It is raining to make Noah look skyward. This morning we awoke to water in the basement for the first time since we moved in over 15 years ago. OnSide Restoration arrived around ten and declared the floor is ruined and will have to be replaced. That floor is under everything. It is under the cabinets I built in the heavy shop this summer. It … Continue reading Could be the end of Pembroke
Neil (@sarahdaddy) asked in a comment a few days ago where I stand on the question of romanticizing Pembroke, compared to its history. I understand the desire to create a utopia where everything is beautiful on a sunny summer (fall or winter) day and there isn’t any poverty or racial issue but some things existed that we can’t ignore…I would be curious if you had … Continue reading Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn
A couple of weeks ago, I was lamenting the fact that no trains have run on Pembroke in almost two years. My friend Mark Dance suggested I get a little diesel and convert it; then I could at least bang around a few cars when I want. It reminded me that this was actually part of my original strategy for Proto:87 some 24 years ago: … Continue reading Time-travelling Box Queen
It seems like ages since I went for an operating weekend anywhere. However, there are some trips that you simply can’t pass up, and the last opportunity to operate on Al Frasch’s Pilchuck Division was one of those. So this Saturday, seven of us stole across the border at 7:30 AM, counting our blessings that border security is an essential service, unaffected by the US … Continue reading Seattle Roadtrip!
Tonight I cut some spokes in one of my test wheels. I was most interested to see if the wheel gets floppy if you take away most of the material in the centre to replace it with plastic. It doesn’t. But I tell you what: fretting out the spokes is hard work! On this small wheel, it’s nearly impossible to get anything into the holes … Continue reading Dave Booth is a demon with a jewellers’ saw
My puttering with the form tool is starting to result in things that could be mistaken for wheels. These ones approximate the 30″ wheels for 622’s pilot truck, but with the gross flange of my homemade form tool. I faced them down to the correct 1.63 mm wide, and cut the spoke recess in the front to see how they will behave on an (admittedly … Continue reading Quite wheelish
A rather large box of air arrived from Shapeways today. Safely suspended inside were the masters for 622’s wheels. Seriously, the box is over 4000 cubic centimetres of air, and contained perhaps 2 cubic centimetres of plastic! The castings were well protected! No box from Shapeways has ever lasted more than a few minutes after I arrive home, and this was no exception: I couldn’t … Continue reading Wheel masters
