The laser’s edge

Omscaler has been at work making two new structures for The Omega Scale Railway. The one that is furthest along is the Union City Union Station. It was home to both the GM&O and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railroads. This will provide an immediate opportunity for interchange between the two roads. Parts for the station have almost been completed. The hobby laser used does indeed save time in cutting the same. After this will come parts for the William Hull house. A historic and former bed and breakfast home in Murphysboro, Illinois. See you on the edge, omscaler

 

A tale of two autos

 As promised, here is more information about the two automobiles mentioned last post. Our account begins with a decision to make more autos for The Omega Scale Railway. It was also decided to try a new material. That material was air-dry clay. An entry on the internet said it was easy to make your own. A simple formula was located, and necessary supplies gathered. Omscaler ended up with approximately two cups of the stuff. This for two autos that are about one-half inch long. Still plenty in storage (the refrigerator). The first attempt went wrong due to omscaler microwaving the batch too long. Air-dry omscaler. Air-dry. Once we got the method down, two “roadsters” were made. One, a red model with a white roof, belongs to Oscar Edgefield, Railroad Superintendent. The second, belongs to Miss Penelope Van Dyme, a local businesswoman. As a final note, The Murphysboro module has the sub-base glued to the base. Pencil markings showing rail line placement have been drawn on the sub-base. Also, two structures are in the works. Busier and busier, omscaler

 

Happy Seventh Anniversary!

Wow! How time flies! It has indeed been seven years since the start of this blog. Nine years since work started on The Omega Scale Railway. Last week saw the addition of two automobiles to the Murphysboro module. More on that later. Also last week we saw the start of the new Union City, TN, module. Big things are happening on The Very Small Railroad. And to all you “Valentiners” have a great Valentine’s Day, omscaler

 

Well and done

As of last Thursday afternoon, all seven turnouts were completed. All seven turnouts utilize material heretofore avoided in the past. Three turnouts were done with a vinyl insert and four were done with a polystyrene insert. Previously, cardstock had been used. However, material weakness made this unsuitable. Once the card began bending, there was no way to straighten or reinforce it enough to continue use. Most of the time the turnout worked very poorly. Now that the new material is being used, trials indicate a longer and more rugged working life. Currently, the southbound Gulf Coast Special is boarding and will depart for the port city of Mobile. This will be followed by an empty hopper extra headed south for Streamline and Captain mines. On a construction and building note, this past Saturday saw the preparation of a batch of air-dry clay. Soon this material will be tried out for vehicles and figures it is hoped. Also, the Union City module is soon to be assembled. Two structures are on the way as well. Staying very busy, omscaler

 

Still heading up

Omscaler is still heading up. Up the turnout upgrade hill that is. As of this writing, two complete turnouts are done. Several more components are ready made and waiting. The next turnout is number three of seven. After these are done, the turnouts come in pairs whereas the earlier ones lead to stub tracks. More clearly, crossing from one parallel track to another requires two turnouts. This has the potential to stall rail traffic when the pair is removed for replacement. Seems like OSR dispatch may have their work cut out when this happens. Omscale feels they are more than able to handle the challenge. Until the next upgrade, er, update that is, omscaler

 

Up the turnout upgrade hill

As mentioned previously, omscaler is busy working on upgrading seven turnouts. The first one is already done. However, what was revealed was that the “frog area” needed a rework as well. In reality, the old problem of frog weakness still remained. Somewhat improved but still there. Fyi, a frog is the metal plate that keeps rail car and locomotive engine wheels tracking correctly as the turnout is crossed. So, omscaler returned to the drawing board for a redesign. We think we have it now, we hope. Keeping you posted on the turnout rebuild trail, omscaler

 

Those pesky switch-stands!

Last week was spent working on switch-stands. Things seemed to start out okay but when it came time to do a trial fit, not so good. The reason was that the base was too big. Well, back to the drawing board. Fortunately, the base was able to be shortened. Shortening the base also meant that rod guides on the base had to be redone as well. We did not have much room to spare. The base measure 5/16” by 5/16”. The so named sliding wedge could only be so long before it interfered with the next parallel track and roadbed. As it turned out, omscaler was able to work through the challenge. After redoing the measurements, work began on making seven new turnouts for the Murphysboro module. When this is complete, one of the 2024 goals will be met. Still working ahead, omscaler