PoLA has been mobilized

The staging area in the closet was the first section we removed.

Over the past two days, Tom Pierpoint and I worked on removing PoLA so it could be reassembled in his basement.  Although I did not build PoLA in a sectional style, I did use open grid benchwork. The top surface was foam and taskboard.   So it was fairly easy to cut into four sections plus the staging yard. In the new location, Tom will not have room for the Borax extension, so we did not salvage that part.

Portable staging yard

Steak knife cuts though the foam and paving

First we identified where the cuts would be and cut the bus wires at those locations.  Then we used a moto tool to cut the track at the proposed section joints. Next, I used a steak knife to slice through the foam and the areas paved with task board. A few cuts with my Festool Carvex jig saw on the 1x2 open grid frame members and the layout was in sections.  Tom remarked that the Carvex had a lot less vibration than his jig saw. Festool strikes again!

Where did Bernie put those screws?

The open grid frame was screwed to the walls and legs in a minimal number of places. With those screws removed the sections came right off.

First layout section

Tom rented a box van. We loaded the pieces into the van and used some bungie cords to secure them. The construction technique I used to build  the layout resulted in light weight and very easy to move sections. One person could easy handle a section.

Tom plans to install the layout on benchwork that he previously bought from a commercial benchwork vendor.  He wants to back date the layout in such a way that it could be easily go back to PoLA in the twenty first century.

All loaded up

The new flooring tile

The next step for me is to continue to clear the basement of as many items as possible. I found a contractor that will repair the walls, install the damaged trim, put ceramic tile on the floor and paint the walls. We chose a medium grey, wood look tile and will have dark blue walls with white trim. It will be a whole new look for the basement. My niece, who is an interior design architect and decorator, suggested the color scheme. She also suggested painting the ceiling in the front room dark blue to match the valance. My wife agreed. So we will do that too.

I am starting to feel better about all this. I am excited to start the Aquia Line expansion, but not until we host the North East Interchange in November. And I have some ideas for a small switch layout in my office too.  Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel. I hope it is not an on coming train.

Final Op Session on PoLA

Amongst the remnants of the flood clean up we held the final op session, number 27, on PoLA today. We did not operate the Aquia Line.  Michael Spoor and Shawn Fenn were the final operators. Marty McGuirk and Doug Gurin stopped by to see the farewell.

Shawn is a happy conductor

Michael is the smiling engineer

The session started off a bit rough as the two GP-60s we used last time did not want to run properly. They exhibited all manner of DCC craziness from having the primer mover engine sounds racing at idle, intermittent operation, runaway engine, and loss of throttle response. We tried a to reboot and even reset the decoders, but nothing seemed to improve. This was very odd, since at the last session these engines ran great.

So we swapped the power for the PHL Genset with Tsunami 2 and a Keep Alive and all was well.

At the end of the session, Reverend Marty McGuirk offered a brief benediction,

"PoLA you served us well. Those who didn't like it can go to hell. Amen."

We then proceeded to pop open some beers and toasted the layout. With the ceremony out of the  way, the guys got to work boxing up freight cars.  Amazingly, we found boxes for almost all the cars.

Doug Gurin stopped by for the farewell.

With the cars put away it was time to eat. JD and JB, who were at the Nats-Dodgers game, stopped by to join us for dinner. JD brought the BBQ wings, I made steaks and veggies on the grill, Mom made 3-layer venetian cookies, and Alicia made a fresh fruit salad.

Michael didn't stay for dinner but Shawn did. He regaled us with tales of his wife's role as lead attorney for the FTC in the recent Facebook privacy lawsuit, in which the US Government prevailed.  Congrats to her and her tiny team of lawyers. They took on a giant and won.

After dinner JD and JB went home with some goodies in an effort to help me purge stuff. There's more where that came from.  We'll begin PoLA disassembly next week.

The layout is dead, long live the layout!

John Drye and JB Weilepp take home goodies. The small layout was an N Scale Civil War era layout I started building in 1991 and never finished because the engines were not good enough. JB got some donations for the NVNTRAK club.

Nouveau espace trouvé

In cleaning up after the flood, we have undergone a massive purge. We've filled nine trash bins, made one trip to the Salvation Army and three trips to the dump. Gone are all my old film cameras,  about a thousand slides, slide projector, almost all my old magazines, two teak/particle board bookshelves, about 15 linear feet of books (mostly pdf files printed off the internet and used in researching my Kalmbach books),  camping gear, excess house painting tools, doll house supplies, and other assorted stuff.

I still have a lot of N Scale modeling supplies and rolling stock. I also have several tubs filled with boxes for HO freight cars that are on the layout.

After this much purging I have discovered a nice ten-feet long wall in my home office that is begging for a model railroad. At MIT we used to say, homework expands to fill available time. The model railroad corollary  is, "layouts expand to fill available space."  What should I do with this nouveau espace trouvé?

I could expand the Aquia Line into this area. But,  other than bringing Burnside Wharf into this space as shown at  the left, I don't see too many good options.

Perhaps a small shelf layout with a completely unique theme is in order.  Some ideas that come to mind.

A On30 WWI layout depicting the US sector in 1918 using the new Bachmann 2-6-2T engine, and a Dick Kerr gas petrol kit that I have on hand. I also have a bunch of 1/43rd scale miniatures I purchased a while back.

Continuing in the O/On30 realm, a small rendition of the Wisscasset Waterfront.  I have most of the stuff I would need for this project too,

Another possibility is a small modern port layout based on the Port of Palm Beach. I have much of the stuff I would need for that, even after I sell PoLA.

A third possibility is to install the Washington DCC modules I was building as a small switching layout. That was to be set in WII.

Another WWII theme would be a NY/NJ harbor scene with a pier and Liberty ship similar to the plan I published in my Model Railroad Goes to War book.

Finally, back to the modern era, a rendition of the Beaumont Waterfront where the DoD maintains a military port facility. That would create a nice showcase for my DODX freight cars kits and use a lot of the modern stuff I already have.

It's nice to have choices. Now, if we can get a flooring contractor to help rebuild the basement, that would be great.

Stage 2 Flood Recovery: Making lemonade

My niece Katrina and her son, Nile. He loves Uncle Bern's trains!

I will be hosting the last op session on PoLA at 1300 on Sunday, 28 July. After the session, we will begin to box up the freight cars for storage and or sale. Once the cars are removed, I will prep the layout for removal. A local guy is planning on buying the PoLA layout for use in his basement.  He may backdate it and change it to Philly or Baltimore to better suit his rolling stock. But it will survive, which is a good thing.

We will not operate the Aquia Line this time as we are still doing recovery from the flood. Here is an update on that.

We have not been able to find a contractor that is willing to work under the Aquia Line benchwork to install tile. They don’t want the liability of damaging an “irreplaceable asset.” However, we did find a painter that is willing to paint the floor and walls. So we plan to have them paint the floor, walls and baseboards. Then we will use area rugs for accents. In my workbench area we will install foam floor tiles that can be removed if they get wet or stained.  If I wanted to have a contractor tile the whole basement, I would have had to remove all the layouts.  I may want to start over on building a layout at some point, but not under these conditions.  So I am going with paint

There must be no shortage of work for contractors in this area, because we also tried to get contractors to do some remodeling work upstairs with no luck. They show up, look at the job, and never call back.

In the process of clearing out flood damage, we removed the teak veneer book shelves from my office. Without the bookshelves, the room feels much bigger. It makes the possibility of layout expansion into the office more feasible. The opportunity to expand the Aquia Line into the crew lounge and perhaps the office is very tempting. I also purged about 15 linear feet of books and magazines from my collection. My garbage pick up this week was quite full, even after a trip to the dump.

My nephews both have "jobs" that need attention. Kevin
is a music composer and producer for Hollywood, while Nick
is a HVAC engineer and salesman.  I call it, "taking a break."
They were a BIG Help! Thanks guys.

The past two weeks have been very demoralizing as we try to sort through the aftermath of  the flood. I was lucky that my niece and nephews were visiting the past few days. They were a big help, plus we got to play with my grand-nephew, Nile. He is an adorable toddler, who loved Uncle Bern’s trains.  My niece is an interior decorator and she gave us some good ideas for colors etc.

Amongst the chaos, Mat Thompson, Pete LaGuardia, and John Paganoni came over on Tuesday to judge the layouts for NMRA AP certificates. I wanted them to look at certain parts of PoLA for the Electrical AP. But, when I did the paperwork, I realized I had all the requirements covered with items on the Aquia Line. So the three of them looked at the layouts and examined my paperwork. All was in order so that I should be getting the civil, electrical and scenery AP Achievement Awards. Mat advised me to pursue the Car and Prototype AP certificates next and that should complete my Master Model Railroader certification.

Thanks to family and good friends, we are making lemonade from the unwelcome lemons.

Stage 1 Flood Recovery Went Well

The front room survived with little damage.

 Some sheet rock was removed under Falmouth

 Workers today arrived and began recovery from the flood.  The good news is that both layouts survived the demolition. The insurance adjuster from USAA called the remediation contractor and told them to be super careful around the layout. It was, "too expensive to replace!"  Thank you USAA.

The biggest job was pulling up the laminate plank floor (see video below).  I had installed that floor in 2011. I was sad to see all my work get removed. Although the flooring planks themselves are water resistant, they are not a good choice in a flood prone basement as water gets trapped underneath them.   

There was some standing water under the floor and in a few places it was starting to get a funky odor that was evident when they pulled the planks. To pull the floor, we had to move most of the plastic tubs, tools, and supplies I have stashed in closets and under the layout. It's amazing how much stuff I have accumulated. Now we have a gigantic mess in the center of the rooms. 

The workers also pulled most of the baseboards and drilled holes in the sheet rock by the baseboards to enhance drying. Luckily, it appears that very little sheet rock got wet. I suspect we had at most a 1/2 inch of water on the floor. 

The workers installed 13 fans and 2 dehumidifiers. They also sprayed disinfectant everywhere to try to control the mold. We never had mold in the basement  before. Hopefully it doesn't start now. 

Some residual water under the planks

My crew lounge and office is a mess

Tomorrow a flooring contractor arrives to discuss options. I am leaning to ceramic tile or painting. The ceramic tile in the bathroom made it through the flood with no issues.  So I would prefer that. But I won't do it if it requires removing the layout.  Also, the floor has some painted areas already. I am not sure you can put ceramic tile on a painted concrete surface. 

The least costly and perhaps simplest approach is to paint the floor, and then use area rugs for comfort and decoration. Painting would require some patching of the concrete to cover the places where the old carpet tack strips and old wall sills were located. But it would not require me to remove the layouts.

BTW I am documenting this process in case any of my readers encounter a similar problem. At least you'll have some previous experience to look at and commiserate.