My last post was on April 23rd. A lot has happened since then, but virtually nothing on the iNdoor layout. Except for a little work on the N scale electronics, the past 6 weeks has been a transition to outdoor season.
It all started with a snow storm. Every few years in Colorado we get a pile of heavy snow in the late spring. This one wasn't predicted -- in fact, I'd swapped out my snow tires for all-seasons based on a clear weather forecast less than a week before we got 20". Unfortunately, the heavy snows are hard on trees, and we lost 10 this year. So my first task was to clear that up with a chain saw and a few trips to the slash/mulch site. I also became a forest volunteer for our local community, as it seemed a neighborly thing to do plus I get to learn more about the forest we live in.
Since then I've focused on the front yard. The bridge railings are complete, the red clay pathway is installed, and the waterfall is running again -- this time with the pump and skimmer properly installed. We even have fish and pond plants now. I've started work on the rest of the garden, including planning the track. Yes, this summer I will have actual trains running.
All those are topics for future posts. I'll try to get my posts caught up this week so that I can post in real time this summer.
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I too have an indoor & outdoor layout. My indoor is HO and takes up the entire garage. I'm going to let the Garden layout go, it requires too much maintenance. We live in Super Sunny Bakersfield California. The Sun takes it's toll on everything. Then there's the varmints, birds and family pets. The Black Widows, Hornets, ants, Blue Jays and the neighborhood cats are too much for me. The worst varmint is the ant, they travel on the rails (their freeway) and I have to push a track cleaning car to scrub the rails because a crushed ant will corrode the brass rails. Spraying every day with Simple Green will keep the varmints from the track but it doesn't stay very long, if I miss a couple of days they're back. Black Flag Hornet spray is a must for spiders and hornets, they build their homes in my building and bushes along the track bed. My daughter lives in Littleton CO. and she has more varmints than I do.
ReplyDeleteHi Mel,
ReplyDeleteI read your comment on the track cleaning post from last year -- thanks for the recommendation.
I used to live in NoCal and gave up on track power for the outdoor layout long ago. I use R/C and batteries.