of all the projects that have been going on. I plan to keep the regular updates to Facebook and occasionally post more indepth items on the blog.
So what has been going on for me in the hobby?
Well I have been working on building an iron mine facility for the club I belong to, the Yuma Model Railroaders (give their page a like as well). Last summer we started building a permanent HO layout and I have to admit progress has been swifter than I thought it would. I volunteered to build this mine last October figuring it would only take a few weeks. Well 10 months later it is almost complete but the weather is not cooperating. I got all finished with the main building only to realize I hadnt painted the doors or assembled the staircases and so it still sits on my work bench.
I built an ore loader (not sure if kitbashed or scratchbuilt is the right term as I used about 15-20 percent Walthers parts but scratch built the rest) and a Walthers overhead traveling crane which are both now on the layout. I also need to rework an existing building and build a stockpile conveyor, as well as decide if I need to extend the raw materials conveyor which also still needs paint.
Not having a spray booth means I have to paint outside which means waiting for weather windows where it is not too hot, humid (whoever said AZ is a dry heat is full of sh*t), windy, dust, or any combination of the above. In Arizona we have the opposite problem of the rest of the country in that our summer weather is too miserable to work outside. Anyhow when that complex is finished I will probably post a blog post.
I also have been working on the 3d model of the Great Northern RR substation that was in Skykomish, WA for my dad's layout. We havent completely decided what method we are going to use to make the physical model but are leaning toward 3d printing. Recently he stumbled on the motherlode of blueprints for this monster (its close to 12"x12"x12" in HO). This means I need to go back through and look at places I made an edjucated guess based on photographs and see if changes need to be made. So far however I have been within a few inches which is good enough for me, however analyzing the rest of the blueprints will take time.
As far as layout design goes I have uploaded PDF versions of the million dollar track plan to the blog under the "design and overview" tab. This should make it easier to zoom in and read labels, see track arangements etc... I have also nearly completed the 1.5 million dollar track plan and will probably post about it soon. I have come to a point I need more research on track and industry configurations in a couple areas but the mainlines etc are in and these areas can be fleshed out more if this plan gets built.
I plan to start on the 2 million dollar plan as well as some more reasonably sized.plans in the near future so stay tuned.
Well thats about it for now, I will be attending the NMRA National Convention and Train Show in Kansas City in a couple weeks. So if you are in the area and see me feel free to say hi, unless of course you are too busy kissing the ring of model railroad royalty.
