New Layout Space

Our offer has been accepted and, if all goes as planned, we will be moving in the second half of May. The new "train room" is 11' x 12', close to the old space, which was 11' x 13'. The completed portion of the layout, which is now dismantled into sections, is 8' x 8-1/2'. The original plan was to extend the 8-1/2' segment to 13', with a 9' section off of that, which would contain the waterfront area. The whole layout would have been a U-shaped shelf. That will change. My wife and I enjoy doing things together and she's going to have space in the train room for her sewing machine. So now the layout will be an L-shape, 8' x 12'. This will allow reassembly of the existing sections without modification. However, the width of the 12' segment will increase from 28" to 36" to allow for more structures and scenery. I will post a revised plan here very soon.

Looks Like We're Moving...Finally!

Looks as if we've sold our house (at last!) and will be moving in late May. Our new house, if our offer is accepted, has a spare bedroom that will make an excellent "train room." The dimensions are such that the sectional layout portions I've already built will work without modification. They represent about 60 percent of the original layout plan, but the remaining sections to be built will look considerably different from the original plan.

Merry Christmas! And It Is!

As the song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" says, "from now on we all will be together." I'm most grateful our family is all together, that we all live close by and are all healthy and happy. Just a few years ago, we would have been astounded to learn we'd all be living in Texas (especially since we're all from the Rocky Mountain/Pacific Northwest part of the country), but here we are, and glad of it, and not just because the winter here is so much milder! Susie and I are privileged to live near and see our daughters, sons-in-law and granddaughters frequently...some parents and grandparents are not so blessed. We are, and we appreciate it every day. God has been good to us indeed.

My model railroading thoughts, etc., will continue in the next post, but for now...Merry Christmas!

Could Be A While!

Well, our house has been on the market since July and we haven't had much action. It's not just us. Local realtors say things have pretty much come to a halt. The only comfort is that Texas is doing better than most of the country. However, we are blessed to have no timetable, no pressing need to move, unlike those with job transfers, etc.

So in the meantime, I will continue to work away at my Orient Express coach. It's not like working on or operating a layout, to be sure, but under the current circumstances it's about all the model railroading I'll be able to do for a while. Besides, it's fun!

Yesterday I finished cutting out the windows for the inner layer of one car side...the "corridor side" of the car. I than begin adding small styrene strips (really small, around 1/16 inch wide) around the inside of the window openings on the outside layer. These will give the openings a finished look, ever so slightly rounded at the corners.

Thinking ahead, I've been considering roof material. The coach roof is quite round and if styren won't curve that much, I may have to use balsa which, when soaked in a vinegar/water mix, is easily curved. That's a trick my son-in-law Craig, who has scratchbuilt model aircraft, taught me.

Orient Express Coach Progress

At last, as promised, here are photos of work to date on my Orient Express coach. It's a 1930s-era coach and is very similar to the one used in the Murder On The Orient Express (1974) movie starring Albert Finney and a superb cast. I'm building it in S Scale, of course, using passenger trucks I had available that are actually close in appearance to the prototype. While this model will never run on my (future reassembled) layout because the coach is European, I hope it will be a nice bookshelf display piece.

I was, as mentioned previously, very fortunate to find detailed plans of the interior and exterior, as well as color photos. This model coach is on display, I understand, at a railroad museum in Mulhouse, France.

Now, for the photos. In order from the top...

Photo 1: This is a little hard to see in the photo, but I drew out the sides in pencil on a sheet of styrene. Each side was drawn twice to provide an outer and inner layer; acetate "glass" will be sandwiched between.

Photo 2, 3: The interior partitions. Materials include basswood, balsa, and cardstock.

Photo 4: The work so far. One side's windows have been cut out and the second layer of that side is in progress.

I've Been Gone

Just realized I haven't posted here in over a month! Seriously, I had no idea how time had passed. We just returned from a trip to Branson, Missouri, where we enjoyed shows and sightseeing and visiting with Susie's sister and her husband, who had driven down from Des Moines.

It's good to be back in our (so far unsold) home after a 1,500-mile roundtrip drive. Now it's time to resume work on my Orient Express coach. Photos soon...I promise!

Orient Express

I've been working on my 1930's Orient Express coach and have the basic frame and interior partitions about finished. Next job will be interior door detail, painting the interior and then adding detail such as seating, tables, etc. Then it will be back to exterior work...sides, ends, etc. I've been thinking about how to model the European-style draft gear and I think I'll make the buffers out of either styrene or brass and the screw couplings using stiff wire. Photos soon!

Obviously, we're still waiting for our house to sell. We've had some showings, but no offers yet. It's more than an understatement to say the market is slow, though better here in Texas than most places.