One of the things I have always been dreading is covering the doorway that is in the middle of the Springfield Yard. No way to move the door and opening because it is cast in the basement walls/foundation. Keith Robinson was over a couple of weeks ago helping with another project when we realized that any partial cover would look like a partial cover (translated: ugly and obvious). Another (smaller) problem was a 12 ft piece of sheetrock leftover from the initial wave of construction on the layout that I needed to dispose of to make room for the North Yard benchwork. Being generally lazy and knowing how heavy drywall is, I thought about using that piece of drywall to cover the entire wall. Keith and I kicked that idea around and agreed that would solve two problems in one pass. The new cover was completed in three easy steps. First, I added 3/4" x 3'' furring strips to the existing wall. Second, I cut the 12 ft piece of drywall to fit over the existing wall over the layout. Step 3a was to add sheetrock corners and mud. Step 3b added sky blue paint making the door disappear. After dreading this for some time, the answer was amazingly simple. If you have a problem area, don't give up. Get a second (or third) opinion, check with the guys on the website, call your brother-in-law, just do it.
Rick, this is a good visual chronicle of the work in progress from "before" to "after." It looks like the space behind the wall is still accessible via a crawl-under? Best Regards,
Well, at first I thought that the whole door was sealed, which brought a chill to my spine as I thought of Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" short story. Ken, there weren't too many degrees of separation between us for its use! Time, time, time...when to find time? I'd love to make it to an operating session. We just got back from 2 weeks of vacation, so we're entering the "Now what do we do for the rest of the summer" phase. Time to see if we can swing a KC trip. Meanwhile, I may be badgering you and other KC operations folks for input as our layout takes shape. We have about 20' of track laid for Olathe; I really want it operational so that the kids don't lose interest before we move onto points north. Best Regards,
Chris, (he whispers in the ear), from Columbia it's only an hour and a half drive each way with three operating hours in between.
Chris, You had better add about a hour for a stop at Rosedale Bar-B-Q. It is still only a few hours and a really easy day trip. For example, wheels up at 7:00, operating by 9:00, lunch at noon and back at the barn by 2:30. Still plenty of time for yard work, dinner with the spouse, a kid's ball game, etc. Have something to do in the morning, then just back up the clock to accommodate other earlier obligations. Want to spend a little more time, just let us know. We can arrange other operating sessions, tours of area rail facilities, etc. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Mark, I really like your terminology and chain of thought. Let's make that GEAR UP at 7:00 and back at the HANGER by 2:30. (Oh how I wish I could join you!)
