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Feb. 1, 1999 [Mon] I receive an email from The Mining Company saying that this web site is being featured on the front page of their Model Railroading site. Amazing! More pressure to do something! :-) I spend 1 hour working
on the Meat Packing kit. All of the windows are now glued onto the walls. I also spend an hour just fooling around with the 3rdPlanIt software. Feb. 3, 1999 [Wed] The 3rdPlanIt software arrives at the Post Office! Now I hope to begin developing some plans in earnest. The cost is $151.45 (Cdn.) plus another $15.60 for duty and handling fees. Total: $167.05. This is my first large expenditure since I started up in January. Feb. 4, 1999 [Thur] I update this web site and reply to a lengthy email full of good suggestions. (1 hour) It is gratifying to see the way people involved in this hobby are willing to share their expertise. Later in the day I create my first 2 plans for alternative table top configurations (1 hour) and update this web site (1 hour). I have a distinct feeling that I am making progress! Feb. 5, 1999 [Fri] I played around with alternative table top configurations for a couple of hours. I located some of my "old" magazines on layouts and began rereading sections of John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation". This is a great resource! On page 52 he discusses different layout shapes - exactly what I am presently trying to figure out. The "along-the-wall walk-in" gets the best marks. I try a few different ways of working with that theme, but then make the mistake of reading the section on prototypical trackage for a mine (page 8). I have a coal mine structure and would like to use this in my final layout. But when I actually get out a little bit of spare track I quickly realize that this is going to take much more space (for the track) than I imagined. In truth, this is one of the attractions of this hobby - it really makes you think. (2 hours on computer, 1 hour reading) Feb. 6, 1999 [Sat] I am up early in the morning and quickly create a new table layout that looks like it should incorporate the coal mine and still give me a large switching yard. I also think there is a place for my roundhouse and turntable, but I am not yet confident about that. I still have to do more work on the plan to verify that I can fit in enough sidings and spur lines. Later. The Armstrong book also identifies some of the most common problems that "beginners" have. On page 80 he advises that one have lots of track to hold the rolling stock. I did have this in my earlier layout, and I must try to ensure that I find a way to do this again. On page 53 he cautions against trying to build a layout that is too complex (this was my problem with my first layout!!) or that takes too long to get operational. The latter point is a bit of a concern now. I am 5 weeks into this and I have not even begun to set up the benchwork. I am beginning to think that I could (should?) set up a small area that can at least have a little movement. The coal mine could provide an interesting diversion. This would also give me some concrete idea about both the space I will need and the operating characteristics of bringing empties in and taking loads out. It will also give me some balance in my activities. I will then have an operational area, a planning area (3rd PlanIt) and a building area where I can continue to finish my kits. (1 hour reading, 2 hours on computer) Much of the afternoon was spent moving furniture as I began to take down my first layout and move beds, trains, etc. between the two basement rooms. I am now firmly committed to a new layout in a new room. I was also able to set up one temporary table 2' by 8' and I was able to create a coal mine track plan. I even had it running! (1 hour on running).
Feb. 7, 1999 [Sun] Yesterday was a good day for the hobby. I seem to have a compromise at the moment where I use the 3rdPlanIt software for some ideas but for other ideas I just try it out (eg. the coal mine layout). I must see if I can use 3rdPlanIt to model what I have already created! I spent some time early this morning just running my switcher locomotive on the coal layout. I enjoyed it - it is fun to imagine that I am actually at a coal mine switching cars around to get the next ones ready for loading. (1 hour running) I was downtown this afternoon and bought the software simulation/game Railroad Tycoon II (with over 50 Canadian cities). This promises to be fun in its own right, but is not directly related to the model train operation. Cost of package: $64.99 + $4.55 GST = $69.54 Feb. 9, 1999 [Tue] Moving day! The layout was completely dismantled (those modular tables - 2x4' were fantastic). By the end of the day all of the furniture was swapped between the 2 rooms. The old train room is now a guest room ready for company. The small bedroon is now owned by the No Sweat Burnett Railroad. The L-beams and tables are now leaning against a wall. I was able to keep some of the track from the switching yard on the plywood since that part of my old layout was tacked down. I will not count the time as being for the trains (but for the home!). Feb. 11, 1999 [Thur] I played around with the table layouts for a bit this morning, and came up with a new mainline route. At this moment I feel like it is going to be the one I try. The next task is to use 3rdPlanIt to build the turnouts and sidings. (1 hour computing) Feb. 12, 1999 [Fri] I tried using 3rdPlanIt to create a diagram of the trackage near the coal mine. This time I used Atlas code 83 "pieces". Overall it was fairly easy, although I had a little difficulty getting everything to connect properly. (2 hours computing) Feb. 13, 1999 [Sat] I spent 2 hours today assembling the Meat Packing plant. I seem to be developing a 3-way set of activities: (1) planning, using 3rdPlanIt software, (2) building kits, and (3) maintaining this web site.
I am very pleased that I have been able to keep to my goal of a minimum of 5 hrs/week. However I am not spending as much time on the web looking at the newsgroup or other web sites. Feb. 14, 1999 [Sun] A fairly relaxing Sunday. I spent an hour reading John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation", focusing on the section about yard layouts. The ideas of a receiving yard and a classification yard are now fairly clear to me. Ideally I want a yard that permits trains to arrive and leave from either direction. There should be a minimum of 3 lines: the mainline, a separate arrival/departure track, and some classification tracks. I also spent an hour reading the newsgroup postings and an hour working on the Meat packing plant. As a result of thinking about the yard layout, and with the memory of actually having a working coal mine track layout a week ago (before I piled all of my rolling stock on top of it as I moved rooms), I hit on the idea of having both a "permanent" layout and possibly a set of smaller more mobile special purpose layouts. Thus the room could be used for mainline operations (hopefully with a realistic classification yard) and special switching layouts (eg. coal mine, warehouse district) could be on smaller sheets of plywood and brought out for a special task. I want to think about this some more. The next major task is to try a few track layouts (3rd PlanIt) for a yard layout, and see if I can fit these onto my table configuration.(1 hr reading, 1 hr on computer, 1 hr building) Feb. 15, 1999 [Mon] I tidied up this web site to reflect some of the changes as I have developed my ideas. (1 hr on computer). Also, I am not sure whether I have Atlas code 83 or code 100 track! Embarrasing but true. I am going to try to determine this today. Feb. 16, 1999 [Tue] I am fairly certain that I have code 100 track. I finished building the Meat Packing Plant today (1 hr). I have now opened up the box for the Stock Yard kit. I also spent another hour mulling over the ideas in a couple of old track planning magazines. I must try to use a fairly large radius (28" min. 35" better) for the mainline curves if I want to run some of the modern trains. I will have to go back to my table layouts and try a few more alternatives. I also set up a sheet of plywood that is 3' x 8' on a couple of L-girders, so now I can try to create a temporary switching layout that I can use to play around on while I am designing my "real" layout. Feb. 18, 1999 [Thur] One hour spent building the Stock yard. I am impressed with what one learns while spending time on this hobby. In a stock yard all of the construction of the fences is such that there are no posts or jutting edges any where that the cattle may pass - this avoids possible injuries due to scrapes. Feb. 19, 1999 [Fri] One more hour on building the Stock Yard. This is all progress, but now I seem to be avoiding coming to grips with the final design. On the other hand it gives me time to reflect on possible alternatives.
Feb. 21, 1999 [Sun] First, I update the above table to reflect the past week's activities. Time on the computer is going down. Last week was more one of working on a couple of kits and doing some reading about layouts. This morning was very profitable. I spent one hour reading postings from the rec.models.railroad newsgroup on the TimeSaver layout. I then went downstairs and tried to construct one on my empty 3x8' plywood tabletop, using my Atlas track. No problem. (1 hr). I then tried a simple switching activity with 5 cars. Very difficult. I think this could be a very interesting "running" activity. I still need to refine the layout a bit, to be sure that the lengths of the various spurs are proper (not too long, but long enough) for the different posssible switching acivities. (1 hour for running). I can see playing against myself (for a particular "task", what is my best time?). The uncoupling over the magnets worked fine. I have found my "operating heaven". This Timesaver layout promises hundreds of hours of pleasure and hard thought. I tried a simple problem involving only 1 car. Great sport! (1 hour running, 1 hour modifying this web site) Feb. 28, 1999 [Sun] This was a busy week, but not for trains. Here are the final totals for the month:
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