There is no business like show business

Guess what? A few days after this post, there will be a train show in the city of Gadsden, Alabama. This show has presented for over thirty years. The venue at 125 Locust Street is a new one for the Coosa Valley Model Railroad I believe. The last show was at the Gadsden Civic Center. Located on the bluff above the Coosa River. The new venue looks like it is adjacent to the downtown historic restoration area. This area looks great and like a new 1920's city street. They did a great job with the structures. Also, Gadsden is a great destination for outdoors and sports people. The picturesque Noccallula Falls and Lookout Mountain Parkway come to mind as well as fishing on the scenic river. Looks like a road trip! See you there! Already packing, omscaler

Spring has sprung!

Where I sit right now, the sky is a happy blue, looks like the rain is through and things are movin' along. Sounds like a song doesn't it? Nevertheless, it now looks like the outdoors will compete with the indoors. Gotta' get out more. Get more air. Maybe go some places. No foolin'. By the way, how was your April Fool's Day. I hope you had a good one. A little foolishness goes a long way. You may be wondering what all this has to do with The Omega Scale Railway. Only peripherally does it matter. A little recharge, a little refresher helps everyone to be on point when it is time to get things done. And so we will. Get things done. After the turnout project and some regular track laying we gotta' get those flat cars. Gotta' have 'em. Still busy, omscaler

Patience is rewarded

Yep, per last post, I said I would have to work more slowly. I am happy to report that the previously referred to turnout construction method does indeed work. Boy am I happy. This template will let me fabricate the turnouts at the work table and then install them where needed. And, by the way, I recently drove across the real railroad tracks in the town where I live. And guess what? There just a little distance down the line was a complete turnout laying by the tracks. How neat is that? The thing looked just like it was ready to drop into place. Amazing! I had forgotten that the real railways do this. This turnout looked heavy. But the track workers and equipment get it into place just the same. But anyway, we can easily change from one track to another on the very small railroad, that is The Omega Scale Railway. Again, 'til next time, omscaler

Am I in the army?

Hurry up and wait! As you may recall, I said last post that I was humming along. Well, I was for a little while. Now my work schedule has increased so much as to leave less time for more important pursuits, like The Omega Scale Railway. How could this happen? The answer. It is just life. Obligations require first efforts sometimes. But still, recent developments will help all aspects in the long run. I have noted that if I get in too much of a rush on The OSR, things don't come together as well. All in all, patience is again needed. Yours steadfastly, omscaler

Humming along

We are humming along. The last steps taken have allowed us to move forward at a significantly faster pace. What I am referring to is a small tool. Actually, a small marking guide. This simple device lets me mark ties on the roadbed after the ballast sections have been installed. Also, I can now make ballast sections in a more natural ballast color as well. So, as you can see, I am humming along. And one more thing, to borrow a phrase, we are working on a prefab turnout laying method as well. Moving forward industriously, omscaler

Looking back some more

I was thinking back when I was writing the anniversary post but somehow, I could not fit every thought in. What do I mean by this? Well, after I was through writing, I kept remembering. I asked myself, “What have we done here?” I will try to list the accomplishments, not necessarily in chronological order. A working plan. A number of ideas were discarded. Specifications. Everything had to conform to rigid parameters, otherwise, no go. From the bottom up. First, naturally, the roadbed itself. But not just any ordinary roadbed. This roadbed covered a subsurface conveyor. The conveyor had to be developed. And the material? We layered foam board. Easy to cut. Next came the grade or roadbed itself. It is in fact cardstock. We had to indicate ties and rails. What looked good here?  The printer we tried to use said no go. A marking guide was fabricated. And what about going around a curve. We built our own dual beam compass to make radii that would work for us. And what about the railcars and locomotives? Tiny wheels to be sure. But how would they behave. This had to be solved. The equipment is so small that sneezing at the rail-yard caused a disaster. A solution was developed. We tried to get printing done commercially but results were disappointing. We now print in house at great cost savings. The turnout story has been related recently. We'll just say, “We got 'er done.” We like modules. We're doing modules. Our reference resources are so vast, we can't do everything we see. Decisions must be made. What lies before us now is an infinite realm of possibilities. A lot of things are still either on the drawing board or in our imaginations or maybe in the notes. Optimism rules. omscaler

Well whataya know!

Recently I was in search of additional supplies to help me continue to build The Omega Scale Railway. I am always upgrading when I can. I was in a particular craft store looking for one thing when out of the blue. Eureka! I found it! When I first planned The Omega Scale Railway, I had envisioned a subsurface conveyor. A continuous component to power the locomotives. What I first used was a braided poly cord of about one quarter inch diameter. The one I got was white in color. Open braids. When I decided to reduce the width of the conveyor chamber, It was because I found a braided cord that was 5/32nds of an inch, relaxed untightened width. Still available in white. The cord worked basically well, with one drawback. The open braid structure was a little prone to “picking”. A “little prone” if it happened raised havoc with any equipment that was involved. Typically it caused a bent retainer and then it was down hill from there. Sometimes a ripped out retainer occurred. Damaged turnout might happen. So, when I spied something at the craft shop I was elated. What was it? Drum roll please. It was paracord. Paracord? You may be surprised and wondering. Yes, paracord. Not just any paracord, but a smaller diameter paracord. About the same size as the braided cord but with a much tighter braid. Almost solid looking. And...get this, it was BLACK in color. Serendipity! What is the significance you may wonder? Well, black basically disappears when installed. Well, not disappear, but much less prominent. This is much better. I suppose a basic gray or dark brown might be even better, but this is very useable for the OSR. Yours, still elated, omscaler