Yep. We did it again.

Yes. Omscaler finds himself where he has been before. What happened was in order to keep to our exacting standards we ran two full days late completing the hotel. The accompanying pictures show the hotel in place. The hotel was placed a little north of the passenger depot in order to give guests a more panoramic view of the town. Blog readers may wonder that the building does not look very large. It is indeed a partial model placed on a partial city block. The real hotel this structure was based on resides in Eureka, Nevada and is The Jackson House hotel. Due to the number of problems taking place in our western states omscaler does not know if the hotel is accepting guests at this time. Perhaps some of our readers living out west can give us an update. What is the next project for The Very Small Railroad? Upgrades and new structures as well as maintenance are vying for first consideration. We shall see what happens. Readers are welcome to have input here. Hoping to hear from you. Omscaler

 

The last few inches?

As of this post the much vaunted hotel project lacks only the exterior balcony railing and the north wall hotel sign. Completion is so close omscaler can taste it. It may be at the point of release (Tuesday at 6 o’clock A.M.) that all will indeed be complete. Then erstwhile travelers as well as “drummers” will have a more upscale place to stay. Occasionally drummers who found themselves out in the countryside at end of day had to prevail on local farmers for a place to bed down. Often a place in the barn was offered (at a charge). This apparently resulted in a number of farmer’s daughter incidents and some shot gunning as well. Yours securing the countryside, omscaler

 

Success and not success

 Last post omscaler related how he had tested the Scan-n-Cut with some satisfactory results. More testing was done involving a transfer of a graphic file from the computer by USB drive and by print out from a printer. Both results were less than satisfactory. A further test was done using a manual method employing a cutting guide which had been built some months ago. Without using an actual clock we are “guesstimating” that time for either method is somewhat close. What this means is that if omscaler cannot learn how to speed up the machine process the usefulness of the machine is lessened. Oh well. We are used to these kind of challenges here on The Very Small Railroad. There is another project that could be handled by the cutting machine. But that is a story for another time. The hotel project still needs the back wall and the roof as well as exterior components but progress is moving along more normally. Your earnest worker, omscaler

 

I keep interrupting myself...

 Yep. It happened again. Something happened besides the usual fine weather distractions. For some reason I decided to pull out my Scan-n-Cut electronic die cutting machine and try something. The last time I worked with it I got so put out at my non success that I put it away intending to try again later. Omscaler had a lot on his plate with the OSR at that time. (Still do.) That was over a year ago if my memory is correct. Any way, I got online and did some studying of pertinent tutorials. Then I took a deep breath and on a recent Saturday afternoon took another swing at it. Success! I was able to dial in the project enough to get workable output. Some clean up trimming is required but it looks like the time saved is still significant. However, at this point, the hotel project needs to be removed from the back burner and moved along. Omscaler is hoping that he can steel himself enough to do the right thing. Bracing up, omscaler

 

Working while raining

Today is the perfect day to be an Omega Scaler. Outside is drippy. Inside we are making good progress. We have something enjoyable to do while the weather is drippy. No sitting around and moaning that the good old summertime cannot be enjoyed. Once again The Omega Scale Railway has proved its worth. The hotel is coming along nicely but omscaler cannot tell when the completion date will be. A few moments ago, the cornice sections were finished and awaiting attachment. The front and side walls are ready too. The base is done. The back and roof remain. But we will get ‘er done. Omscaler

 

Day trippin’

As of this writing I am returning home after spending some time at a relatives house. Earlier that day I returned home from house sitting for another relative. The earlier trip concluded a three night stay-over and the last was a combination birthday cook out. By combination I mean celebrating more than one birthday. Frankly I am feeling a little stuffed. Good to spend time with the younger family members. The place I stayed was practically speaking, the heart of railroad central. This is the place that I wrote about before that aggravated drivers going to work. I definitely wish all the old depots were still in place and passenger trains still ruled as people movers. Even at that, this is still a fine place to watch trains if you are not headed to work. The old Alabaster depot has been moved to a spot near the high school stadium. Check it out if you have time. Still reminiscing, omscaler

 

Different folks, different views

Last Saturday I stopped in to the local model railroad club to say hello to a friend. As we were sitting there watching the (model) trains go by the subject turned to rolling stock. We were watching some modern equipment roll by on the layout and the remark was made about how long modern equipment can be. The friend said that some modern types were too long to negotiate certain curves on his home layout. I mentioned that my modeling goals were centered around the late nineteen forties steam to diesel transition era. This choice gave me the leeway to model thirty-eight foot boxcars and refrigerator cars. I could include outside wood braced boxcars in regular service. The hopper types were twin bay cars of thirty-four foot length. I confessed I had to fudge a little bit to allow “Ike” type wood rack cars due to their later manufacture, but that is another story. Getting back to current model railroading. Today’s modeler will often get some very colorful high horse-powered locomotives and likewise colorful rail cars. To each their own. I appreciate what I see being used and often find it interesting even if I have no plans to utilize the same at home. As someone paraphrased, “Model railroad variety is the spice of life”! I hope readers will leave a comment or more about their own preferences and why they like it. See you along the right of way. Omscaler