The end and the beginning

Happy New Year! Out with the old. In with the new. Yes, it is a time for new beginnings. Last year is gone. What was done was done and what was unfinished... What about that? This is year 2019. An odd numbered year. Seems odd doesn't it. Some people are superstitious about such things. I, your omscaler, see it as opportunity. Odd, I know. But let's look at it. Nineteen is not evenly divisible. This indicates resoluteness. It is like one. A good place to start. And start we will. Sure we will pick up where we left off after the Holidays. But still, with goals in mind, we will move forward in our new beginning. We will improve the way we do things. We will do new things. We will meet new people and we will accomplish our goals. Last year, omscaler did not meet all goals. What to do? What I will do is relist the goal. Readjust my sights. And move forward. My pet project right now is two flat cars. I had hoped to have that done by this writing but...stuff got in the way. No problem. Make it a New Year's goal. Maybe you will do likewise with your stuff. Headed for the goal, omscaler

The Big Day is here!

Merry Christmas to all! Wow, Christmas, 2018. What a great day. I remember Christmas as a child. It was always a big deal. I remember one year Christmas fell on Monday. So Sunday night there was a special Christmas Eve church service. I remember when I and my family arrived before the service. Decorations were up in the sanctuary. There were special Christmas lights. The air practically crackled with anticipation. What did this anticipation come from? Sure, kids like me were expecting toys, candy and goodies the next morning. But, still there was something about the atmosphere that was beyond that. It was an almost transcendental electricity. People had worked. Musicians and singers had practiced. Cooks had cooked. People had put stuff on layaway at stores. But here we were. In the middle of a synergy that in spite of hustle and bustle had a Spiritual quality that seemed almost tangible. We had come to a Birthday Celebration of an Individual who came to give us gifts rather than receive them. How could you not be moved by such a day? It was a time to pause and Worship God and Savior. Doing this actually built up the worshiper. Strange but true. So this is how we did Christmas when I was young. Yes, there were large train layouts in toy stores. Animated displays in large department store windows in town. Lights, parades, Santa Claus! It was all good. The most wonderful time of the year. Like in the song. So, here I am, your omscaler, wishing you and all a merry and blessed Christmas.

Winding down and up?

It looks like we're in the final stretch for year 2018. things that are not done yet need to be evaluated for  scheduling in the frenzied next few weeks or put into next year. Speaking of which, now is the time to set goals for 2019. Some people even do this in November. I have done this before but I was so involved with the project that I did not begin this process. However, now is definitely the time. Naturally, goal setting for me includes personal goals as well as where we would like to go with The Omega Scale Railway. As far as what the OSR is going to do, I have that in hand. But, for me goal setting also involves dreaming and imagining where the OSR might go. The future seems unlimited. This is a good feeling to have and I think it is basically realistic. As said before, onward and upward, omscaler

I was right

I was right, there were adjustments to be made. I am referring to the previous post. I stated that the new coupler design was going to need final adjustments. This exercise became even more fun than I at first thought. I discovered that when I fitted the coupler to the car, I needed to adjust the car truck as well. And I needed to adjust the car/track retainer position as well. And I needed to adjust the wheel backplate as well. I also needed to adjust the car center beam as well. And I needed to test fit the coupler a couple of times. Then I needed a personal adjustment. Then I had to adjust my attitude. Then I went and adjusted myself to my relaxing chair to let things settle down. I finally got everything adjusted (I hope!). Yours staying loose, omscaler

The feeling of success

Sometime after midnight, Tuesday morning, November 27^th, a successful coupler test was performed. This phase of the project started with a paper mock-up of a coupler pair about 1/20th scale in size. I closely studied an animation and a diagram of the Janney coupler. I did this hoping to make a prototypical looking Omega Scale coupler. Next I made a simpler flat cardstock mock-up of the same. I began to realize that as I reduced the size of the coupler, the mechanism was going to be difficult to impossible to replicate. When I made a test coupler as near as possible to scale size, my fears indeed came to fruition. There was nothing to do but scramble back to the drawing board. So back to the drawing board I went. Nothing new here. Done it many times. Fortunately, little time was needed to get it right. So now we have the much sought after coupler design. There will be adjustments. That goes with the territory as well. It's all good, omscaler

Being thankful

As I sit here this Thanksgiving Day evening am being thankful. I am not hungry. I am not cold. I am not wet. I am not lonely. I am not poor. I have a place to sleep. Some cannot say these things. As we are in the Holiday, I hope things get better for everyone. Speaking of better, the coupler project is moving forward at a slow pace. I feel it won't be long until results are positive. Nevertheless, this component has to be right. We will keep working. Recently someone asked me to do an article on The Omega Scale Railway. I was pleased someone was interested. As I stated in this article, I have not seen any other 1/384 scale railroad modelers. Actually, not other 1/384 modelers of any sort. Online search efforts have not turned up such. Maybe this will change in the near future. Happy Black Friday, omscaler