Moving at a Brisk Pace and Under Budget

10/30/20

Friday morning Gene, Doug, Larry and Lonnie went down  to the club to hold a few L girders while Jerry thought about where they should go. One thing led to another and we ended up  building and leveling the L girder system for the center peninsula in the north layout room. It came out really well and is now ready to accept several large chunks of layout including the old Albany  yard, Old Toledo yard, the big horse shoe that connects them and the Eagle Cove module.  With a bit more work we can add L girders for the Eagle Cove helix and set that up. Having the helix in place will define where the shear wall turnback chunk goes (it used  to be between Corvallis and Scott’s Mill). With this curved piece set we can begin framing the  connection along the shear wall and on into the new  Toledo yard. 

Larry keeps everyone on the  level with a laser and demanding  exactitude. 

We have brackets for the double deck north wall staging yard and switching area. Once these are installed we can modify and move the old staging  yard and set it in place. This will require some cutting and framing as defined by bracket location.   Base L girders are in place for the lower switching area along the north and east walls and this is ready  for the installation of Red Rock along with additional framing.  

Some re-construction is defined by existing  chunks of layout, however, additional pieces need  to be framed in to connect the chunks.  Membership can have a big say in how these pieces are built and what function they will serve. The  November business meeting will be critical for  those of you who want to help define the direction of the layout since footprints of these “new” pieces  will be pretty well defined. Within limits, the crew can accommodate wishes of members at this point because as we go along, footprints, grades, and  subsequent track layout become increasingly  defined. 

Doug wants to know how many  times he has to measure this thing and  Gene quips that he’s already cut it off  twice and it’s still too short!

We find ourselves focused on the north room because, by getting certain sections off  the floor in the south room and onto girders in  the north room, additional floor space is freed  up for construction to continue around the  corner.  For the financially minded folks  reconstruction has proceeded at a brisk pace and is under budget. Purchases of plywood, fasteners, glue, markers, band-aids for Doug, and other incidentals have been frugal and focused. Several members have  stepped up with their own funds for materials and for that we are grateful. Additionally, a chop saw was borrowed by Doug (the owner knew he had taken it), Larry provided a table  saw and vacuum, and crew members have brought their own tools. El Presidente alluded to the need for reimbursements at the business meeting and, that too would be much appreciated. 

That’s about it for this report. Monday  we will start installing big chunks. We need  beef to move these things so any help would  be much appreciated. Work will probably start  in earnest about 9:30 AM. The project is moving forward ahead of schedule and under  budget. Good work one and all.