Son of Winter Projects

Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains

On Thanksgiving eve, 2000, I asked a number of Garden Railroaders if they had any projects planned for the winter. The point of this collection of input wasn't so we could go back at the end of the winter and rub people's noses into the things they didn't get done, but to give everyone ideas for ways to "keep their hands in" when it's too cold to play outside for long.

Some of the other folks' replies to the original survey are posted in the Winter Projects article.

On April 19th, I posted a new survey to the Big-Trains list, asking folks how much of their planned projects they got finished.

For exmple, my project was:

>I wanted to get my buildings cleaned up and detailed.

My reason for this is that on my tour of area open houses last spring and summer, I saw how much more most visitors enjoyed RRs with a lot of "human interest" detail. Not just plastic people crowding the station platforms, but business signs, clotheslines, swing sets, and all that clutter that is missing on stuff you buy "out of the box." Most of my buildings seemed very sterile, and my town looked like a ghost town even with people standing on the curbs. So my goal was to add details that would add human interest. In addition, I had two buildings that needed painted: one station with a really bad out-of-the-box paint job, and an Artline "Old Western" bird feeder that I thought would look nice with some painting and bashing. Also, I had some old wooden bird feeder-type structures I wanted to make minor improvements on. The very last thing was some simple building kitbashes I had on tap in case we got snowed in for a month or something.

In retrospect, I got about 1/3 of the way through what I hoped to get done, and about 2/3 of the way through what I expected.

• I copied some old signs from an online sign catalog, printed them on my alps and glued them to some of my buildings. I still want to add curtains, blinds, etc. and selected interior detail.
• I attached some street lamps to the sidewalks (however they're not wired yet).
• I took the Artline bird-feeder apart and painted it. Looks MUCH better. Still need to add some signage. (I also experimented with different painting techniques, so it's not quite as nice as it could be and took more time than it "should have," but it was a learning experience for me, and at least I didn't butcher a $120 kit.)
• I took the old station with a bad out-of-the-box color scheme and started painting it. However it's still not done. Right now it's in my basement half masking-taped-off waiting for me to have time to masking-tape off the rest and paint the next coat.

What else didn't get done included planned upgrades to several other buildings, including the simple building kitbashes that are still in boxes in my garage.

So if you held a gun to my head and said I had to have an open house next week, I would be better off than I was, but there's still a long ways to go before the building upgrade project is as "finished" as I'd like.

New Survey

Scot Osterweil

> Stripping, painting, decaling, and weathering 19 pieces of rolling stock for my railroad.

> I've taken some before/during/after pictures of rolling stock, and I was going to ask you if you'd post them (I still don't own a website). I think the pictures represent an argument for why it's satisfying to repaint your bright and pretty rolling stock into something more prosaic.

Rick Golding

My goal for the Winter was to finish the connection from the outside tracks to the inside yard of the KVRwy. It was eventually accomplished and can be seen at http://kvrwy.homestead.com/home.html

Wil Davis

I didn't reply to the original post because I didn't have any definite plans. However, with the recent acquisition of a Bachmann Climax I am embarking on a construction program. I plan to build at least 4 or 5 more log cars and a caboose, all scratchbuilt with my own cut strip wood.

In order to have a place to run it I am planning a lengthy branch line extending from the back om my house (where the trains come out of the basement window) to the fence and down to the back fence. I expect to have a runaround siding there and perhaps a loop sometime. The first part of this expansion will be a fairly large curved trestle, then I have to figure how to transition down the rest of the yard as my yard slopes away from the house. I may build the trestle on a grade to help ease the transition. . . .

Sometime over the coming year I also plan to build a long planned service station for Byckeye Falls. . . . . Then I will get busy with my track survey and trestle construction.

Thomas E Bowdler

I didn't enter the "contest" but got some of the rolling stock needed for my conversion from 1:22 to 1:20 built. Lots more to go but then anticipation is a wonderful thing. "The chasing is more enjoyable than the catching". Can't remember who said that but it's true. . . . Also I started a Wiener train inspired by a Jan. visit to list member Earl Chevalier.

Diane Mann

What???? Winter is over???? It looks like the beginning of winter here! There are snow flurries and I'm almost ready to start my winter projects! Are you sure winter is over?? Ummm... How much time 'til G-day?

Jay (Lost Lumber Railroad)

I did get my sawmill built. Now I'm waiting to see if someone will make the sawmill equipment in 1:20. If not, I guess I'm just going to have to scratch build it.

I was also able to build several log cars, and I finished weathering one of my Shays, and my Climax.

Charles Linsley

• Started a retaining wall to take the pressure of the dirt off the wood fence.
• Dug a few more feet of trench for conduit. Did not get any more conduit actually laid, however.
• Collected some more rocks for landscaping on the way home from Yosemite.
• Yard has totally gone to weeds. I've *got* to put down some weed-control fabric and/or mulch, even if I have to pull it up again to lay more conduit.

Conclusion

This article copyright © 2001 by Paul D. Race. Reproduced by permission.

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