Getting back to normal

Whew! Work is slowly getting back to normal. This post has been uploaded late. Some of this is due to an irregular schedule the past two weeks. Last week was occupied helping a relative move. There were some hiccups but all is now well. I had hoped to get the railroad running again before this point. The relocation of the problem turnouts (a pair were affected) revealed a need for a specification upgrade. In other words, a redesign of the turnouts. We are currently doing this as I write this post. Well, back to work. omscaler

Oh no! Shut down!

Yes readers. The Omega Scale Railway has been shut down! As readers know, The OSR is building a headquarters/passenger depot in Murphysboro. Upon beginning to prepare the site for the main platform it was discovered that the main turnout throw was located under the soon to be erected station porch awning. This placement created problems. One being that using the turnout sliding plate would require reaching under the porch. Another would be that the porch would likely be damaged if said turnout sliding plate needed maintenance. The decision was made to move the turnout about one inch south. This still puts the turnout location in the platform proper but with blue sky above, i.e., no obstructions. See, if omscaler may remind you, the fun is non-stop. The turnout connects to another turnout to let equipment pass from the main line to the main yard lead. Moving required uprooting both turnouts for this reason. Crossover turnouts always are in pairs. When this need was discovered, work immediately began on the relocation. In order to do this, no traffic can be allowed in either direction until work is complete. The dilemna was leave one and move one or bite the bullet and complete the relocation. Omscaler decided to hold or reroute traffic to another railroad. Toiling away, omscaler

Goals, Have you got goals?

Welcome to The Omega Scale Railway first blog post of year 2020! Now, have you got your goals written down? Omscaler always writes annual goals. Among these goals are the OSR goals. I read or heard somewhere that if you write a goal down on paper (not sand or snow), the goal has a ninety percent chance of coming to fruition. Omscaler likes fruition. Anyway it is time to get to work making the dream happen. Same for you too. Please click on comments and leave some of your goals. Working toward the goals, omscaler  

Happy New Year!

Yup, guess what? Now we can shed the old and bring in the new. New goals, new ideas, new plans, new friends, new money and more! This new year will be better than last year. The year 2019 was better than the year before. I can hardly wait. As omscaler writes this he is in the process of learning new things and also building the Murphysboro Passenger depot. So far, only the drawings have been worked on. Lots of detail and complexity. But, as readers know, omscaler is persistent. The results will be worth the work. Maybe a new motto for 2020! Also, more things planned as was mentioned before. I think I am excited! Again, Happy New Year and Prosperity to the readers of this blog and their family and friends. Celebrating, omscaler

Merry Christmas!

Yes! It’s that time of year again. What a great Holiday! We can celebrate the birth of The Messiah, Immanuel, Jesus Christ The Lord and other honorific titles we use to describe Jesus. Did you know that in the Old Testament, Jesus is Joshua. What has all this got to do with model trains? Well it is this. The great message of The Gospel is this, people can be forgiven their sins and people do not have to sin. This was the groundbreaking message of the Great Reformation, the two-pronged Gospel. In ancient times, pagan people were forever knocking on trees, throwing salt around the house, trying not to knock over the salt, all in order not ot offend a deity. They were also ruled by some kind of overlord in most cases. It was through The Gospel that people began to rise out of the mud. Because their minds were renewed, they began to invent and innovate. Some will point out that other groups not associated with Christianity also innovated. Not a problem as I can see. Progress is progress. Anyway, technology came to the fore. Then it became commonplace. Then most people had modern conveniences. Then I had a model railroad. A compact account I know. Currently we are enjoying the new freighthouse and have begun the historic Mobile and Ohio Railroad passenger station with the main headquarters located on the second floor. See the old building on google maps satellite view of Murphysboro, IL at Walnut and 17^th Streets. In the season, omscaler

“Summit Fever!”

Yes, your dear omscaler got “summit fever”. As some of you know, summit fever is what happens when mountain climbers get near the top of mountains like Annapurna and Mt. Everest and others. Sometimes this condition is fatal as the climbers are exhausted, low on oxygen, energy, water, and food. The climbers get giddy, ebulent and overly optimistic about their ability to complete the summit attempt. My case happened sometime after nine o’clock Sunday night. I was trying to wrap up the critical Murphysboro freight house project when suddenly it dawned on me that it was getting late. I looked at the clock. I looked at the project. I looked back at the clock. I looked back at the project. I thought to myself, “I’m gonna’ do it!”. So I went for the final push. When I got done, I looked at the clock again. The clock said ten o’ seven P.M. I was done! No altitude sickness, no frostbite. Now we have a temporary base of operations in Murphysboro. We can dispatch trains, organize repairs and ship freight. Soon, other facilities will take over some of this. Until that time, the freighthouse is where it’s at. Yours, planning more projects, omscaler

Hello from Murphysboro Illinois!

Well, not really. As I have mentioned before, the main Omega Scale Railway module is modeled after Murphysboro, Illinois, with a number of modifications. Specifically, the module is twenty-two percent of a mile long. This leaves less room than you would thing, even for The Omega Scale Railway with it’s great size of 1/384. Therefore, the freight house has been modified also. There are two reasons for this. First is that the original real freight house had pavement right up to the vehicle loading door side. As a matter of note, the passenger depot had the rear wall set at the pavement line as well. This possibly can be seen even today. The second reason is that the few photos that I could find were from only one perspective and your dear old omscaler had to interpolate the actual dimensions to work from. See, didn't I tell you that working on these projects was fun! Having fun as ususal, until next time, omscaler