I put up most of the trim around the room, did some spackling on the ceiling around the main house support/duct, put up some insulation foam and hung the 4 outlets & conduit on the cinder block walls. Pics of the progress are up in the Gallery.
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Wood paneling is finished
Bruce came over again and helped put up the rest of the wood paneling. It went well with only minimal planing and adjusting. Overall it looks great and I’m so psyched to have the work done! Check out pics in the Gallery.
A New Year… PUT UP THE WALLS!
Well, it’s been exactly a year since I began ripping out the walls in the train room. I’m a little disappointed in my progress as I wish I was further along, but at least I’ve made some great headway and I’m still moving on strong. The last couple weeks have been good – I finished painting all the cinder block walls, bought more supplies from Home Depot (including all my drop ceiling materials), and the paneling has started going up on the wood-framed walls! It feels good.So one big decision is that I will not be putting up new furring strips on the cinder block walls. Instead I’m going to leave them as-is, painted white. This came about after a conversation with Kelly who encouraged me to leave it alone and just get that benchwork started! My reasoning is along the lines that the room itself is not good for much else than a workshop, storage room or model railroad layout room! So, why not leave the walls alone? I also decided to leave the electrical box alone. I am not planning on any upgrades to the home in the next several years, so I can’t rationalize doing a heavy-up right now. That will save me about $1400 for the time being.
SO… in this new year I am off to a good start. I feel confident that the room will be finished and a lot of the benchwork (hopefully all:) will be up before this winter is done. Hooray! Pics of the progress are up in the Gallery.
Furring strips gone, patched holes
I removed all the tenacious furring strip nails and patched the holes. I have to do another coat as there was some cracking. Next up, painting. Pics are in the Gallery. I also updated my thoughts on the DCC system I’ll be installing. Comments please!?
Getting rid of the Fur
So I started removing the furring strips. Well, actually I’m done removing the furring strips. I still have to remove about 30 more stubborn, large steel masonry nails. They are TERRIBLE. I’m using a crowbar and in some instances it’s not enough. I end up hammering them until they snap. I’m going to do it right this time using Tapcon masonry anchors.
I added some photos from a recent painting session in the Gallery section. Also, my thoughts on the DCC system I’ll be installing. Comments please!?
Some additions to the site and work progress report
On Tuesday night some members of my Model RR club helped me paint the walls in the Layout room with Zinsser B-I-N Shellac Base Primer-Sealer. MAN that stuff smells! We did most of the room, but ran out of paint. I have to do more. One of the club members suggested removing all the furring strips on the walls and redoing them. This got me thinking that I might go ahead and do this. I am going to measure the ones that are in place now and see how they stand up. I want to have consistently spaced strips and as they are now some are crooked, loose or odd. They are also fastened to the walls with masonry nails instead of screws, which to me is no good. So this may be my next project.I have added a bunch of stuff to the History section. Take a look. I added some documents, notes and maps.
Layout plans done, v2.0
I finally got around to finishing up the track plan version 2. Since I added to my available layout space I have more possibilities. The only correction I really feel I need to make is that of the addition of the “new” G-town yard, which was existant ca. 1948, which is when I’m modeling. See Kelly’s page on the G-town track arrangements. See, my plan was more of the 1930’s vintage, so it needs to be changed. Check the Layout section for the plans. I also attended another B&ORRHS sorting session on 11/22 – what a great time! I managed to dig up another photo on the Georgetown Branch (of a switcher in G-town) and a B&O plan for track laid in concrete. Check back soon, as I plan on posting these and other maps, diagrams, and plans.
Progress
This past weekend I purchased some more tools and supplies (plastic sheeting for walls & panels for walls) for the job. I managed to do a few things including rehanging the main door so that it swings into the rec room instead of the train room. I also corrected a small copper pipe that goes to the fridge (that was hung with nails and not brackets) that was bent and hanging. I also installed a couple more electrical outlets and switches and cleaned up the room a bit. Next up I still need to isolate and repair that water leak, put up the plastic sheeting and panel the walls. Then comes the drop ceiling. No pics, sorry.
Screeeech… to a halt
Recently I noticed some water leaking into the basement from the area of the front porch (concrete & brick). I sealed some large cracks in the front steps outside with masonry patching & caulk. I thought that would stop the leak. For the most part, it did. About 99% of it. In the last 3 days we’ve had a lot of rain and I only noticed one small drop of water. However, last night upon arriving home to my front porch I noticed water leaking thru the soffit and panels in the “ceiling” of the porch area. Ugh. Water was dripping down right next to the house, after runnning under the soffit boards and across the paneling in the ceiling. I must fix this if I’m going to proceed with putting up new walls in the basement. I don’t feel like ripping the panels out because the leak continues. So, now I must disassemble the porch ceiling and check all the gutters and roof for leaks and misalignment. Another chapter begins.In other news, I’ve been working on the layout design and it’s coming along nicely. I also recently volunteered at a B&O RR Historical Society Archives “sorting session” and located a few nice Georgetown Branch photos, from the 40’s and 60’s which I’ve posted in the Gallery. Also, I purchased a Life-Like Proto 2000 Heritage Series USRA 0-6-0 lettered for the B&O # 371, from the B&O RR Historical Society Company Store. I also picked up an I-1 Caboose resin kit. The desire to go on a tour of the Branch is increasing more and more as the leaves fall from the trees. Perhaps this winter I’ll get out and walk/bike/photograph the whole Branch and create a “tour” page on this site.
More electrical work
Completed all the wiring for the room and installed about 70% of the outlets. I am holding off on some of the outlets b/c they are to be installed after the paneling on the walls. It’s great to make this progress. I think I will paint the walls next and measure for paneling and drop ceiling.
I also added a couple more links to the Links page. Check it out!