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.
Category Archives: Georgetown Branch related links
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!
Progress…
Well, it’s been a while, eh? Things have slowed down a bit with so many other events going on. My main focus has been to get all the electrical equipment roughed in for the layout. Because I have terribly outdated and worn electrical supply lines I have to have some electrical work done to the house. Namely, a heavy-up. I’m going from 100AMP to 200AMP some time in the near future. In the meantime, I purchased some romex cable, junction boxes, flourescent “shop” fixtures, switches, outlets and other parts to rough in.
A big progression for my layout took place yesterday when some land distribution talks with my better half went well and I was able to obtain use of the entire room (YEAH!) in exchange for most of an upstairs room. So, my layout plan will most likely be changing from a 2 level w/ helix to a 1 level w/o helix. I will post more as it happens.
Yesterday I ripped out the remainder of beams from around the HVAC & water heater and also cleaned up the room a bit. I still have a bunch of prep left to do, but I’m getting closer every day.
Enjoy the new page in the gallery which is a study on the 3 bridges over the C&O Canal.
Cleanup
Hauled all the broken drywall, debris and excess paneling to the dump on Saturday, 1/11/03. The room is almost completely cleaned. I still have to remove some of the studs from around the HVAC / water heater area. Next I will be roughing in the electrical components for the room. I am thinking of putting the lighting & outlets for the room on one circuit and the layout power on another. Not sure that this is necessary, but it may provide for good power quality which is what I’m looking for. After electrical roughing comes the drywall and drop ceiling. Stay tuned.
Demolition Continues…
My second day of demolition in the train room on 01/05/2003. I removed more wood from the cabinet enclosing the HVAC & water heater. I also removed a board from below a window and discovered some cracked masonry. I repaired this with some masonry caulking. Also plugged some holes. I pulled hundreds of nails from the cabinet. I am now pondering what studs to keep in place and which to remove. I have also decided to put up drywall on the existing beams/studs instead of leaving them open. I am also planning on installing a drop ceiling above the layout.
A new year… tear down the walls!
I spent New Years day taking out drywall, fixtures, ceiling, and hundreds of nails from the walls to begin preparation of the layout room. The dusty work took me most of the day and the result was very rewarding. I finally got a good perspective of my available space and the challenges in front of me. More demolition to come! For pics please visit the gallery.