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Welcome to the third "Winter Projects" survey, instigated in November 2002, by Fred Mills asking me what I was going to be doing this winter. I also asked the Big Trains mailing list folks for their updated Winter Project lists.

The results of both queries are posted below. Note: This is not a commitment, or for rubbing people's noses in when they don't get it done (several times my winter project list has included a project or three from the previous winter). It's just a collection of ideas for keeping active in the hobby and doing some things during cold weather that will benefit your railroad next spring.

Paul Race

Mostly I need to light my buildings. Of course interior lighting entails having interiors or obscuring the interiors. I have a few pieces of furniture (and a bathtub) I'll glue into a couple interiors, then I will use lace I bought as curtains to obscure the rest.

For interior lighting, I'm mostly going to try using Christmas lights, two 10-volt bulbs in series per building. Most of my buildings that have platforms already have 18-volt gooseneck lamps installed, and I want to be able to light the whole building using, say, a 14volt source, or an 18volt maximum source. So we'll see how the Christmas lights (20 volts in series) work out.

I have a bunch of other projects to finish, too. Glazing, curtaining and lighting a Korber station that I knocked the frosted panes out of last summer because I thought they looked stupid. Trashbashing a bird feeder into a barn. Trashbashing a couple other things as well.

But that stuff is all backup. I think the lighting is my next priority. The only reason there isn't anything related to rolling stock on this list is that I got last winter's rolling stock projects done about Nov. 11 of this year. :-)

Ric Golding

I got two major new projects. Large turntable and engine storage yard in basement and a small "portable" turntable on the Cat Dump Branch. Wood is bought and now the anguishing of where to make the first cut is mulling through the grey matter. Give me a couple of really lousy days or the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and I'll get started.

Bart Salmons

Right now I got 4 flats building (all that I had steel wheels for)

After that I got a brand new Bachmann Connie that is going to become a Micky, a 7/8 scale 2-8-2....then theres December.......

Vance Bass

Getting the Tiffany reefer kit ready for production.

Rebuilding my Roundhouse live steam 2-8-0 (new drivers, cab, tender trucks).

And, of course, the MLS Mason Bogie scratchbuilding project.

I think I'll have plenty to do!

Kevin Strong

Backdating the Bachmann Consolidation to a c. 1890s appearance (lower the tender, wood cab, patina'd brass boiler jacket, fluted domes, box headlight, etc. and so forth...)

Kitbashing a B'mann 10-wheeler into Ohio River and Western #4 (wood cab, boiler jacket, new headlight, pilot, new tender.)

Buy a back yard with a reasonable house.

Dave Goodson

[My] winter projects are just a continuation of summer projects, since the rr runs year around.

Diane Mann

My list is the same as last year (bah humbug) .... The summer was so miserably hot, and fall so miserably wet, that we still don't have the railroad finished. No track is laid.but 3 billion tons (at least that's what it seems like) of blocks have gone into the retaining wall and patio. Still have some of the walkway to finish. Track layout concept will probably keep changing until the spring thaw...... Ed thinks we will have it done for York... yeh, right.... he also was planning an open house for fall ( I win that bet). Hopefully this winter will be smoother than thye last two, and I'll actually even work on the list!

Noel Widdifield

I have finished my 110' standard gauge turntable and am working on a six-stall roundhouse. I have the frame up and am working on the floor. It will be detailed inside and out. I am looking for tools and workbenches for the inside. Once I finish the floors, the lighting is next and then the back walls and roof.

After I finish that I will ballast the 12 tracks off of the turntable and then, like [Paul R], start on lighting the street lamps and buildings on the rest of the railroad.

Paul Stump

Probably set up a Toy train around the Christmas tree to aggravate the cats and the dogs. Then hope that Santa brings me some track... I've been real good.

Fred Mills

Up here in the "Great White/Grey North", we have a lot of time to take on projects, to prepare for the following years' operation. In fact just to keep the fellas and girls, from spending too much time in the "Sandhouse", we actively look for make work projects.

The IPP&W has a whole crew that sits up nights, working on plans for projects...they work so hard, that the "Thinking juice" costs are almost as high as Fr.Fred's holy water budget.(Fr.Fred, the railroad workers' padre)

The latest really well thought out project, is to assign radio channels to everyone wanting to run on the pike.

Young Bruce Bramah, is in charge of the project, and has employed his sidekick, Peter to do the job.

Peter, so far has managed to leave the IPP&W NG locos all in one area of assignment, on "Track one" of the Aristo throttles, for which I will forever be greatfull. He is now set up to assign the rest to Dismals and other peoples' locos.

All this can be seen on the continueously updated web page at: www.ovgrs.org/

One standing obligation, the OVGRS has accepted, when developing the web page (Another project, by Greg Adams, which might fall into a new project catigory) was that it would never go for more than a week, without some update of worthwhile nature. There is nothing worse than a page that goes for weeks without any change......they get dropped and never returned to by hundreds of potential friends. A number of the OVGRS members have been great at sending stuff to Peter, for inclusion, and more is welcome from LISTERs if they would like the exposure.

Dick Friedman

I'll be getting ready for next year's convention [The 2003 National Garden Railway Convention in Sacramento]. That means building a couple of kits, completing a small yard and wiring (and plumbing) the switches. then I've got to get a sound system in my doodlebug and some passengers too! By next spring, if all goes well, I'll have a small water feature in place. I'll be showing on the Friday bus and car tours.

Rob Vorbroker

• #1. Leaves - all the leaves from my trees are now down so I spent today with rake and blower - check that one off - might be one of the few.
• #2. Uncover Pond - we put deer netting over the pond each fall to keep leaves out. Now that the leaves are down...
• #3. Fix some of the operational problems (track power - no comments from the peanut gallery).
• #4. Finish building Trestle Bents so we have enough to install next spring (or maybe if we have a mild winter...)
• #5. Build one (1) of the Buildings I bought the plans for from Garden Textures (Lumber camp complex, etc.)
• #6. Detail Climax and Shay engines from Bachmann.
• #7. Try KaDee Couplers on a set of cars to see how they look & work.
If I get past #2 I'll feel pretty dang good the way things have been. Something about a 10 yr old boy, a 7 yr old girl and a 9 month old boy.

Oh yeah and update web site...

Earl Chevalier

I have a garage layout and will try and get more of the ballast down. Also start on the soil and grass etc. for the layout.

Scot Osterweil

Convert some LGB FRR stock into 7/8th" models as a prelude to constructing an 8' x 2' shelf switching layout in that scale.

I've already removed the driver from one of the cabless FRR diesels, and will soon be finishing one of Carlo Spirito's excellent figure kits for the driver. Than I have to fabricate new larger seating and controls for the loco. My goal is to create the smallest believable rolling stock in the largest feasible scale.

Planning for the layout itself is still rudimentary. I'm thinking about a European slate operation (or rather a small slice of it), but other industrial themes might work. And I'm still on the fence as to whether to make it a switching puzzle with denser track, or a diorama with less switching but more realism.

Conclusion

Well, that's the list of proposed Winter Projects as of November, 2002. As always, I'll leave the file open for a few more days in case you wanted to get back to me but didn't. But it's fun to see what some folks have in store.

Have a cozy winter, a wonderful spring, and a great G-Day.

C.U. in York in 2003 (I hope)!

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

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