Diary of a Model Railroad, Part Three

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Finished! Well, not quite. The bench-work is mostly finished. It needs to be sanded off at the ends especially, and I still need to finalize how they will attach to each other. I’m thinking maybe a clip on each side to hold it horizontally, and maybe a door lock thing to hold them in alignment? Other than that, I’m mostly happy. I have photos too, I’ll tell the story from when I started (again – the successful attempt ;-))

July 7th

It starts out with Crash looking like a lazy dog. He really is.

This is an overview of where I was up to on July 7th. The outer frame of one section was complete, and the cuts had been made for the second section, with pieces screwed in to line the up, it was ready to glue and screw together.

These are the pieces. Give or take (I measured them to be the same length as each other, not to an exact number of inches) they are 2x 5 foot pieces and 2x 1.2 foot pieces. Screwed and glued into each are two 3/4″ x 3/4″ pieces which are used to easily align each piece with it’s join partner. They are then glued at the corners and clamped together for a couple of hours, then screwed. Below, an end has been glued and clamped.

July 8th

I realized that there wasn’t a great deal of structural support, and that for sections that are likely to be pulled out and put away fairly regularly support is probably a good idea. So I measured and cut two support pieces to fit roughly half-way down each section and then drilled three half-inch holes for wiring to go through, and glued and screwed in the same way as the rest of the base. Here, the first is clamped and waiting for glue to dry.

The support supports are gluing on the second frame, when these are dry some more they will be screwed down into the outer frame and the support will be glued to them and then screwed.

I hung out with Crash for a bit while the glue dried!

The frames were finally finished. One is fairly warped, but I don’t plan on exhibiting this layout and it’ll likely be warped with time and transporting anyway, so I’m not overly worried. With the ply nailed down, it doesn’t seem too terrible. I doubt it will cause any major issues (famous last words?)

July 9th

“I claim this foot in the name of Doglandia Forever Woof Woof!”

I nailed down the tops this morning. Here are both from the bottom…

And one from the top. Basically, because they are 5 ft by 1.5 ft each, I used a 4ft square piece of ply and cut two lengths of 4′ x 1.5′ and then two pieces of 1′ x 1.5′ and had a 1′ square left over.

This is the end of one of the sections – both sections have one end like this (I guess the sides weren’t exactly 5′ long!) and one has sides that are a little like this too. They’ll both get sanded back at some point, probably next week now.

I only had 3 incidents while nailing. Two like this, where I nailed at an angle far enough that it poked through the frame. One on each section, and I was able to push them back out so that with some sanding they probably won’t be noticed. I’m considering some 1×4 to go around this all, partly for strength, partly for keeping most track below top surface level (and thus protected a little more). The third incident was near the end of the first section. I’d been using a pair of vice grips to hold the nails to try and keep them vertical, and I elected to do one with just my fingers. Some of you may have seen my earlier tweet that read “OW! Thumb + hammer = pain” – and that’s precisely what happened. Fortunately it is my left thumb that is afflicted, so while it is still pulsing a little (some two hours after I hit it) it’s not causing me too much problem.

Diary of a Model Railroad, Part Two

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The last update on this project was two months ago. Far too long, now that I am thinking about it.

However, progress is finally being made. I forgot at the beginning, that my ability to cut straight is entirely defined by what I happen to be using as a guide. When that guide is my eye and a steady hand, it doesn’t work out so well.

I had to use one of my 1×3’s to reinforce some of the breaking slats on the base for our bed, so it was a useful way to recycle the cuts I had made that were mostly useless for this project anyway. Now having borrowed a miter box and come up with a better design for connecting the pieces together, the whole thing is coming along much more smoothly. I just took a few photos of where things are at, but I’ll probably just upload those with Part Three, which I expect will be later in the week some time.

The layout is going to be in two sections, each roughly 5 feet long. The outer frame for one section is complete, the second one is undergoing it’s second-to-last gluing, which will then be screwed together followed by the final gluing and screwing. After that I will be considering the need for a cross-brace in the middle of each, especially considering the need to be able to relocate the sections multiple times. I also need to acquire some suitable nails with which to attach the top to the frame, and figure out a cheap and easy way to line up the ends of each section accurately when I’m putting them together. Maybe some locking clips on the sides?

For now though, I need to go fill out job applications while my glue dries.

Rest in Peace, Sir.

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Soldier from Harrisonburg killed in Afghanistan

The Defense Department says Specialist Brian M. Anderson died Saturday of wound he received when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Anderson was 24 years old.

Disclaimer 1: This is one of those awkward posts, where I’m not entire sure of my thoughts, feelings or beliefs on this whole situation. I have a deep respect for anyone who goes to war to fight for what they believe, even if I wholeheartedly disagree with what they believe. However, I fully understand that a lot of people will disagree with what I think. It’s one of the downsides of living in a country where liberty is a major piece of the foundation, and where freedom of speech is one of the pillars. I have the right to believe anything I wish, FOR SO LONG AS it doesn’t interfere with your right to do anything you wish. I also have a poorly formed opinion on soldiers and how they should be remembered in death, as well as in life, and I have a right to voice that opinion, whether you like it or agree with it or not. If you like what I think, good for you. If you don’t like what I think, that’s your right. I am not forcing you to read what I write, it is by your choice. It’s what freedom and liberty are about.

Disclaimer 2: The only reason I know his name is because he died in the service of his country. I have nothing but respect for the men and women who are prepared to lay down their lives for what they believe. This post has nothing to do with those brave soldiers who volunteer their services to the armed forces of their countries, and I mean no disrespect to any degree to the men or women who have fought and died, fought and lived, who are fighting now, or who will fight in years to come for the ideologies instilled in them by their parents, their friends, and their political leaders. This post is also not aimed explicitly at Specialist Anderson or at his family specifically, this is about my observations of the people in this town and their reaction to the news that a Broadway man had been Killed in Action. May he rest in peace, and be appropriately remembered for his life and for his service to the United States of America.

This is my situation. It quite possibly applies to many others living in this country right now, and more than likely applied to others in some form or another in decades past. Friends and family, classmates and workmates, many people knew him or knew who he was. I am not one of those people. The only reason I know his name is because it was in the newspaper, because it was on facebook, and because people have been talking about it. The only reason I know how he died is because it was in the newspaper, because it was on facebook, and because people have been talking about it. But I can’t help but wonder if the only reason I know who he is now, is because he is dead.

For many soldiers, returning from war alive is not a big thing. Only once have I seen a veteran publicly thanked by another man for his service outside of an event intended for their memorial. I was leaving Burger King on Route 33 in Harrisonburg one day, and I noticed a man who looked to be in his 40’s approach an older man wearing a shirt signifying his participation in an armed defense force (I think it may have been the Marines, but I don’t remember). He asked the elder man if he had served, and after receiving a positive answer he asked which war. I believe the answer was Vietnam, after which the younger man offered his hand and said (..something along the lines of..) “Thank you for your service to our country.” It is something I think should happen more often. For all of the men and women who come home in coffins, many more come home breathing. The ones who die deserve our respect and our remembrance. But if anything, we need to give more to the ones who return alive – they are the ones who have suffered the effects of war and have to deal with them beyond their discharges from the military units they served with. The ones who return alive are the ones who, at best, have to deal with the mental and emotional effects of being in battle and losing buddies, or in some cases, more lasting physical problems resulting from injuries sustained in combat.

While I don’t entirely agree with the notion that we are fighting for American Freedom by being at war in Iraq or Afghanistan, the soldiers who are fighting in it have nothing less than my respect and my support. The people responsible for them being there are a different story entirely, and I would like little more than to see the leaders making more public moves in terms of steps to getting the men and women of the American Military out of the warzones and to see more rebuilding in the shadows of destruction that we have seen over the last 10 years.

“Wait, he’s not even American. Why should I care what he says?” — You’re right. I wasn’t born here. I don’t fully understand or like or agree with a lot of the cultural things that go on here. In many ways I’m torn as to how I think I should feel about a man I didn’t know who I feel is only famous now because he died serving a military branch overseas in a time of war. Had he come home alive, I doubt as much attention would be cast on him. But he did die while fighting for something he believed in, and for that alone I feel he deserves my respect.

This is not a political thing for me. I could care less who started for war, or who was in power during its time and who brought it to an end. My feelings on “bringing freedom” to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan is another issue entirely. I just hear a lot of people saying things, and see a lot of people doing things, and I wonder why. I don’t know any family members of any men or women Killed in Action to know how they feel when they are offered condolences for their loss by people who didn’t know their son or daughter, when the only reason anyone is remembering their child is because they died at war. I can only imagine that I would also feel torn between being honored as the parent of a young man or woman with a name, with feelings, with opinions and thoughts of his or her own, that his or her friends and other family members will remember and talk about for years to come, and being honored as a parent of a child brave enough to fight for what they believed, who is remembered because their name is on a plaque along with hundreds of others who served and died. The struggle is deepened, I suppose, because both circumstances are equally honorable. I just thrive on personal interaction, and when I don’t have a connection to an individual I don’t care to the same level as if I had known them.

So with that in mind, I wish to offer my condolences to the families of the many men and women who have died in service to their country, whether it be the United States, or the United Kingdom or one of its many allies. May they rest in peace, and be long remembered by the people and beliefs they died fighting for.

And more-so, I offer thanks to the men and women who fought and lived. Especially to the allied veterans of World War One, and World War Two, but also to those who fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. May you be remembered in life and in death for that which you have given to your country, and to the people and beliefs that you bravely fought for.

My Old New Toy

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It doesn’t really make sense, does it? Either it’s an old toy, or it’s a new toy. How can it possibly be both? Well, dear reader, it can, and it is. My most recent recreational requisition (how is that for alliteration in context?) is an Olympus OM-10 SLR camera.

Designed in 1979, I acquired it a week ago on Craigslist. In fully working condition, it came with a Soligor MK32A flash unit, a 50mm lens, a 70-210mm lens, and another which I’m not sure of. It also came with an auto-winder (as yet unused) and a 2x telephoto converter. Just in playing around, I’ve gone through a roll and a half of film, yet to be developed. I also need to take apart the lens of unknown focal length, as the link to the aperture eye doesn’t work, so I probably have a couple of over-exposed photos having set the aperture below the max width and taken photos.

One might ask – why in this world of digital technology would you buy something so old? Two reasons. Firstly, it’s cheap. All of the above cost me $125. I would pay $600 for a worthwhile entry-level DSLR without any lenses. Secondly, it’s about going back to where I came from. You see, I learnt how to take photos on an Olympus OM-1 with a single non-zoom lens plus a 2x teleconverter when I wanted to get closer without getting closer. That was something like 10 years ago. Since then I’ve owned 2 SLR-like digital cameras, and used a few others. But it’s not quite the same. There is something about the feeling of manually focusing a scene and feeling the “thunk” as you click the trigger. My Fujifilm S9600, while it takes awesome photos, is also designed as a multipurpose camera (as it should be – it has a single non-interchangeable lens) and so the effects that can be achieved with different lenses are simply impossible. Adjusting the aperture gives a depth-of-focus effect, but nowhere near to the same degree as a true SLR – it’s one of the things I’ve been playing with the most with this camera.

Don’t despair, I’m not ditching digital. I realize that film is more expensive, especially in the way I use the photos I take (generally online) but I’m planning on enjoying the 35mm for as long as I can justify it.

Diary of a Model Railroad, Part One

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For all of you who thought I couldn’t get any nerdier and didn’t know of this hobby, I guess I’m about to get nerdier (in your books, at least).

Over the last couple of months my dreams of creating a layout of some description have started to take shape – from expanding my rolling stock collection to buying track. Tonight the benchwork was laid – somewhat literally. I bought a 4’x4′ piece of plywood, and marked it up for cutting and made the first cut. I also began the mental planning for the surrounding benchwork to hold it up.

The plan is for two 5′ sections bolted together to form a 10′ long by 18″ deep shelf layout. A modified version of Atlas’ Southside Connecting layout (see here) is the trackplan – I’ll be using #4 switches instead of #6’s, I’ll also be replacing the turntable with a turnout. I need to start laying the track before I buy any diamond crossings – lest I buy the wrong angle. Although mostly using set-track as laid-out in the plan, I’ll be replacing sections with flex also.

Because I’m still too poor for DCC, I’m intending to wire the layout for two DC controllers (although it’ll also be just one controller for now). Further, I plan to wire for electric switches – whether they get used up front or not remains to be seen.

I have some ideas for scenery, I’d like to have a chicken-wire style fence with an opening gate (slow-action point motor is most likely, maybe something more custom) and a road crossing in my bustling industrial area. I’m thinking a container terminal would give purpose to my husky stack cars, an oil refinery almost seems to cliche for my tank cars, a warehouse holds an obvious purpose for box cars, perhaps a grain silo for my covered hoppers. I also have some open hoppers which could see some form of purpose, and some passenger cars which most likely won’t run on the layout (except for a push up and down to make sure they roll acceptably).

The ends of my run-arounds will need to be big enough for my long 6-axle locos – prototypically used as switch locos in my area. I’ll also then be able to run the small switch locos back to back or almost any other number of switching possibilities.

Still to be thought about is the placement of uncoupling magnets. I also haven’t decided on how I’m going to do backboards (or even if I’m going to do backboards). In terms of connecting the two sections together I’m probably going to do the traditional bolts, but I’m also working on a reliable way to ensure accurate lining up every time. I don’t want to deal with D-sub connectors, but 24-pin ATX plugs may work. The biggest flaw will be the number of sections I need to switch on and off as well as the number of switches I need to cater for. Also, I need to work on legs, and I have an idea for a case which all the parts will slide into securely for transportation and storage.

So to sum up, once again, I have all the engines and probably rolling stock I need, I also have most, if not all, of the track that I need, and I’ve finally started working on the benchwork. The next steps are to finish putting the lumber together to form a solid table that can join and separate reliably, and then finalize the track plan based on the finished benches.

Why I Love eBay

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Horror stories abound of online transactions made over long distances that turn sour, either because the goods are never received, or because goods received are damaged or in some cases bear no resemblance to what they were described as. Sometimes these problems are worked out, and occasionally people wind up in court over disagreements related to such services. This has turned some people off from making any online transactions, ever.

Personally I have never had a deal turn bad. I also buy online fairly regularly, for friends, family, and myself. For birthdays, for Christmas gifts, for miscellaneous goods that I either can’t get in stores in this area, or that would cost substantially more for.

One such thing I haven’t found a store for in the area (closest I’ve found via online tools is in Staunton – around 45 minutes to an hour away, depending on traffic and who is driving, etc) is model railroading supplies. Track, rolling stock, and other things required seem hard to come by, in this area at least. And that is where eBay comes in. Sure, a lot of things aren’t new, some are incredibly well used, but in the last month or so I have found some incredibly good deals that I couldn’t have even dreamed of until I received the “You won …” emails.

One such deal was for a large box of used HO scale track, mixed brands (primarily Atlas). Now, a lot of pieces have been cut off, and some of the rails aren’t attached at the ends, but nothing that can’t be put to good use in one way or another.

If I were to buy this in a store, brand new, I would expect to pay upwards of $200. There are around 10 turnouts, which, brand new, would have been worth around $20 each. Then there are several sets of 22″ Radius curves, I’d guess around 30 or 40. If I say there were 6 sets of 6, at $10 each per set, that would be around $60. Another 30 or 40 9″ straight sections as well and we’re looking at $300+ retail value when bought new. Considering all the damage done and the fact that it’s used, I might expect someone to pay maybe $100 minimum? No, with eBay I bought this for less than $30 USD. And this isn’t just a photo that the seller posted on the auction, that is the box sitting in the next room. I received it, it’s here, I’ve checked it all out. I’m excited to start laying it down in some kind of permanent setting.

Just to list off the things I’ve picked up cheaply in the last month or so, all from eBay:

– Various other rail tracks, including switches/points, rerailers, straight sections, etc.

– A flat car with two containers.

– Caboose

– Box car

– 3 40′ container models, to join my other containers that go with the container well cars I bought in New Zealand.

– 2 covered hoppers – one Southern and one Southern Pacific (the latter identical to one I already have) – the continuations of a unit train forming.

– 3 boxcar bodies for use in a storage setting.

– 10/100/1000Mbps network card (for my server, when I get around to rebuilding it).

Also, yet to receive:

– MiniDV camera (expected tomorrow)

– PAL=>NTSC Video Format converter, for my NZ DVD player and my NZ Xbox coming soon, so I can watch on the TV here.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. — C. S. Lewis

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If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here.
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I’ll feel nude when to where I’m destined I’m compared.

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just less found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
‘Cos my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope is coming for me
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He’s coming

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Why Are We So Quick?

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Matthew 7

Judging Others

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Why are we so quick to tell people how to fix their problems without being fully aware of, or even considering, their circumstances?

A number of times recently I’ve noticed either myself or others commenting about lack of money, and someone else will be very quick to respond (because it is online) along the lines of “Well, you have an internet connection, surely that is one way you could save money!”

Three situations spring to mind where while money may be tight, cutting the internet would not be of any benefit. The first is of a work-at-home person who uses their home phone and internet connection for work. This is a great idea in my opinion, it saves gas, and if you can motivate yourself to get up in the morning (or whenever you need to work) to do your job at home with no-one watching over your shoulder or cubicle wall ensuring you’re on task, go for it.

The other is my current situation. The internet bill is not addressed to me, nor do I pay it. I use the internet connection in this house with permission (IE: I’m not stealing the neighbors), but this house is also not mine.

The third also applies to me, but more directly to others. A large number of employers are only accessible online. That is, you need an internet connection and an email address to communicate with them in order to have much of a chance at getting a job to fix your impending financial woes.

So, dear people of earth, just because someone has a problem, doesn’t mean you should fix it without asking them some further questions. Maybe your hastily and rudely given practical solution isn’t so practical after all.

A New Toy @wnka

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I have a new toy, thanks in part to Wnka, creator of Gawker.

Over the weekend it snowed and I had the idea of taking a video of the event and then compressing it down by speeding it up 50,000 times. Fortunately other ideas happened too, in the form of Gawker.

Gawker is an app for Mac OS X (with no evidence of any form of Windows or Linux compatibility) which uses compatible webcams and creates time lapse videos in what seems to be Quicktime format.

Now I am stuck with a few problems. The first is that the videos being put out are seemingly incompatible with Quicktime on Windows, as well as with iMovie ’08 and iMovie HD (’06). Quicktime on Windows gave no video output (useless since there is no audio), iMovie 08 is taking the files and not importing them, and iMovie HD is complaining that they are invalid. I also have the problem that I’d like to view the stream (if I share it) from a non-mac, since I only own the macbook and it is often sitting in a window where I don’t want to move it. That leaves accessing via VNC, not the ideal option. I’d also like to be able to share into Gawker from a Windows PC, but that isn’t quite so important. It’d be cool if there was a configurable web-client (Java, Flash?) that could view the feed – I could put up a page on my site that shows what the feed is showing.

The other problem I have is that now I want to make a whole bunch of time lapsed movies, but I have nothing to make them with – I need ideas!

In summary, it seems that perhaps what I have learned this weekend is that time lapse is fun and interesting, but maybe I need to find a different way of doing it for my windows-attached cameras, and some way of editing the videos that Gawker makes on the mac.

This is one of the videos I caught over the weekend, mostly of snow cleanup.

Crime and Punishment

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A few times recently I’ve noticed that people have very different views on how criminals should be treated based on age, the crime committed, and various other factors. The truth is, different people respond differently to the same events – this is evident from children growing up. In the same style of household, one child may grow up to be particularly loud and one may grow up to be particularly quiet, and we attribute both to being the same cause (an overly loud parent, for example). Some people grow up close to busy roads or rail lines or emergency services buildings, or with constant noise in the house. The result may be a child who can never fall asleep without noise, or a child who enjoys falling asleep to silence because they never got the opportunity. Likewise, a person may need 10 years in prison for stealing to achieve the same reformation as a murderer realizing their wrong-doing (and subsequent reformation) after just 2. I think as law-abiding citizens it is all too easy for us to sit back and say “this is how it should work” or “this is how long a person should be imprisoned for their actions,” when really we have little to no knowledge of the situation.

This is what I think. I think there should be a strike system based on the crime committed, and once that limit is reached, no more chances (a minimum of one, and a maximum based on the severity of the crime and the history of the criminal). The result of striking out would be life in prison. Period. Additionally, if a fine has been paid and the individual re-offends then a prison sentence should be mandatory.

I also think that while there should be minimum punishments for crimes, unless a prisoner can prove their reformation at the end of this time to a jury of peers (like those that sent him (or her) there to begin with), they should remain pending further reformation and subsequent court hearings. Psychological analysis could also be a useful tool in determining appropriate time periods and other punishments with regard to reformation.

As a Christian, it is a hard line to walk in terms of lining up my beliefs on forgiveness and reformation with maintaining justice both for those who believe as I do and for those that don’t, as well as allowing people to feel safe from the average criminal. This is why I believe in offering a chance to criminals who can prove to a jury of peers that they have reformed and are ready to go back to life-as-normal with checks and balances in place to help keep them on the straight and narrow path of a law-abiding citizen.

I am aware, however, that this will probably never happen. Why? It’s too expensive. It would undoubtedly see an increase in prisoners over a short period of time costing the tax-payer millions. It would also cost in terms of psychologists for evaluations and so on. It will also generate outcries from the families of criminals who believe (right or wrong) that the individual is innocent. And it means change. And no-one likes change. Especially those who took the idea that a mass murderer could see daylight after just a few years and ran with it. Or that a thief could be imprisoned for 30 years (despite the likelihood of re-offending being low or high on release, respectively). Or that they could face prison time for speeding twice.

(Disclaimer: This is a not-well-thought-out idea. Feel free to add your comments and agree or disagree.)