Wednesday, December 30, 2009
New RR Cars Bring Building Supplies to Galville
Thanks to additional railroad cars from my brother-in-law and sister, additional building supplies have been brought to Galville.
The bikers sit on their cycles and watch the supply train go by the Two Wheel Saloon. One looks a little like mark. I wonder if Kristin is inside buying beer.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Andrew and Kim's New House
Andrew and Kim moved into a new house in Apex, NC, a bedroom community of Raleigh. The house has kitchen, living room/dining area, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2 large rooms (one for her pottery making and one for his "man cave").
This is the front of the house,
Lots and lots of boxes. They had many friends and family members helping them move all their stuff.
Kim cleaning the kitchen cupboards. The house was a foreclosure and had been empty since July. Thus it needed a lot of deep cleaning in the kitchens and baths. They replaced the carpet in all the bedrooms and painted them also. It took 2 coats of paint in each room, making for a long week-end of painting.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Two Wheel Saloon is OPEN!!!
The Two Wheel Saloon recently opened in Galville. Now there is a place to eat, drink, and make merry. The mayor and some of his friends stopped by the other night a cool one after the city council meeting.
The left side of the saloon is decorated with an American eagle poster as well as a harley Davidson poster.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
University of Michigan Solar Car Team
The University of Michigan Solar car Team is racing in the Global Green Challenge Race in Australia. Here is a picture of Infinium and the crew. This is a solar powered car than can achieve 110 KM/hour.
Checkout the daily results of the race at http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/
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Monday, October 12, 2009
HIghway Construction Complete
More of the government's stimulus package has been put to good use in Galville. The city road structure has been repaired and new concrete roads have been laid throughout the city. The Mayor took his Shelby Cobra out to check out the roads.
here the mayor is waiting for the 3:20 freight train to pass at the Swift Street crossing. The train is headed for a siding in Galville to offload the first of several train loads of building supplies. Rumor has it that construction on the Two Wheel Saloon will start shortly.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Stimulus Package Arrives in Galville
The highway construction stimulus package has arrived in Galville. The road crews have laid new asphalt and finished striping the roads in the industrial park. I took out my Shelby Cobra to check out the new roads.
here I am at the intersection of Greenwood Street and Underwood Avenue. The street signs are not up yet but there was no other traffic so I had a safe drive.
Friday, October 2, 2009
On to Seattle
We left Yellowstone National Park via the West Entrance and had to travel over Montana state roads to get to Interstate 90 and on to Seattle. Rounding a curve on Montana State Road 2 I had to come to a sudden stop because the was about 100 head of cattle being driven down the highway. We followed behind the herd for awhile (needed a car wash in Spokane ,our stop for the night.)
We had to pull over into a gas station and let the herd clear the highway.
The herd was being driven by 7 cowboys/cowgirls and 2 dogs.
One of the cows broke away from the herd and came back towards our car. Quickly a cowboy turned around and rounded up the stray dogie and returned him to the herd.
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We left Yellowstone National Park via the West Entrance and had to travel on some Montana roads to get to Interstate 90. Rounding a turn On Montana State Road 2 I had to come to a sudden stop. There in font of us was about 100 head of cattle being driven done the road. There were 7 cowboys/cowgirls and 2 dogs herding them along. We trailed behind the herd for a while (needed a car wash in Seattle) and then were able to pull into a gas station for awhile to let the herd clear the highway.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Stop Three - Yellowstone National Park
We entered Yellowstone National Park at the east entrance. We were headed for Grant Village on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. We stayed here for 2 nights. It took almost 2 hours from the east entrance to the lodge at Grant Village. Along the way we saw the effects of various wild fires in the park. Square miles of destroyed trees with various stages of new growth emerging.
While taking a walk around the geyser basin at Old Faithful, we came across a herd of bison. There were 7 bison including several calves.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Second Stop - South Dakota
After a long drive, we stopped in Wall, SD, home of the Wall Drug Store. We toured the store area and ate at the Drug Store. On Monday we drove through the Badlands. Beautiful scenery!!!
This a typical view of the Badlands, barren rock and steep slopes. The power of wind and water erosion is amazing.
As we were driving through the Badlands, we saw these flowers all along the road. We thought they were Black Eyed Susans. But after a trip to the visitor center we learned they are small sunflowers. After touring the Badlands, we continued on to Mt. Rushmore.
First Stop - St. Louis
Our first stop on our Grand Adventure was St. Louis MO. We arrived about 8 PM on Friday night and stayed at a hotel in downtown St. Louis. We had a great view of the Gateway Arch from our room. On Saturday morning we rode to the top of the Arch. We went up the North side and down the South side, making a complete traverse of the Arch. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFnQ8D2QjUc0TvfzJpvhwaHy7XvEzav_VfaXeYON8rQmrJkNf1UQXTWSZRFoEf-lZEXnTimtXquIciwbYQJJkAcfYBCM36wNxoZvi4e7r5Y5v3oWrG7Hjhx1YfS3VXHw38Z44G-dw9tN7/s320/DSC02998.JPG)
Here we are at the top, 630 feet above the ground. We had a great view of St. Louis and could see both the baseball and football stadiums as well as city center and the state capitol.
The Arch is a magnificent structure and very beautiful.
After the tour of the Arch, we headed for St. Joseph, MO, starting point for the Pony Express. We went to terible's casino and found it not so terrible. We both went home more money than we started with. On Sunday we headed for the Badlands in South Dakota.
Here we are at the top, 630 feet above the ground. We had a great view of St. Louis and could see both the baseball and football stadiums as well as city center and the state capitol.
After the tour of the Arch, we headed for St. Joseph, MO, starting point for the Pony Express. We went to terible's casino and found it not so terrible. We both went home more money than we started with. On Sunday we headed for the Badlands in South Dakota.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hot Date on Saturday Night
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Last Saturday night Adam, Sara, and Emerson were going to a birthday party for Adam's dad. So Barbara and I were going to keep Carly for them. But, the VFW Post was having a Luau Party that we wanted to attend. Barbara was playing bridge and we we going to meet at the post. So I picked up Carly and took her to the post with me. She was the best looking girl there. We had a great time!!!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Emerson stayed with us last week for a couple of days. he was playing in his room and then he came upstairs to show me sometning. If you look on his shirt, their are a bunch of sticker letters just below OSHKOSH.
Those letters spelled his name. He attached the letters himself, in the right order, and none of them were upside down.I think that was pretty AMAZING for a lad who won't be 4 till next month.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Carly's First Birthday Party
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
A Mountain is Born
Once the track was operational, I decided to add a mountain in the corner of the layout as my first scenery project. The first step was to add support in the corner using some Masonite left over from my control panel efforts. next I crumbled up sheets of newspaper and taped them together. Then I taped all the balls of paper to hold then in place.
Next I applied plaster coated sheets over the paper mound to to provide a hard surface. While the plaster was drying, I mad rocks in a mold using more plaster like material called Hydrocal.
The molded rocks were then glued to the mountain and painted. The first coat was yellow, followed by coats of brown and black paint. I then painted the mountain with earth colored paint.
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Finally I added grass coating to the mountain, using several different colors. also added small rocks along the bottom, simulating rock that have broken loose and tumbled down the mountain. I hope to place a water tank and a cell phone tower on the mountain. Then it will look like the hill I see from the house.
Finally I added grass coating to the mountain, using several different colors. also added small rocks along the bottom, simulating rock that have broken loose and tumbled down the mountain. I hope to place a water tank and a cell phone tower on the mountain. Then it will look like the hill I see from the house.
My next step will be to layout the road system for the city of Galville and the supporting industries.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Cumberland Railroad is Operational
Here is my new Louisville and Nashville EMD SW7 switcher. I bought it last week at the Tennessee Central RR Museum. That gave me incentive to finish the wiring of the layout.
This is the first operational run of the Cumberland RR. The train is en route to Galville with raw materials for the local industries
This picture shows the control panel for operating the layout. The actual layout is shown at the top with the turnouts (switches in real RRs). I painted the control panel white, then marked out the layout using 1/4 inch tape, then painted the panel black. When the tape was removed you get the layout . The lower left shows the 8 switches for controlling the turnouts. Note that two switches are not wired yet because I ran out of the proper wire. The center switch with the two red buttons control the power and direction to the track because of the two reversing loops. The power pack is to the right. The green light indicates I have power and no short circuits in the layout. WHOOPEE!!! The power pack provides AC power to operate the turnout switches and DC power to operate the train. Everything is pretty calm on this side of the panel.
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