February 21 Work Session

We made progress on several fronts during our February 21 work session. Matt Glazer made some repairs and fill-ins to the ballast in Irondequoit Yard. We're also pretty sure he didn't glue a turnout shut in the process. Nick installed concrete paving for the engine house in Irondequoit, using more of the black styrene sheets as a base. An inspection put had been previously installed on one of the tracks, Nick was careful to work around it.

Otto messed around some more with his scratchbuilt bridge abutments and retaining walls that will carry Route 104 over the north end of Irondequoit Yard. The next step will be to scratchbuild a bridge and model the approaches.

Elliot and Joe C. made some repairs to the main line that is hidden away inside our "magic trianngle" between High Falls and the hidden Geneva block under Albion. We didn't think anyone could squeeze in there, by Joe proved us wrong.

February 14 Work Session

We tackled a number of projects at our special Valentine's Day work session. Alex made some repairs to club cars, and then began to catalog the full inventory of club-owned equipment and "mystery" cars without identifying dots. This catalog will help us better understand how much stuff we have on hand, and possibly identify the owners of the mystery cars.

Collum, Joe, and Elliot worked on fitting in the last piece of masonite for the backdrop behind the Erie Canal in Lockport. After a little cutting, fitting, sanding, and filing, the piece was finally installed. A preliminary coat of mud and taping for the joints was applied. While we had the drywall mud out, Matt covered over the screw holes on the permanently installed fascia in Irondequoit.

Nick and Otto worked on adding concrete paving to the unloading tracks at the chemical plant in Niagara Falls. Risers made of .080" stock were used to support sheets of .040" black styrene sheets. The black was chosen as a better base for the simulated concrete. If the paint ever becomes scuffed or damaged, only black will show through, not the usual white. They completed most of the area before running out of materials.

Spencer spent most of the day wiring up the Tortoise switch machines that were installed in Albion during a previous work session. Power was connected and the accessory numbers were programmed by the end of the day. Matt tackled a surface-mount installation which was required because there was no clearance below for the switch machine at the east end of Albion siding. The Tortoise will be hidden inside the Ontario Foods warehouse, connected by a long throwbar that will reach under the building and hidden by scenery.

Otto took more measurements for the highway overpass he is building at the north end of Irondequoit Yard. Parts to complete the project were ordered and should be delivered in time for the next work session.

Some of our members took the day off and went to the Hamburg Train Show, sponsored by the Western New York Railway Historical Society and hosted at the fairgrounds just south of Buffalo.

More photos posted to our Facebook fan page. Check em out!

January work session

It seemed like forever since we last saw the layout... Mid-December for most of us. We held our first work session of the semester on January 31, 2015, and worked on a variety of projects throughout the day. Dave S., Nick C., and Nicholas made some repairs to the ballast in Irondequoit Yard. Otto and Nick C. dived into some Walthers kits and started fitting kit walls together for various scenes in Niagara Falls. By the end of the day, suitable mock-ups had been constructed for Niagara Food Terminal and the warehouse business on the abandoned siding.

 
Some mock up began on the chemical plant buildings, and Elliot installed the two remaining industry sidings off the runner track. One siding will be going inside a building, the other siding goes alongside another part of the plant. Of course, we had to add more abandoned tracks, this time showing that the chemical plant used to be a larger operation. Joe C. and Matt stalled seven Tortoise switch machines in Albion. The next step is to program them and connect power. One turnout will require a special linkage with the machine hidden in a building. Otherwise, all turnouts in Albion now have switch machines on them.

Alex spent part of the day making repairs to bad order cars, and packing away some club-owned equipment to make some room on the layout. Dave S. ballasted the track on the scenery diorama. Charles talked about assembling some autorack kits. All in all, a very productive work session.

We meet Tuesdays at 7:00 in Room A420 in the Student Union. Membership is open to all students, staff, and faculty. Come down some time and visit!