2016_01_18 What next?

2016_01_18  Looking towards finishing the wall, but then I also need to clear up some of the junk to enable work to continue. So this is what I am thinking ;)  and that's dangerous, I guess.

Most of these boxes contain built up kits and trees as well as a lot of valuable materials to finish off the layout. So I guess junk it isn't.  I intend, or should I say, need to store this stuff under the layout along the finished wall.

Now notice the late afternoon sun shining on the layout. It did this for near 3 hours before this shot was taken at 7.15pm. The bricks were very hot to touch, and the plaster was cool, but was up slightly behind the glass at the top. But I am happy with that as it was 36C today, clear blue skies.

So now I have to work out how wide the Albury yard can be to accommodate the rest of the modules I want to install in here. (Remember South Grafton)

 Click on it if it is not all visible on your monitor.

I want the Albury section to be freelance like the rest. So I need to know how many SG storage roads I can fit and the maximum width I need to create this yard. I would like to fit the station and the flour mill in, if I can, so will leave the locomotive depot out, I think. This gives me three long roads at station end plus more and 4 long yards at the Sydney end plus more depending on width available.

I will have to talk with Roger as he knows how to use these confounding layout design programs!

These are some spare L Girders I have and will cut out new cross pieces when I know how wide I can go. But that sits at about the right height.

And this is how I need to store bins under, depending on the width.
These Bunnings Bins are about the right size at 560 x 380.
the baseboard is set at 410 wide, but that will change.

But I am getting ahead of my self. Need to sand down the plaster joins before I go much further

Cheers
Rod Young

Google changes the rules

A message from Google (as part of their World Domination plan of cause) Ha Ha!!


But I am told that several readers of this site and a whole lot more that follow all the other Model Railway sites are going to find themselves excluded in coming days. The answer is to open up a google account of course. I have had google e mail accounts and others for many years and can honestly say I not noticed any sad results because of my membership. In fact this blog and the ability to operate it advertisement free has been a real plus. Trust that those who want to follow these google blogs will sign up with a google account and then sign up again to continue to receive notifications



"starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.
We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.
We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers. Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer"

2016_01_16

2016_01_16  Blue Skies but a cool day to plaster a wall ;)

Got a phone call this morning, and a half hour later another. Two mates were at loose ends.. Beauty!! more walls to get up :D

First of all Al was thinking about the out rigger supports and he thought we should continue fixing blocks to counter balance the weight of the baseboards on top. So before we started on completing the wall we attached 4 blocks above the out riggers to ensure they could not loosen off.

So we cut out the foam insulation, attached blocks to the brick wall, and patched the cutouts and secured with gaffa tape. Well Done!

 At about this time Graeme arrived, and as he had not met Al, introductions were in order. They got along fine, but I have such good friends, that is no surprise. We had a coffee and Al and I,ate a roll for dinner while we planned our next move.

Then it was just a matter of cutting out the rest of the sheets,applying cornice cement and attaching the sheets to the studs with screws between the dabs of cement.

We thought we were finished for the day but Graeme found some finishing plaster and mesh bandage and so we fixed up all the joints. Need to sand them back when it dries.. The boys admiring their good work.

And here is Honeysuckle sitting approximately where she will be fixed. This first module out of 5 running back towards the camera.

Amazingly the lights are switched off and that is natural light reflecting of the ceiling. Am pretty chuffed with that, and am now confident the wall will stop radiating the high temperatures it did in the past.

Thank you very much Al and Graeme. I am sure I could not do it without you. really appreciate your help.
Cheers
Rod

2016_01_09 Ouch!

2016_01_09

Haven't heard from Al since he went home, but those sheets of plaster were just too hard to handle. And if I only did some research first, I might have made it easier.

And so yesterday...
I tried to hire a lifting machine, but found you could buy them on Ebay less than the cost of a 3 day hire. Then I discovered they were used to do ceilings and high wall areas, not transporting from the truck to the work site.
I will now see if I can aford to get someone in to fit sheets (After I complete the wall studs)
Its funny how you do what you see, thinking thats the way it works. The truck driver used the under arm method and so did my son when we moved them under cover. I never thought of trying to lift the panel as described here.
Cheers
Rod Young

2016_01_07 Plaster?

2016_01_07   Today Al came over to give me a hand to hang the plaster on the completed walls.


Well despite working two days to finish the walls, I was still putting the last noggin in when Al arrived from hs home in Corrowa.

So we had to locate the top level horisontal supports fit the insulation and haul in the plaster. Easy job, huh?

So fit the horisontal supports, remove frame from wall, cut out the insulation to fit and glue it on the frame.
Replace it all and refix it to the wall.

I'm sure Al is saying "never again"
The first part went smoothly, and I had told Al the plaster sheets were not too bad with two lifting..
Reality was that I could hardly lift my end of the sheet, and had to make a sling to even get it off the ground. So what happened?  I helped the driver lift the 6  sheets of the truck and had no trouble carrying them 35 feet and stacking them against the wall. Simply with my arm over the top and lifting and walking it.
A few days later I had to move the stuff into my garage and tried to do it on my own. I could move it, but it was too big a job. My son helped me get it into the garage before it rained. Today Al had his end up but I just could not move it without the sling. Now the sheets were as I said before 6 m long. And they were facing the wrong side. So finally we got it off the ground, marched out into the yard and turned the sheet around. We could not just turn the sheet over because one edge is thinned to allow you to tape and  join two sheets.
Now the problem was to get the 6m sheet into the room. We finally walked it past the door lifting it over the steps, poking it through the gate and past the hot water service. After a rest we bent the sheet into an S and walked one end through the door whilst lifting the other end three feet of the ground to clear the steps.

So having another breather. Al has a bad back, and this did not help it much for sure. Have no idea why I was so unaffected by the last two moves. But it sure hurt us both this time.

We now had to cut the sheets to allow for the supports. Stuffed that up as well. We did it by eye almost got 6 right, but one was really out. Nothing that bandage won't fix though Ha Ha.

I guess I thought we would have got both walls lined with plaster (as far as the frame went) But the 6m sheets are just too hard to handle. Might have to cut them down in the garage next time.

Thanks Al (Pal)  I really appreciate your help. I assure you I aim to get trains running one day ;)
Cheers
Rod
(convalescing in his recliner for at least two days, I'm thinking :)

2016_01_05 Experts gone! Let the duffers work it all out :)

2016_01_05     Gentle rain falling and humidity high.

Cant run the swampy, just using fan to make the place more comfortable..Now where was I?

Well the frame is nailed together, but it needs noggins as well as fixing it to the wall. The pier and the nogging need to be flush to support the plaster which covers both at the end.
My son would probably do it by eye, however I had to come up with this method to create a flat surface. The long level is clamped so that it overhangs the pier and then I drilled the side stud into position.

At the other end, I had to make up a couple of blocks to fix the space from wall to match the other 

end.

I then screwed the panel into position (temporarily) so I could set up the hangers to support the top level.

 

The horisontal piece will be cut to length and fixed to the side stud. A piece of wood will then be screwed into the brick in such a way as to stop the wood from drooping under the weight of the track and scenery

Now I have to attach another similar support complete with strengthening block at the other end.
I have also got to attach the noggins. The top noggin supports the join in the two plaster sheets. The bottom noggin supports the bottom level which will simply stand on legs at the front, and be screwed into the studs on the back. The support arm can be cut to length.

I will have to then remove the wall by taking out the screws, cut the insulation out around the supports and glue it in place.

Then screw it all back onto the wall, so I can cut out the slots in the plaster and fix it in place on the studs.

Sounds easy :)  Yeah right, but I keep forgetting I have two left hands :)
Cheers
Rod

2016_01_04 Happy New Year!!

2016_01_04   Visitors gone and the weather is cool, and each day I build a little more :)

Well lets see if the saw still works!  Aha Makita works every time ;)

Son came for a visit over Christmas, and showed me how to line the wall.

The wall had a power point which will need to be moved to the new plaster wall. So extra upright was required.

So now its my turn. Dale had cut up another wall section, so I started to put that one together.

So the next two sections were cut up and nailed together to get the firsr sheets of plaster on. They were delivered in 6m  lengths, so they will have to wait till Al can come give me a hand, or perhaps the Grand kids come home from Bemm River.

And so with three frames knocked together, all I need to do is work out where the layout supports need to go, so I know where the cross pieces need to go to strengthen up the frame
One cross piece will need to be at 1350 to support the plaster sheet joins. Need to work out if that will also support the upper deck which will mount on top of 70 x 35 horisontal supports fixed in two places to anchor them at a perfect level.
Then the sheets of insulation will be fitted with cut outs to get around these obstructions. The same will go for the plaster as well.

Well I have a sharp pencil, now I need to work out exactly where the supports should go. The BG track is level at 1410mm but the SG falls for about 60 feet at 1.5% This complicates the support brackets.
Cheers
Rod