Today the boy and I set up the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder (SBRG) and in relatively short order, ground all the frogs and points for the staging yard. I thought I had described this machine previously, but I can’t seem to find it, so here we go again. It’s just as well really, because some improvements were incorporated this time. As you can see, I … Continue reading The Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder
A couple of weeks ago, I picked up some foam core with an eye to starting to mock up the buildings for Pembroke. Unfortunately, there are no drawings to start from for any of the buildings. So, I thought I’d try out Photo Match on Sketchup to see if it could help. I was surprised how close I was able to get with century-old photos. … Continue reading Sketchup Photo Match
I suppose if you have to reinvent something, it’s time to write it down so you don’t have to invent it yet again later. Tonight, I had hoped to get the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder out, but I only got as far as filing the gauge side of the frogs and points before the noise abatement rules came into effect. Because grinding the back of … Continue reading Filing the gauge side
I’ve been spending most of my recent train time trying to get the turnout controls to print. The good news is that it looks like they’re going to be sufficiently robust. The bad news is the original design had a lot of overhang, and would come off the 3D printer bed at the least provocation. A couple more iterations should do it. However, all that … Continue reading Staging Yard Ties
As you recall, the staging yard is on a wide window sill, and that means there is no room for Bullfrog or other switch machines below the roadbed. Because the room provides a number of functions in our house, we want to be able to make the staging yard look like a clean window sill, which means there is no place for a ground throw … Continue reading Staging Yard Points
My friend, colleague and fellow creator, Mitch, bought a LulzBot 3D printer last week. I believe I’ve agreed to buy a share of it, and now might be the time.
Andrew came over last night and, after we’d finished installing the last Bullfrog, we plunked the staging planks on the window sill and laid out the staging yard.
