A Long, Sad Month

January has been a tough month.  Cindy's mother passed at 90, and while it had been expected for a while, it still was a bit difficult for all the family.

We made the trip to west Texas for her services, and to participate in some of the usual family business over the next day or so.  It was a time of sadness, but of good cooperation among the six surviving siblings.

The truck showed 1018 miles, Tuesday - Friday.  Recovering from that has been a challenge, especially with the colder, wetter weather of late.

Note: COS - total change of subject here: ;-)

Today it's been warm (?) enough to spend some afternoon tome in the garage, working on trains.  In the past, I made three hot-wire foam cutters.  A friend in the train group in Lubbock named them the "Foaminators."  It stuck.  But they didn't. I don't know if I sold them, gave them away, or they are just MIA from the move. They are gone.  So, I'm making a new set, pretty much like the old ones.

As I am starting the scenery on the home layout, one thing I want is a little "vertical" scenery, trying to minimize the "plywood plains" look so common in TTrak modules.  Here's where I got to today:

The tool is made from 1" PVC pipe.  Power wiring, routed through the pipe (I forgot to do this the first time), is low-voltage wire for outdoor wiring.  It's a good size, giving a low resistance feed to the cutting wire.  My cutting wire is 22ga nichrome resistance wire, similar to that in toasters, etc.  Brass hardware is used at the connection points.  Personally, I like to have six to eight feet of lead from the bottom of the handle to the power source, with 10 feet not out of reason.

After marking the lines for the cut, it's time to crank it up.  Having an adjustable power source is imperative.  I ran this cut at about 1A current.  Voltage, I don't know.  It's low, but not important. It's the current through the cutting wire, heating it up, that does the work.  By the way, be sure you have plenty of ventilation.  I was working at the open garage door.

Here's the trench for the mainline tracks.  I'll be shaping the foam edges to form a sloping cut for scenery.  Now that it's rough cut, shaping is easy-peasy. I may even layer it tall enough to cap it, forming a small tunnel.  Kids (of all ages) at train shows seem to love tunnels.  That would give more hillside for small houses, forested areas, and . . . 😉

The small inner loop (for a trolley) will stay at this elevation.  It will have to slope down to a crossing (just off frame) but that's no problem, either.

It's easy to shape with Surform or similar wood tools.  In fact, I've even clamped the Foaminator in a small work table (a "Work-Mate" or similar)  and guided the foam around it.  There are no magic techniques here, just play with it.  Be sure you have plenty of ventilation.  A warm day in the back yard is perfect.

Don't throw away your cuttings.  They are useful for building hills.  Stay tuned for further developments.

Rain, and 15º to 20º F colder for the middle of the week, so it'll be the weekend before I can get out there again.  I'm soooo ready for spring!