# Broke ground on the 'new' AV today



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

It is/was mid 40's and the show has retreated away from part of where I want to put the railroad, so I went out with a shovel and turned a bunch of miucky sod over (Only for about half an hour or so. Dang, I'm outta shape!)

Gonna go back out in a bit and go at it some more... pix later.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Mik...given your back issues, maybe you should look into an elevated line. There be a thread going on right now about a 'cheap and durable' version of such in the 'Indoor' subforum.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Not much to show, yet. So far I've found lots of mud, rocks, crabgrass roots, a rusty screwdriver, some broken glass, and bits of plastic junk that looked like the mower ate it....



















The track will come around the corner, go along the side of the trailer, loop around the bigger tree then snake between the right hand circle and the rock pile (which will get moved eventually)... probably a diagonal after that. The village will be by the little tree. I'm thinking of a preformed pond right by the corner of the trailer, but I need to stick my head underneath and see where the water and sewer pipes are first.

I'm going ground level because I want as much garden as railroad. I think I'm going to use plastic sheeting and those $1.20 8" x 16" precast concrete patio pavers for subroadbed and housing bases again. It worked pretty well before and was very easy to re-level. I also think I'm going to turn the hitch into a 'mountain' and tunnel with a planter box on top. And Kim wants a hosta inside the lower loop beyond the hitch.

Other than that I'm open to suggestions, lol


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Hmmm...maybe run a spur underneath the porch (or some enclosed securable scenic feature) so you can keep the trains outdoors without them vanishing on you?


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I see a nice little everygreen at the corner of the house. Is that were the loging camp is going?

Your are off to a great startl.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Forget about the hostas they are a pain in the you know what. Later RJD


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

It's rare to see the hitch still on a sited mobile home. Usually they sre cut off and stored underneath.... I'd think abou taking a sawzall to it. That home isn't very roadworthy now anyway and it's removal would tidy up that end. 

What's a hostas? 

John


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 08 Mar 2010 06:21 AM 
Forget about the hostas they are a pain in the you know what. Later RJD 




They are?
I have always found hostas to be about the easiest, lowest maintance plants anyone could hope for..
just plant them and ignore them..they come up beautifully every year..
(they do best in shade)

why do you say they are a PIA?

Scot


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 08 Mar 2010 07:37 AM 
It's rare to see the hitch still on a sited mobile home. Usually they sre cut off and stored underneath.... I'd think abou taking a sawzall to it. That home isn't very roadworthy now anyway and it's removal would tidy up that end. 


Stupid park rules say it's gotta stay. (I doubt the tires still hold air either, but the rules say THEY gotta be there too.) The obvious choices were mountain or mill.... mountain sounded easier


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The square and house foundations for the village of Kimberly were laid this afternoon. This is what $18 worth of patio blocks looks like, lol


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

It was 60+ outside this morning, so we played in the mud some more -- until the rain finally chased us inside. For a spot that LOOKED pretty level, it sure isn't.... 















































It's going to need some sort of bridge/viaduct across the front of the trailer, then maybe a BIG trestle down at the bottomend. On the UP side, once the ground drops away another 1-1/2" or so, I can run a second smaller loop to weave underneath.  

Also, Kim wants some sort of low, slow growing juniper type thing to put where that left circle is (she decided it needs relocated, hooray!)... any suggestions?


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Yep plant them and ignore and they take off. Not much good for a Garden RR as they get to large. Later RJD


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Had about a half hour of light left, soooo... We now have a bridge to nowhere. I'm thinking some kind of sedum underneath


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I have to ask, even with the challenges of levelling, working in the cold, isn't it great to have a lot more room? 

Go Allen! 

Regards, Greg


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 10 Mar 2010 09:21 PM 
.... isn't it great to have a lot more room? 


Outside? Or in? I could really use just ONE closet to hide crap like the Christmas tree in. We still have about 30 big egg boxes, and 12 or so 38 gallon totes that we have no idea where we're going to put the junque there-in. Some just needs sorted for a yard sale. And a few models that are really too fragile to be outdoors will probably have to go as well.

As for outside. We actually started this to empty a few boxes of stuff, lol. So I'll let you know when I get a shed to put all the big stuff in. I'll be a LOT happier with my workbench,tools, torches and welder where I can use them. I've got a 1/3 scale Oil Pull and a 1/3 scale steam roller to finish, too. (Got to get them here BEFORE the shed gets filled with crap, lol)


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I meant outside, since everything I saw before was inside. Yeah, how big a shed can you have? That would be great, I'll bet. 

Regards, Greg


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

a shed? for the same money you could buy a used/outmustered 20 foot container. 
that would be easyer to transport, when you move next time. 

i bought one (still of the old type with sealed ply-walls) in germany, back in 83. 
that travelled around half the world and served as tool-shed, fathoms-treasury, storeroom and is now a small office.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Fine print says 100sq ft for a shed (10x10). If I could afford it I'd get a 10x12 and hope they didn't notice. I found a 8x10 tin kit one for $269, I was wondering if anybody would notice if I stretched it and made the back wall from wood, lol.

Started around the curve at the front corner today. It's going to take quit a bit of fill plus a big trestle or viaduct before we're done. Rather than a curved trestle at the bottom, I'm considering using landscape blocks and fill to make an 'island', mostly because it would be cheaper and sturdier.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Spent part of yesterday extending the viaduct... I decided that the cinder blocks look better with most of them turned and capped. We'll be partially filling much of this area with a decent topsoil/potting mix, so it won't look like a gulag for long.









Today, I built a siding to serve the 'factory'. I never did decide what it makes, though....


















I also started rebuilding the long covered bridge from my old garden. The thing has been in pieces for about the last 5 years..... ever since my daughter's cat got stuck in it and we had to pull the bridge apart to get him out. Yes, I'm missing a couple rafters. They're probably at the bottom of the old pond.... It badly needs repainted. When I'm done this area will be over a corner of the 'new' pond...









That's the end of RoW construction for a bit. I'm out of block again, and won't have spare money to buy any for a week or so. Tomorrow I'll turn some more sod, and dig around in the storage totes for a few more buildings, and the rail clamps.....


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Coming along pretty good...seems like. 

Don't strain yourself moving that topsoil. That stuff can get to be real heavy after a while. 

Hopefully, you won't get any more cats hung up in the bridge, either. 

Still contemplating the shelf layout around the living room indoors?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By ThinkerT on 18 Mar 2010 11:34 PM 

Still contemplating the shelf layout around the living room indoors? 
I have most of the brackets. Have to get new windows in first.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Progress pix.... 

water feature... 2 ponds connected by a waterfall 








http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/...050001.jpg 

coal mine started 








http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/...050002.jpg

Tomorrow I'll probably put down track on the part of the roadbed that I have set... mostly to see what I need to get yet 

edit: is it just me or are the pictures being screwy tonight?


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

{2} 

{2}


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I hope the pix are working again... started putting down track today --- at least until I ran out of railclamps.









http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/new AV/P4060002.jpg









http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/new AV/P4060001.jpg










http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/new AV/P4060004.jpg











http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/new AV/P4060005.jpg


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

delete


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

test


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Pix from the last few posts... IF I can get them to work 













































Today I put in $20 worth of plants and about 300# of rocks, but it got dark before I got done.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Seems to be coming right along. Good to have room to grow again, eh? 

Any of the neighbors stopped by to check it out yet? (since your layout must be in easy view and all)


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Constant parade of people watching, but no one offers to pick up a shovel.... 

About once a day some rubbernecker almost gets tagged while looking at the layout ('attractive nuisance'?). The landlord came by yesterday to see what I was doing with all the used cinderblocks and yalla clay fill dirt that we mooched off him. And there are about 4 neighbors who said they were gonna tan the hide of the first kid that stole or broke anything....


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds like your building a 'community attraction'! (and wait till the trains are up and running...maybe you could sell tickets? or maybe that bright idea will occur to one of the kids...) 

Also sounds like your new neighbors are of a much higher moral quality than the old ones. (I suspect if you'd tried this at the old place it would have been stolen within the first 75 seconds after you turned your back or the 'attack secretary' would have handed you a citation thicker than the local phone book.) 

It looks like you have the channel between the ponds blocked off. Can't tell for sure though. Some sort of problem?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Today's pictures......

Rotsa rocks 











Got some trees moved from my old garden











starting to look like something besides a disaster area








running low on block...











At one point today I had about 5 short 'supervisors' watching me carry dirt and rocks. Maybe I shoulda got paid for baby sitting.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

running low on block... 

Looks like your gonna end up with at least a partly elevated layout whether you want it that way or not. That ground must have a serious slope to it. 

Also...don't you have to 'jack the trailer around' because its out of square? Hope your layout don't get in the way of that operation. 

At one point today I had about 5 short 'supervisors' watching me carry dirt and rocks. Maybe I shoulda got paid for baby sitting. 

Just wait...parents will be telling their kids to 'go hang out at the trainmans place for a couple hours until we get back'.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm gonna hafta fix the bloody WATER PIPES tomorrow, before I do anything else. Good thing nothing got ruined when the one over the water heater burst this evening.

Then I get to slop in MORE water, re-doing my waterfall because I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out...

BTW, I think I got the stupid trailer almost level... it's within 1/2" anyway.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm gonna hafta fix the bloody WATER PIPES tomorrow, before I do anything else. Good thing nothing got ruined when the one over the water heater burst this evening. 

Fortunately you got short skinny people who can fit in tight spaces much easier than we geezers... (or does that proposal get vetoed immediately?)


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Bringing it to life.... The best part!


Today was my birfday, so I had the girls here. The 9YO decided we absolutely *needed* to put out the people....


First, we moved the church under the tree....










Then we put out the animals at Giant Gnome Farm...


















Then came the schoolyard...









Anybody want a kitten?









I found the WWI Flying Ace at a yard sale for a quarter...










I couldn't leave Pooh & Co in the box...









And the cookout...









The old geezers made it too....









Simply can't have a pond without a kid throwing rocks in it...









And it was just a great day for a bicycle ride, or a road trip in a convertible, too...


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Grrr....return of the dreaded 'red x's'.....


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Oooops! Sorry! I forgot that you have to format them in html on here now..... They should be working


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanx for fixing that! The little people really do bring the layout to life... 

Might want to have the townsfolk take up a collection and dig up a painter figure for that church, though...and don't you need another priest? 

[chuckle]'Giant Gnome Farm'[/chuckle] 

It is really coming along!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By ThinkerT on 12 Apr 2010 01:39 AM 
Might want to have the townsfolk take up a collection and dig up a painter figure for that church, though...


The church was a happy accident. I ran out of white paint while I was working on it (about 8 years ago), and being in a hurry, I finished painting it with Bic White Out... After a few months outside said correction fluid started to peel, leaving me with this rather unique model.

I have an idea for a minister, I even have the figure in a box..........someplace


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Yesterday it was nice before the rains started... today it's snowing. Kind of hard on the plants.

Anyway, you all want pix, not to hear me blather, sooo....

Waterfall Mk II









The view from inside. Now you know why Kim wanted me to put it here...


















Still working on the high fill area at the bottom. I have a couple short trestle pieces coming, but still need to get the curves to finish it. The coal mine will go in that big depressed area in the middle


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I think I overdid it today -- just a lil bit.... I carted about a cubic yard of dirt, one 5 gallon bucket at a time.... moved 2 huge (about 60# each) rocks.... And worked on the mine area between trips, as well. Everything hurts and my left knee is swollen up like a soft ball.


on the UP side, things are finally starting to look the way I want them to...


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Ok Mik...time to take a break before you have renew your friendship with the docs...maybe work on some of the small stuff. 

It does seem to be coming right along, though.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Ever wonder how someone else sees your work? Kim was wandering around with a camera this afternoon. This is how SHE sees it.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Mmmm...except for the general overviews, all of Kim's pics are of the village and the people in them. Not even an overview shot of the mine complex...so I'll step way out on a thin wobbly limb, do a 180, fire up the chainsaw and say that big grimy industrial sites don't really interest her that much. On the other hand, she probably has a name and bio of sorts for all or nearly all of the people in the village - and if she doesn't the kids do.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

If she does, the only one she's let me in on is the guy in the bed of the stake truck. His name is "Wilbert" - because he looks exactly like an old family friend.










My eldest daughter says she's the girl giving away kittens...


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Strange. When the daughter and her little sister were helping me choose and place people in my combine and passenger car, each of the little people was given a name, right there on the spot, and a backstory as to why they were seated in such and such a place. 'This guys a creep so she don't want to sit next to him.' 'This guys sad and thats why he's sitting by himself.' And so on...for fifteen passengers...


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Some curved track came today via FedEx, thanks Dennis!

So I got to close the loop. Well... temporarily, anyway - I'm still waiting for clamps from Uncle Herm (the feebay guy) before we can have a golden spike ceremony. I still need to wire the thing, too.... and get another bridge









The cabin above the mine came in for a bit of detailing









For some reason I've been overrun with supervisors









Kimmee decided she wanted to take more pix, since the day was absolutely gorgeous... and yes, she has names for most of the people, but says she won't tell me because I'll laugh........ but then, she named all the goldfish in the pond, too.









hernia rock


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Some more of Kimmee's pics, kind of interesting to see my messterpiece through her eyes....


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Just noticed something...no passing siding. Is one planned? 

Also...engine house? 

I'd also almost wager your probably about the only one in the household who does not know the names of most of the characters in the village and that you'd probably have a bit difficulty following the reasoning behind each little persons name... 

As to the site supervisors...at least they're the easily impressed underaged variety, not the ticked off landlord sort. (by the way...have you been nominated the official unofficial park handyman yet? the guy who can fix the other guys screwups?) 

I think I have the 'other style' of that particular type of cabin. Think I'm going to stick it on the 'hill'...if I ever get that far.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By ThinkerT on 21 Apr 2010 09:51 PM 
Just noticed something...no passing siding. Is one planned? 

Also...engine house? 


Um, nope, no passing siding. I only have 5 turnouts, all R-1. I used 3. One of the leftovers is an Aristo - and it gave me nothing but trouble before. We're looking at single train operation - mostly widdershins, so the points are trailing. -- It's not going around the church or a circle of toadstools, so we shouldn't have to worry too much about bad luck, or upsetting the faerie!

Enginehouse? on my budget? Find me one for $30 or so, and I'll put in the other LGB turnout. 


... maybe next year

I DO still have a little house to go behind the cabin, or the farmhouse - whenever I get it.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Um, nope, no passing siding. I only have 5 turnouts, all R-1. I used 3. One of the leftovers is an Aristo - and it gave me nothing but trouble before. We're looking at single train operation - mostly widdershins, so the points are trailing. -- It's not going around the church or a circle of toadstools, so we shouldn't have to worry too much about bad luck, or upsetting the faerie! 

Kinda makes you wish you hadn't unloaded those Lionel 'Thomas' turnouts a couple years back, eh? (Yep, I was the guy that ended up with them - didn't realize it was you until later). I have been noticing some fairly cheap turnouts popping up on EBAY now and again lately. 

As to the engine house...it might be possible to put something together in the thirty dollar range from the bits and pieces offered by 'Colorado Model Structures'. The thought has crossed my mind more than once, but I'm not exactly sure how much space I'll have, so I've held off so far on that.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Did somebody say I needed a trestle? I scored an Aristo over 'n under set pretty cheaply, so we now have a nice curved trestle. -- I need to make a walkway yet....









other side









and a short one just for giggles









I think the cabin looks pretty good for a modified $6 birdhouse









And... I couldn't wait any longer. I ran a light engine tonight for about 45 minutes.. (No train, because I need to mount a coupler on the tender yet.) And only just noticed the headlight is burnt out.














































A short movie by Kim -- if it works


Kim's movie


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

At Last! 

Must be getting warm in your corner of the world...not only is there still a foot of snow in my yard, we had a short shot of snow this morning...though it is going away at a good clip...either that or the kids are trying to show how tough they are. (looks like your pad is the new park hang out). 

The movie works, though I think I need to get around to the assorted upgrades for my computer to watch it properly (buffering thing takes forever...twice).


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## Dylanfreeski123 (Apr 13, 2008)

Wow this is a really great layout!


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