Today two projects wrapped up. You can read the play-by-play of the projects on our FaceBook page.
The first project was installing LED lighting. Lighting had not previously been installed above Ryde or the Granville Bridge. Following Tom Jacobs' lead, I ordered reels of LED lights from MicroMark. These were unrolled and attached to firring strips and attached to the underside of the upper level benchwork. "Daylight" temperature lights were used and boy did they look great. But they hard a dark side (pun intended)...
They made the existing lighting for the rest of the lower level look bad! I had installed ceramic fixtures and incandescent bulbs within the upper level framing back in 2010. The lighting was uneven, cast shadows, and was set back too far from the front edge. Over time I had replaced the bulbs with flourescent bulbs and again with LED bulbs, but it just wasn't the same.
So I meticulously removed the ceramic fixtures and wiring from the benchwork while the yard remained populated below. The new LED strips were installed and, wow, what a difference!
Now a new problem... The old lighting was mounted up inside the benchwork. The LED strips were mounted below. Unless you were standing right up against the layout, you could see the LED strips and it was quite distracting. My 5" deep fascia wasn't deep enough.
Most of the upper level fascia had to be replaced with 6" deep fascia. Went through the process of cutting all to size, screwing to the benchwork, a primer coat of paint, and two coats of green paint. Then I had to transfer all of the car card boxes and sorting rails from the old fascia to the new. That was completed today.
Still remaining are the site labels to be printed, cut out, and applied, but functionally these projects are complete.
Six weeks until open house season. I will be open on September 17th for both the Mainline Hobby Supply tour and the Mid-Atlantic RPM tour. I will be open again in November for the Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey & Pennsylvania Open House tour. In between I hope to hold a shakedown op session.
Nothing like deadlines to keep things moving!
 Lewistown (3902) with fascia for the first time. This is the Spanogle-Yeager mill at Mt. Rock, just off of Electric Avenue. |
 Menzies (top) and Ryde (below). Menzies is the railroad name for the area around Kishacoquillas Park. The area at upper right is currently serving as a shop for rolling stock. |
 Yeagertown (top) and Lewistown Junction (bottom). |
 The east end of Burnham (top) and the main line along Roundhouse Road (bottom). |
