Floor It!

Progress on the depot continues.  The window and door openings are all framed up, and the upstairs floor is cut to size.  I still have to decide where the stairs will be and cut out an opening for them, but I'll figure that out when I decide on an interior floor plan.

I've also started experimenting with printed wallpapers.  There's no shortage of garish, ugly wallpapers online, patterns appropriate for an early 1900's building.  This is the first one I tried.  Sorry for the lousy photos, not sure what went wrong there.

I'll likely use printed textures for the lower floor, a tile pattern or nice finished wood flooring.  I don't think carpeting was common in northern Minnesota in 1920, but a large rug probably wouldn't be out of place.

A Shell Of A Depot

If you're reading this, you may recall that I have a model railroad.  It's been a while since there was any progress to report, so you may have forgotten, I know I almost had.  Today, I turned my back on the world and retreated to the basement, and spent some quality time workin' on the railroad.

Picking up where I left off, I resumed work on the depot.  I'm surprised at how much I was able to get done.  The four walls of the main depot are framed up, pins installed AND mated to the platform.  What's that mean?  That means that there are brass pins in the four corners of the depot structure.

Those pins align with holes in the platform decking, making it easy to position the structure on the platform.  

Why is this important?  Because the structure will be removable.  I will be able to lift the depot off of the platform, revealing a detailed interior.  I'm stealing this idea from Gerry Leone, who did the exact same thing with his Lapointe Depot.

Here's a wider view, showing where the depot will sit in relation to the other structures.

Busy Month Ahead!

It's no wonder I haven't made any progress on the layout this year - just look at my schedule for the next month!

April 20-22, I'll be in Madison, Wisconsin, speaking at a SQL Saturday event (it's a computer thing, related to my "real" job).  I've spent a lot of time prepping for this event, plus smaller presentations that I've been giving at work.

May 10th is the final meeting this year for the Twin Cities NMRA Division.  It also happens to be my last as a board member, I'm stepping down from my position as Chief Clerk.  I've held this position for 2 years.  I've enjoyed it and met some good people as a result, but it's time to let somebody else have a turn.

May 12th is the TCD layout tour, and I'm one of the featured layouts this time.  Imagine that - my dinky little shelf layout featured on a tour.  Most of my free time after returning from Madison will be spent sprucing up the joint, making it presentable.  Somebody remind me to buy cookies.

Finally, wrapping up the month, May 17-20 will find us in Sioux Falls for the Thousand Lakes Region's 2012 convention.  I'll be submitting two models for merit judging, assuming I get the necessary documentation done before then (crap, more stuff to do).

On top of all that, I've started a new job (actually, it's the same job with more work) disguised as a promotion. I'm gonna need a vacation pretty soon...