robert.admin – Page 126 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

October 29, 2017

TestLog – WAZU – 10/29/2017

y weekend of too-many-trains continues with a test run over at Doc Andy’s clinic, running the new Wazu Lines (where Wazu comes from or what it means is anyone’s guess). The Doc has moved mountains, installing solid benchwork and a great point-to-point run with a lot of sidings along the way for meets galore. Trains ran pretty smooth (that Kato track is hard to beat for operations). But there were more turnout controls than the inside of a C-130 and without markings, we were knocking each other off our trucks, tossing and listening for the throws. Easily correctable and already […]

October 29, 2017

OpsLog – FEC – 10/28/2017

rains running at night are very mysterious. They boom in the moonlight, the details are lost in shadows, the signals glow like stark binaries of red and green, and beyond the headlamps all is lost in gloom. And that’s why running the Florida East Coast in the simulated darkness (lit by streetlights, building windows and pocket flashlights) is a lot of fun. And a lot of challenges, too. I ended up working the Buenaventura industrial yard (I suspect the fact that I got lost on my well-traveled way over, missing an obvious exit, and also confusing the Wendy’s order-drone might […]

October 26, 2017

Bootstrapping (DOG EAR)

ow that I’ve given up jogging and I’m doing quick lunch-time rush-writing (an hour each time, typing with one hand, holding my sandwich with the other) I’ve begun to notice a thing I do that I’ve only just identified. In fact, when I wrote Indigo years back during lunches, I’d do the same thing. So, what I’m doing is something I’ll call “bootstrapping”. Works like this. When I settle into writing, my mind enters a streaming state where part of it is imagining the moment of the scene. It pictures the characters, their actions and reactions, the pace of the […]

October 25, 2017

OpsLog – LM&O – 10/25/2017

o I’m rolling out of Calypso Yard on the head end of 271. I didn’t bring enough power to run a westbound freight so I’ve got loaned Funits on the head end, ATSF units as round and yellow as a jar of mustard. And I’m rolling slowly, mainly because a turnout in front of me broke a while ago and I’m having to tip-toe a forty car train over it. And this is made worse by the fact that, instead of helpers, I’ve got a turn coupled on the back, pushing. My caboose crew is screaming as their frame groans, […]

October 22, 2017

Pygmy (Review)

ll the Cedar family knows is that they have, at the urging of their church, adapted a young boy from a third world country, one that they wish to share the blessings of American culture and consumption with. This family is pretty screwed up, with the son a moraless turd and the daughter sniffing solder fumes, mom burning every battery in the house in her vibrator and dad just oblivious to it all. They’ve even renamed him “Pygmy” without the slightest thought or hesitation. All Agent Number 67 knows is that he’s succeeded in being imbedded (along with several fellow […]

October 22, 2017

ShowLog – Makers Faire (10/21-22/2017)

akers Faire is a big crazy thing down at the fairgrounds every year, a place for all the droid-hoppers, 3D-printers, steampunkers, and general kooks to show up at – it’s like a county fair for nerds (not that it’s a bad thing). And since we’ve “made” this massive layout of ours, 90 feet of distance from one end to the other, it’s only appropriate for us to display there. So we set up Friday and Saturday at 9am trains ran. And ran and ran and ran. At a minimum there were three out at any time, and occasionally you start […]

October 19, 2017

Writing at the edge (DOG EAR)

t’s been a hard couple of months for me, facing everything from a loved-one’s passing to the storm of a century (with more of those yet to come) to the inanity of our President (really, is it even in doubt anymore?). At one point, doctors were testing me for a possible degenerative disease over a number of tense weeks (just Carpal-Tunnel, whew). And I’m getting older and not wiser, no, just creakier and more fragile. As mentioned in other pieces, I hurt myself jogging which has ended that for me. At least I’ve gotten the bike back under me. I […]

October 18, 2017

Model Star Party (10/18/2017)

y star-pal train-pal Terry had a great idea – let’s have a star party in the grassy parking lot of the Orlando N-trak Model Railroad club this very night. Saturn would be up, no moon, a perfect viewing evening. So things started off dodgy. Heavy clouds all day, belts of rain. After dinner we looked up at iffy skies, pretty cloudy with breaks. As it was, we pulled our cars over at the far end of the lot, setting up as the sun went down, prepping. My old Orion went together pretty well – I’m getting good at this. So […]

October 16, 2017

He gave me Barn Cats (Review)

met Maria Santomasso-Hyde in her art gallery in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful art, all sorts of country paintings. But then we got to talking. We’re both writers. We’ve both lost cats. Then she mentioned she had a book she was selling off a stack to one side, an autobiographical work she’s put together. Of course, I almost always buy such things – you gotta help those as hungry as you, right? Maria’s deal is that she’s very Christian and very loving, so when she went through a year where she lost nine loved ones (her mom, her loyal dog, […]

October 14, 2017

ENVISAT 1 (10/14/2017)

haven’t had the scope out in like forever (specifically since May) I decided to give it a workout since we have a star party over at the model train club on Wednesday. Just back from dinner with Mom and the family, I checked the skies – clear with a little haze and some passing puffball clouds) and set up in the back where I could line on Cassiopeia and most of the summer triangle. The tripod was as heavy as ever but everything went together well enough. Got out the seat and had a look. First, ran a bead on […]