Small Morning Projects

My new O scale, 2 rail, F-unit diesel locomotive on a short test
track...  (that yellow locomotive in the background is a
Lionel GP unit on 3 rail track).

My health has been quite lousy for the past week so I have not gotten much of anything accomplished in this new year. I don't want to write about my health right now so this blog post is about something less painful to read.

The first good thing that happened this morning is that my health was in the "fair" range.  The next good thing that happened this morning is my car started! It is frigid here... well below zero with wind chills approaching -50 degrees. I know I need a new battery so it was a small miracle that my car actually started this morning. 

I ran some errands and arrived home to find our postal carrier leaving a package at my door. Just yesterday, I had found a few trains online in eBay at great prices. These are all O scale, 2 rail (same size as the 3 rail Lionel trains everyone knows except using more realistic 2 rail track) which are difficult to find trains... especially at reasonable prices. 

A closer view of my new F-9 Burlington Northern locomotive...

I've always been on the lookout for a nice F-unit diesel (and a nice steam locomotive which has remained elusive thus far) and yesterday I found a nice F-unit in 2 rail, O scale for only $65. At that price, even if it didn't run well, it would make a nice model on a shelf. I also found some freight cars in the $25-30 range so I bought a few of those. Today, however, the F-unit diesel arrived.

I immediately dug out some track and setup a test track on the living room floor. I cleaned the track and connected it to a transformer for power...  put the big diesel on the track... slowly brought the power up...  and the big old diesel slowly and smoothly started to roll... lights lit...  and, as I applied more throttle, it smoothly picked up speed. When I reached the end of my short test track, I reversed direction and it ran just as smoothly. Nice buy for $65!

My three freight cars should arrive within the next few days and I am obviously excited for that.

As soon as I determined that my new diesel locomotive runs beautifully, I quickly changed gears and embarked on another project... I have always wanted to have one of those mileage signposts in my yard which points to places of interest. Well, I am now in the process of making one of those to have finished before Adam leaves for the Air Force.

Two mileage signs, cut and primed...

The first mileage sign will be indicating the direction and mileage to Joint Base San Antonio... Adam's first new home beginning in a couple of short weeks. Of course, this was also my first stop on my career journey so this sign represents some history as well as Adam's upcoming new home.

The second mileage sign will be indicating the direction and mileage to our lake house... our new second home which is a very special place for all of us. 

This morning I cut two pieces of cedar to length... then cut a pointy arrowhead on each... and then laid out some cardboard on our kitchen table so I could brush-on some primer to both signs. Within minutes I had both signs primed. 

Next will be to paint the signs the correct colors... then hand paint the lettering... then seal them up...  then install both signs on our lamp post. 

It will be interesting to have these signs on our big lamp post in the front yard. I wonder how many signs I can put on this lamp post before it looks completely ridiculous?

It really was nice to have a productive morning again! And, it was really nice to find a toy for myself when I arrived home this morning!