Saturday 3 August 2013

Trestles and Termites...

All,

As I commenced writing this post I became aware that this is Post No. 100.  When I informed Vanessa of this fact her reply was "Amazing how one person can dream up and write that amount of drivel...Congratulations anyway".....Sophie was less celebratory as her reply was "Whoop De Do Basil"....in reference to her love of the Austin Powers movies...all tongue in cheek I hope.

Firstly I would like to address a comment made in reply to the last post regarding trestles and in particular the wing assemblies and the possibility that we may have erred in relation to the angle of the wing wall sheeting timbers.  I thank Graeme for posing the question as I must admit that the wings ( as simple as they are in design ) had me baffled for some time as each consecutive trial assembly just did not look right.  Apart from the wing wall pile diameter I thought the last attempt was almost there....but the comment did have me rushing for our research material file to check the facts. Even though we have departmental plans and some early photographic evidence that the timbers on some structures were indeed angled... after lengthy pondering I feel Graeme's comments are valid and the vast majority of trestles ( that had wing walls incorporated ) do show the timbers to be level....so we will work toward this modification and will post the results when complete.  While on the issue of comments...I take the opportunity to thank those who contribute as this exchange of info is important to the decision making progress of both the kits and my modelling experience as a whole.


    

The remainder of the week has been taken up by normal work, kit stock replenishment and a little job that I have been meaning to get to for some time.  Apart from the main layout room I do not have a dedicated modelling room and remnants of my hobby participation are pretty much scattered all over the house, business and layout room.  I have for some time had a corner of the layout shed earmarked for conversion to address this issue and as the doctor said "take it easy for a couple of weeks" ...I felt now was the time. 

As an aside we removed two large gum trees that were located about 10 metres from the layout shed about 4 months ago due to the trees exhibiting some major cracks at the bases and a general appearance of not being well.  The resultant findings were that one of the trees was sponsoring a large termite nest in the lower trunk and indeed it was time for these two gums and infestation to go.  This revelation left me with a giant hole in the pit of my stomach as the proximity of these trees to the timber "mother load" that is the train room was too close for comfort.  In hindsight it was a dumb decision to partially line the existing portion of the shed with normal framing timber and this new addition of a hobby room would be lined with termite treated timber and extra vigilance would be exercised both now and in the future for the shed as a whole.

But I digress....the proposed modelling room will be a 3 metre x 3 metre area with benches on 3 walls with the main criteria(s) being a permanent location for the air brush cabinet with the exhaust plumbed to the outside and a spot for an old rotary engraving machine that is now utilised as a hobby milling machine.  There are two good size windows in this room for natural light plus good views of passing trains on the main south and I have run enough power to the room for most future needs and a reliable security system with remote cameras.  The rest of the room will be used for general kit building and hobby storage.  I will also take advantage of the room's proximity to the layout room and will run a "repair road" through the wall so that troublesome trucks can be easily despatched from the layout to the workshop for repairs etc...

I have included a shot of progress...The layout room is adjacent to the wall at right of shot...

        

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on reaching 100. It's a pity we can't see more Aussies reaching that milestone in England at present, but that's a bit off topic.

    cheers Phil

    ReplyDelete
  2. Phil,

    Thanks for your comment...Yes I have my doubts about our esteemed cricket team. The positive side of me says we are going through a rebuilding stage and my cynical side says we have a bunch of individuals playing for themselves and then there are the obvious discipline issues...Is our captain the right man for the job???. And now who is going off topic!!!

    Talk Soon,
    Rod

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  3. Man's gotta have a workshop !
    Good one Rod. Looking forward to it's first fruits !
    GL

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gaz,

    Managed to get the internals lined over the weekend and one bench in place. I purchased some floating flooring some time ago that was destined for Soph's bedroom before we changed our minds and gutted the house a year or so back. This flooring will now be redirected to the modelling room. So the overall shed floor space calculation is now 12m x 4m for the layout room ( 4 shed bays or half the shed ) now 1 bay for the modelling room leaving 3 bays for general storage and general type use. Vanessa has already "stated publicly" that we need a second shed...I love the way she thinks!!!

    BTW I am not growing any fruit in this shed!!!

    Talk Soon,
    Rod

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  5. Rod

    I thought the Doctor said take it easy!

    I have a garden shed that I need to put up if you're not busy.

    I have to use it clear out some of the stuff under the layout to make room for some more ;-)

    Ray P

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  6. Ray,

    1. With recovery I tend to listen to myself and not too much where the quacks are concerned...much to the disgust of doctors and some family members

    2. Me, not too busy??? HELLO...YOU ARE RETIRED !!!!

    3. You don't have a monopoly on "stuff" That's why I shy away from photos of the layout room!!!

    On a serious note...good to hear from you and hope you and the family are well...

    Regards,
    Rod

    ReplyDelete