A little side trip

I thought I would give our readers a little something different this week. I was fortunate to be off work for Memorial Day. A proud day for America to remember those who have sacrificed for the benefit of freedom for the rest of us. Anyway, I decided to take a day trip to north Alabama. My goal was to visit the old towns of Stevenson and Bridgeport. One or both of these places figured prominently in the American Civil War and were part of the Union Army “ratline”. However, I wanted to see the old depots. The day promised to be a hot one. I got an early start and grabbed a bite on the road. I got off the freeway at Reece City exit and took old highway eleven.  I stopped and snapped a pic of an interesting old barn and continued. A good way up the road I turned off onto what the map said was a county road. The road was paved, but that was about all. The paving was asphalt with gravel. Little to no straightness. After a few minutes I decided to stop and check my map. No road number signs were posted. I thought I had turned too soon or something. No, I was right. So I kept going. A little further I came to a stop on a better road. Turned left and came to a more improved highway. Saw the number I was looking for and I was on my way to Flatrock, Alabama. Whoopee! Driving and driving ever upward. Mostly farms of course. Not many people. I noticed that since I got on highway eleven there were very few other vehicles. A little bit after Flatrock I saw a sign that indicated steep grade ahead. I was moving down into the Tennessee River valley. I had been driving for some time and was glad to be getting to my destination. I noticed I was driving by mudflats and soon came to a massive steel girder bridge. The John Snodgrass Bridge in fact. I wanted a pic but decided to go across to get it as I did not see a good spot to snap one on the near side. I saw a boat launch area and pulled off and got the pic. A few more minutes and I was in “downtown” Stevenson. A picturesque old river town with a picturesque old depot, now a museum. I got out into more heat. Being a photographer isn't easy. I looked around. The museum was closed as expected. Then I began to take pictures. Suddenly I heard a wonderful sound. It was a locomotive horn not too far away. I listened a moment more and heard it get closer. Wow, I thought, trains working on Memorial Day, what luck. Soon a massive Union Pacific locomotive followed by a CSX locomotive began powering by. I got some pics. I noticed at the front end were a number of Tropicana refrigerator cars. Interesting, I thought. I had noticed a street overpass a few blocks from the depot and got up there. I missed the train but took some pics of the one lane bridge. Next back in the cool car and on the road to Bridgeport. More next time, omscaler

Safari phase two?

Per last post I have been researching CnC paper cutting. I found something called an electronic paper cutting machine. This is also known as a die cutting machine. These are available as manual models too. A long while back I did see die cutting devices. The one I checked out most is made by Accu-cut. It seems that die tolerances in this scale cannot be easily fabricated and the die cost is also expensive. So where we are at now is the above named electronic die cutters. These have been around some time but are not familiar to me. My next idea is to contact a user of one of these machines and glean some info. I am now working on rolling stock as mentioned previously and hope to increase the rate of progress. See you soon, omscaler

Am I on safari?

Well, well, well. It seems that the hunt continues more. A few posts back, I described my quest for a laser paper cutter. My search revealed several issues. The system needs an exhaust component. Shipping alone is four hundred dollars. Software is needed at one hundred fifty to five hundred dollars. The base model laser engraver/cutter is on sale for about eight thousand dollars. Money can be saved by using an external exhaust unit, but a window is not in my work area. What to do? Maybe run a duct through the living room? As you may have noticed, costs are somewhat formidable. Also, you may recall one of the tenets of The Omega Scale Railway is that everything can be done inexpensively. Looks like I'm getting off track (pun intended). But there is a silver lining to this cloud. One of the entries I saw online was about using a CnC paper cutter to “prototype” before firing up the laser cutter. It seems that this method saves time and money. Aha, I thought. Now I will be investigating CnC paper cutting. The hunt still continues

Good news!

Yes, we have a little progress report for you. The Murphysboro module rework is now around ninety to ninety- five percent complete. The road bed is all put in. we are laying ties and track. The turnouts are working. All good. Still got to get those flat cars going though. We need them to carry our scale ties and rails. See you on the next post. omscaler

Details abound

Yes, we are still looking into laser paper cutting. Yes, there are a lot of details. Yes, it seems that costs could skyrocket. Laser technology has come down. Just not completely to earth yet. What I checked into recently called for: the laser cutter (of course), an air ventilation system, drawing software. Optional: an equipment stand, air compressor, maybe a computer upgrade, maybe a new computer, maybe something else. I feel I leave out some things. Yikes! Yes, it seems simplicity may have been left behind. But, the digging continues, omscaler

Change is coming

Yep, that's right. Change they say is inevitable. And so it is. The clock is ticking. Hopefully, the plans for The Omega Scale Railway will begin to accelerate. Much is needed. I recently read that growth is caused by change but not all change is good. Sounds like a time for a little caution. Sometimes the work here is slow but I am always guided by a vision of equipment that looks realistic and has a quality appearance. I sometimes visualize this almost constantly when I am thinking about The OSR. The vision of sharp looking locomotives and cars drives me forward. I am working through the change. See you next time, omscaler

The search continues

Last post I mentioned I was looking at laser paper cutting. So far, I have located two distributors, located in Atlanta and Chattanooga. Wow, why can't things be simple? Also, how much power do these things use? How noisy? Are there fumes? What about service? Questions abound. Anyway, work on the railroad continues. There is nothing like a well thought out design. Almost finished with the Murphysboro module redo. However, the sunny outdoors beckon. Resist temptation, I must, to paraphrase Yoda. Steadfastly, omscaler