Hi Folks Have been laid low for two weeks or so and naturally did not go to the train shed until now. Unfortunately with all the rain, the gutters and roof had been damaged by a fallen branch and water flooded the ceiling. The corner of my Dargan layout has been destroyed and naturally it is the area containing some of my favourite spots like the roundhouse and turntable. The fleischman turntable is no more, broken in two by rapidly expanding MDF. No sense sulking so just get on with repairs which will be long and tedious. Ever tried to cut through sodden MDF? Have tried to upload photos but stupid photo resizer will not work. They are on PFM 1 Facebook though. Cheers Richard
Would you believe that when I built that section, I had some left over MDF. Every other section is made from 18mm marine grade ply. You better believe it will also be used in the restoration.
Got the photo resizer to work...it wanted me to use the advanced options. So here are a few shots of the problem area. What was the ceiling And my roundhouse And the start of the demolition phase Much to be done I hope to get back to my sign off phrase of Cheers and happy modelling Richard
I would feel gutted, but all you can do is repair top down roof to the layout before any further damage is caused, nature is merciless ....
That`s terrible Richard, You have my sympathy.........so much work went into that part of the layout and it was a pleasure to see it in all it`s glory. The thing to remember is that something good usually comes out of something bad. At this stage I would not have a clue as to what that could possibly be, however something good will come to you. If you need a hand with anything just give me a call. Gormo
The most important visit right now is the plumber to fix the roof but I have a tarp as an interim measure
Thanks Gormo and I appreciate your comments. It has certainly focused my attention but tempered of course by the reality that it is just my hobby and not something like what has happened to those poor people in Northern NSW. Also I think you are right about something good coming. Is this a problem or an opportunity? Cheers and (hopefully) happy modelling Richard
That’s real bad luck.. so heart breaking.. You have a great attitude to rise from this fall.. no doubt V2 will be even better! good luck and happy re-modelling Andy
Well some progress as the damaged roof has now been repaired and I can get started with the repairs to the ceiling. At least I should be able to have reasonable access as there is not a layout to worry about damaging when I stand in the area. Gormo wisely suggested that something good could come out of this. Well now that I am over the initial shock and looking at the restoration process, I see that I was never able to complete the back scenes for this part of the layout, problem being the support brackets for the overhead shelving which prevented installation of the backing panels to cover the brick work. I have now installed new brackets which support the shelving from above and have now been able to remove the offending brackets. So here is the first "something good"...the restored layout will now sport completed back scenes all the way around. Cheers and getting close to happy modelling again Richard
Good on you Richard..... I`m glad you`re starting to find some good things coming out of this unfortunate circumstance. Keep at it mate.......build it stronger and better. Gormo
Thanks Gormo..will do. Also I just noticed a strange typo on my initial post which I have now corrected. The first post was "something odd" and should have been "something good"...I wonder? Cheers Richard