Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Track Laying begins





Track laying is underway. The top photo is of the Phosphate mine area, next is the phosphate wash area, then the Publix warehouse area and next the Phosphate drying area. The bottom shot is an overview. The workbench is starting to become somewhat overgrown with stuff. Alas, that seem to be the fate of workbenches everywhere. The next area to be worked is the why area at the left of the drying scene. That is the 2' wide section that the peninsula will be attached to - someday:)

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Let the track begin

This is the current plan. The yellow square represents the LED track light system. The brown shapes are vessels at the Punta Gorda docks. To the left a car ferry and to the right a bulk carrier used to transport phosphate. My workbench is at right and the center peninsula will be built once the wye area to the left is completed. The era is current day and the power will be an airwire battery system. Let the trumpets sound and the fun begin:)

Let there be light!





The lights are in and wonder of wonders they actually work:) The ceilings in my building are 40 year old concrete so they've had lots of time to fully CURE and the concrete is hard as hell. I received a masonry bit with the concrete screws I purchased and it worked at first. When I say it worked what I mean is using all my meager strength pushing on the drill and requiring rest between three separate sessions for each hole I managed to drill about 9 holes for the mounting screws. At this point I started to fear that the exertion at the limit of my strength and endurance might actually give me a stroke so I had to change methods. I had purchased a hammer drill attachment for my drill but hadn't used it because I had no bits that would fit it. I wasn't even sure what a hammer drill bit looked like. Off to Home Depot where the nice saleslady found me the bit I needed. What a difference! The balance of the holes were much easier. Amazing what the correct tool can do:) I now have an LED track lighting system that circles the room and finally have plenty of light and the LED's should help with the heat. At long last the room prep is mostly over and I'm ready to LET THERE BE TRACK!!!!

Cork is finito





The cork is finally all glued down. I used full strength white glue and push pins to keep it in place while the glue set. I still got some bulges where the cork swelled from the absorption of moisture from the glue but those can be dealt with as required by the track installation. The last photo is a tease for the track light phase. Drilling holes to mount the tracks is VERY VERY DAMN HARD. More later.