What's Been Happening On the Railroad: Stumbling Blocks or Gumption Traps?

It has been over a month since I last posted, Yikes! I shouldn't get too down on myself; it is somewhat expected that summer is a slow season for model railroading. I have done a few things, just not the steady progress that I had laid out for myself. Some slow progress has continued on the Curtis Cannery roof-top water tower, but I hit a small stumbling block. I tidied up the railroad, cleaned track, and did some solo operations, but I hit a bit of a stumbling block. (Do we sense a theme here?) Just last week I spent some time in the basement because it was the only cool part of the house during our week long heat wave. While there, I returned to scenery on the East Branch, which had been stymied by, wait for it, a series of stumbling blocks.

While my original drawings for the water tower had a different approach, I changed the plan at the last minute to the 12' X12' posts all aligned as straight and plumb verticals with a 90 degree angle at the base instead of many of the posts in the bents having a slight angle. I saw this approach with all straight posts and an angled board added at the end of the bent in a coal trestle somewhere, but I don't remember where. I may be breaking the "don't model from models" rule here. At any rate, I drew over my original drawing, cut and stained the parts, and went ahead starting to glue up the bents with braces as seen in the photo. 

Avoiding the heat working outside on another day, I went down to the workbench in the basement and wrapped up the rest of the braces and slanted end boards. After the glue was dry, I started brainstorming how to tie the joists holding the tank up, the bents, and the tank itself together. I was able to accurately glue the bents together by lining the parts up on the waxed paper covered drawing. Attempting to balance the 6" X 12" joists and bents in place with my shaky hands was unsuccessful as a trial of the new process. This was the stumbling block I mentioned earlier. At first I thought I would have to design a fixture to hold the joists in position and then glue the bents in place upside down. Now I am thinking that an easier approach is to glue the central joists in position at the bottom of the tank with the tank upside down before gluing the bents in place. At least I now have a plan, and I can move forward with cutting the joists to length and staining them. 

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I spent a couple of afternoons in the basement with solo operations. I am experimenting with the notion of having the car cards at an agent's desk that I discussed here and here earlier this spring. Clearing off the layout and cleaning track and loco wheels went fine. I arranged some cars in place and made up the first switchlist. After that I ran a first session that was enjoyable, lasted a little over an hour, and suggested that "model railroading is fun." But then, for the next session, the return of the first session's turn, I had too many cars in the East Branch yard, too many destinations, too many cars to pick up at the NP interchange. And worst of all, too much in my head moving back and forth from the railroad to the agent's desk. Model railroading was NOT fun. Well, over the last month, Lance Mindheim has posted links to some Switching Operations 101 videos on his YouTube channel and discussed solo operations on his blog. After considering his suggestions, my takeaway is to simplify and slow down, instead of trying to jam the operations plan of the whole completed 4th Subdivision into this one location and small yard. 

I had hit several stumbling blocks (actually, a full on gumption trap!) earlier this year on the East Branch staging. Looking back, this is probably why I started the cannery project. I was unhappy with how several parts of this temporary staging were turning out. (They all appear in this photo from February.) I tried justifying the obvious seam between two sections of sky panels as "deal with it, it's just temporary." Despite that, it bothers me every time I notice it, and I don't want to finish painting the tree line there because of it. On the aisle side of the module I had "scalloped" the fascia that I had installed after carving out some of the foam to create some three-dimensionality to the foam tabletop. I also had glued in a cork base for a road at the far end of the scene. I worried that I was in a "can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" situation, but didn't want to start over, so I ground to a halt.

Last week, during the worst of our heat/humidity wave, I bit the bullet and mixed up some Sculptamold. I applied it along the edge of the fascia, hoping to emphasize some irregular natural ground surface and deemphasize the too regular scallop I had cut into the fascia. After painting with my standard brown color, I was satisfied that it had mostly worked. I also went ahead and applied some wall board mud to the cork road base. After painting that a gray color, I am still not happy with it. However, I can see what to do next to correct that, rather than worried I will make it worse and not willing to do anything. 

At this point, I would say that I have possible solutions to most of my stumbling blocks, so that I can move forward and not be a victim of multiple gumption traps. We still have a lot of yard/garden projects to complete, but the railroad in the basement feels more like a place I want to go, a mental respite not a chore.