And fun we have been having!

Wow! So much done! As of the writing of this post, we have four walls up! Hopefully, by the end of this week, a picture will be posted. Keep your fingers crossed. We still have a way to go yet. Porch railings, flower beds, mail box, Gerald McCorkle. Gerald McCorkle? More on him later. Anyway, we are moving along full bore to get the project done. And the next project? Omscaler is itching (modeler’s rash?) to do a rail car. A covered hopper specifically. A drive linkage upgrade is also being worked on simultaneously with the bungalow. Working along, omscaler

 

Complexity is our new friend?

As of the previous post, omscaler stated the next build will be a bungalow. In the interest of trying to keep the project moving along, a work order was filled in. Omscaler has been using these forms for sometime now and although one was not used for the hotel, we decided to make one for this project. This form now has twenty-seven line items. Some of the entries do not break down the sub-assemblies needed for more complex components like windows. So far we have completed all basic shapes and have made detailed texture for the roof. However, this simply means the easy part is done. Now for the fun part. Did not omscaler tell you the fun never stops on The Omega Scale Railway? Still having fun and more fun, omscaler

 

From riches to rags?

Last post recounted the completion of the fabulous Hamilton House hotel. We are proud to announce the next project. The decision has been made to construct a single residence bungalow. Omscaler hopes to get started on rail cars in tandem with the build of the home. We need more cars and more structures. After the house, we are thinking about small weather board houses. Very humble structures indeed. Murphysboro also needs to build the mayor’s house. Can’t have wet politicians can we? (This surely has to be a lead-in for a joke.) Anyway, building-away, omscaler

 

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