Terry is a whirlwind in the kitchen cooking roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, pink fluff salad, homemade bread and hot apple pie. Once again she put us in a fine food coma.

Part of the fascia at the "Smooth as Glass" curve didn't get glued into place. Rick adds wood glue and then uses wooden braces to push the fascia into position.

Almost three years to the day the CEO declares construction is finished!
Anyone is welcome to stop by for dinner and operating sessions on Wednesday night.
Rick stated he will be here indefinitely Wednesday nights to run trains and work out any newly discovered bugs.

Rick arrives tonight with a "to do" list. We will continue to add to this list as other problems are discovered during operations.

1. check Tortoise wires are soldered - we found some weren't soldered so let's check them all.

2. Switch spring wire height - one of the wires was not bent downward as it popped above the turnout. Let's check them all.

3. Tie up low wires - this will focus mainly on the reverse curve elimination areas.

4. Gaps between rails - we found a few so let's check them all.

5. Double crossover - an occasional derailment occurs so let's figure out the cause.

6. Air hose length - these are too long on the passenger cars so let's curve them upward more using the Kaydee tool I purchased.

7. Stuck turnouts - a few of them stick due to paint issues

Almost every Wednesday night I show Rick something I've broken over the past week. Typically, he will take my boo-boo home and do some very meticulous repair work. Well, this week I was trying to fit my Princess passenger cars with new metal wheels. I thought the trucks were plastic and would easily prior open. When this didn't happen I applied some additional force and broke the side of the truck from its mounting screws. Whoops! Those trucks were metal. Who would have thought? He took it home and fabricated a new mounting piece. After taking the photo he painted this piece black and it blends in perfectly.

Additionally, the new axles were a smidge too long and refused to turn. Rick took them home, filed the ends slightly and mounted them in the metals trucks. Now all three of Robert Krol's Princess passenger cars roll smooth as glass on the rails.

Rick stopped by on Sunday to do some additional work on the layout. He developed a check sheet for assuring all Tortoise switch machines and AM-1s were wired correctly. He finished almost half the list.

This photo shows newly secured wires at the high speed switch at the north end of the double track.

Tonight while Rick finished his Tortoise switch machines and AM-1 checklist I converted more rail cars from plastic to metal wheels. Twenty cars still need to be converted for an additional $100 cost. This will take place in two smaller orders.

Only four checklist items remain unfinished. Over the next few days I will check for gaps between rails and stuck turnouts. Next Wednesday we will work on derails on the double crossover's northeast turnout as well as check the air hose length on approximately 440 couplers.

I spent a great deal of time in the train room following our last work session. One task was to make a list of turnouts that needed a little bit of Tender Loving Care. They might be switching slow or not opening/closing completely.

Finally, I checked the entire layout, including yards and sidings, for rail gaps. I used masking tape and permanent marker to label each location. Now how many can there be? Oh my gosh! We have 21 rails gaps! Who would have guessed? My arms and fingers ached after this little exercise.

LJ was home for my father-in-law's memorial service. Of course he had to run trains! He loves pushing the envelope and this time wanted to know how many train cars he could run through the loop without the lead locomotive hitting the last car. Although we don't know the exact answer we can run 2 locomotives plus 27 freight cars with room to spare.

We love having visitors! It gives us a chance to share the excitement and show off our work. During train night we were pleased to have my mother in-law Jan and her sister Barbara visit our project. Not only did they enjoy the 27 car train roaming the rails, but asked some very good questions and made some astute observations. A fun visit indeed!

Rick brought the laptop and I was able to transfer all needed files to each handheld controller. The transmission of engine sound files takes time so I began doing some cleanup work of each of the turnouts.

Rick also checked the power system for the entire layout. There are seven blocks (segments) to the layout which are controlled by CB-1s and an AR-1. Two power supplies feed 3-4 segments. After much crawling on the floor Rick confirmed all power is connected correctly. This exercise also helped him have an in depth understanding of the power system including connection with AM-1s.

Rick stopped by during the week to do some additional power testing. He connected red and green LED lights to the track to help him understand how the AR-1 and CB-1s work together. He now has a thorough understanding of the entire RailPro power system. Note: The AR-1 makes the necessary power changes in conjunction with the reverse loop.

Twenty four hours later each of the joints was sanded with high grit paper and then with 220 grit. Additional spackle was applied as necessary. Once the sanding was finished the carpet underneath was vacuumed.

When the joints were dry a coat of Kilz primer was applied with a 3 inch paint roller brush. Is a second coat necessary? I believe not. Several days prior I did some testing on a small scrap of fiber board and found a single coat of primer held fast against its slick surface.

Temperatures are dropping here in Clayton, Ohio so Terry made chili and corn bread for our train night dinner. Rick returns two Princess cars which no longer cause short circuits. It seems the wheels were mounted with isolation points on the wrong side. Next, Rick begins to work on pesky turnouts. Here he uses a special tool he created to free up movement on the underside of the switch rod.

The above video shows proper movement of a "repaired" turnout. Various culprits affecting a turnouts operation include paint, dust, misaligned spring rods and gremlins. Before train night ends Rick is successful in fixing all turnouts.

A few brown foam board pieces need touched up due to accidental swipes. Next, all foam board pieces are replaced (not shown above). Finally, the entire room is vacuumed. Man, am I ever tired!