When my father passed away, we sold his truck to pay medical bills. That meant I needed a new way to move my locomotives around. There was no way I was going to do it with a Mini Countryman, so I traded it in for a Jeep. It’s not the first time I had a Jeep. And now they are much bigger with four doors. Anyway, I made a locomotive transfer rack. I’ve never been happy with my setup before, so I really took some time to think about this and I really like what I did. Here are a few pics.
You probably wonder where I have been since last October. Well, it was a very difficult year. My father’s COPD and congestive heart failure grew progressively worse. He was in the hospital at least 14 times in the past year. My mother also had a few health issues. All of this was very difficult. Besides my parents health issues, I also have a parish to run. All of it was very exhausting. My father passed away on April 18, 2019. It was Holy Thursday morning. You can find my father’s obituary here.
There is a lot of work to do. I’m getting the railroad going. Just finished getting a locomotive out there. I’ll post some pictures shortly. I also have to reconnect the mainline. Had to take part of it out to dig so we could install a 220 line to my new compressor shed. That is finished. Also have to clear a tree that fell across the track. Thank God, it is above the rails from hill to hill.
I notice that many of my links are broken. I’lm going to work on getting all of this fixed. Thanks for hanging in there. Keep on steaming!
For a number of years, I have been using a small compressor to steam. However, that compressor was insufficient for the task. It often took much more time than it should to steam up, and sometimes, I couldn’t even do it. With my new compressor, not only will I be able to get a faster head of steam, but guests will be able to do the same. All I have left to do is paint it. Later, I’ll install underground piping to each steaming bay. Here are a few pics. I used free plans for a small garden shed from Construct101. Only modification was adding another foot in height to clear the compressor.
Preparing the foundation
Cement is poured
Sides finished and waiting to be installed
Rafters prepared and waiting
Removing the compressor from the truck
Walls complete and roof comes together
Plywood complete on roof and vent in back wall
Roof finished with Ondura corrugated asphalt roof panels
The door is hung and latch attached
I thought I would finish today, but after some consideration, I decided to use angle iron in place of rail. This will help hold my connections to the steaming bays more secure and stable. This required a trip to Lowe’s and to a local machine shop to cut some plate steel for me. Tomorrow, I should finish pretty early so I can get an engine out on the tracks. Here are a few pics.
Angle iron installed on half of turntable
Turntable with one end complete
Table joined to steaming bay
Really easy. Just drop the hinged joiner into place.
Now I need to repaint the joiners and steaming bays. But that’s for another day.
I had a slow start this summer due to family health issues, but I’m finally back out on the track. A few weeks ago, I began blowing off the track and yesterday was ready to put an engine out there. But due to the harsh winter, my turntable was a real mess. So yesterday, I got out there, removed the rail, ripped off the old decking and began putting on new decking. I’m grateful for a find several years ago at Groseman’s before they became “Bargain Outlets.” They used to have the greatest lumber yard and hardware stores. When I was a kid we always went to the one on River St. in Woonsocket. Now it’s nothing be a memory. But back to the project. I purchased a load of the old style composite decking that was being sold for nearly nothing. Wish I would have got more. Anyway, here are some pics of the project. Tomorrow, I’ll get the rail back on and be ready for steaming.
Turntable with rotted out deck
The deck almost fell off.
Turntable now ready for a new deck.
Decking is all cut to size
Attaching side bars to hold decking in place.
Measuring to get center for each end.
Coming along.
Turntable redecking complete.
Wish I had this stuff when I first built the turntable!
Just when you think spring has arrived, think again. I thought I would be out there to work on the 1000′ extension of my railroad, until yesterday. And, they say New England is in for another Nor’easter next Tuesday/ Wednesday. Here are a few pics of the beauty of nature on my railroad.
Mainline covered in snow.
Crossing with covered bridge in background
Engine house, turntable, and steaming bays.
We have good news! The clubs page is now fixed, and it includes events. When you hit the link for “Clubs” or “Events” they will take you to the new page.
So, I need your help! If you are on your clubs board (and can give me proof), register so you can update your club’s listing and post all of your club’s events.
Also, please be sure to share the new page with all of your Live Steam friends!
Good news! I’m working on the Live Steam Clubs and they will be up and running better than before shortly. It may take me a few days to fix broken links, but it’s well worth it.