2016 Begins! RWR

. . . Big turn here!
 

Check out this Sampler of what's coming:

• Toy Factory morphs: Last year was a real task in trying to decorate a Christmas Tree in the center of a 6-foot diameter platform that you could not stand on. This year it had to change!
• 2nd Train Station and tunnel commences: A vision appeared, as all do, without much thought that there needed to be a replacement structure at the vacant area where the tree had rested in 2015. It was envisioned that the Township of Christmas (TOC) could not exist without a working TOY Factory. This required access by freight trains for delivery of supplies, so the elves could construct toys for the world's children. Santa (Karen) agreed to the mortgage required to construct this new facility, knowing that if she didn't, there would be demonstrations from children across the land. The elves were also very happy.
• Expanded track layout for 3rd train appears.  The tracks! As they say, build it and they will come; therefore, several switches and track were laid in order to meet the demands of not only the Toy Factory, but also the Plaza Station that provided the opportunity for children to visit and see how the elves worked.
• Glacier sculpting became fantastical ice sculpting. In order to get the track to the Station, it required a huge, sculpted glacier (as depicted in the film Polar Express) that the train would have to cross. Gluing and cutting layer after layer of half-inch closed cell styrofoam to attain a 12" height took time! Then, like Michelangelo, the hacksaw blades and knife (substituting for the hammer and chisel) came out to sculpt the preformed block into a glacier with plateaus and waterfalls. What a mess!
• Electrical and command panel expansion and upgrade launches. Back to 2015: when I had to connect the electrical wiring for lighting, switches, track, etc., it was a bowl of spaghetti. I resolved that this would not be repeated in the coming years and thus prevent me from crawling under the platform and an extra day in set up. We went shopping for 6, yes 6, two-tier desktop paper holders of wood. Then we went about taking them apart and putting them together in a shape that provided the foundation for the new electrical (simplified) control panel.
• New presentation footprint in front hall required. This year we decided to raise the level of the platform using folding tables. This required a skirt to enclose the table legs and stored coffee table underneath the tables. It is another one of those things where it wasn't right before, at a lower level, and this year it turned out I couldn't see Karen across the room because it was too tall! Next year is another story. We'll probably get it just right, just like the three little bears!
• Separate tree from foundation and locate across room. The tree becomes accessible for easier decoration, in that it was on the floor again! And like other years, we had a ball coming up with a new interpretation which involved our own cut out figures and of course looking for new ornaments at HomeGoods and Pottery Barn. What a spectacular tree 2016! We both love Christmas!

Take a look and see it all and more in the Chronicle of 2016 upcoming as we move on!

FINAL REFLECTIONS ON YEAR ONE: 2015

CHRISTMAS 2015!

  

  

  

REFLECTIONS ON 2015: May RWR

Before and after a 12,000 mile Kathleen visit (12K when you add up 6 over and 6 back), Mother's day and all those great times we had while she was here, began a new Township project. The third object to be constructed, it was a plaza to join the two structures—Hall and Clocktower/Viaduct. The plaza had to accommodate the footprint of special activities to the north and the south:                            
The south was freight. The north was public. It was determined that I would embark on inlaying a pattern of two different colors on the plaza so as to continue the social theme and seasonal colors.

As to colors, which has not been mentioned earlier. My wife chose 3 dominant colors for the whole Polar complex. Pimento red, hunter green and limestone. The limestone, sand-textured paint was an excellent masque for the joints because when sprayed on the acid free cardboard, it gave it a sealing texture at joints and corners. The red was a merry red and perfect to reveal the rooflines. 

Clocktower, hall, and plaza all completed in May. Gift wrapping for Kathleen's June birthday begun!

REFLECTIONS ON YEAR ONE 2015: April RWR

So, we were diverted about as many miles from the north pole as you can get by all these railway siding stops, as I grew to think of what seemed to me unnecessary extra work. (But which he is so glad he did—now, if not then. Editor) Back to the story. At this point we were armed and ready to start back on our polar express adventure and crank it out, moving now to inside Christmas Hall.

During the exterior construction of Christmas Hall, I was informed by my wife that I needed interiors, floors, railings, fireplaces, elevators stairs, overlooks, lighting, and a sleigh garage. Additional work incorporating these elements made Christmas Hall even more of a challenge than the previous clock tower. In order to light the building for viewing, it had to be something that looked realistic, because there were so many windows you could see everything inside.

So a roof clerestory was designed (in my head) with pin lights to illuminate the interiors. Again wiring could be considered a challenge. Think of me trying to fish the wire through the building with kitchen tongs.

This is a good time to point out that the only tools up to this point were an Exacto knife, a metal ruler, a cutting board and drafting table, and a 4” mitre saw! (Wife: Oh, and great eyesight, the prestidigitation of a magician, and ample testosterone! Oh, and those kitchen tongs! KMR) And the roof needed to be detachable and the wiring needed to be threaded. Tools never-in-our-life have been a major expense. (RWR) But, indeed, I have been repeatedly accused of using kitchen utensils for building houses and many other things.

The roof on Christmas hall also needed to be designed—to be detatchable—in order to access lighting and future furnishings. At this point, Karen and I made a road trip to a miniature shop. The majority of products were dollhouse scale and therefore inappropriate for O Guage, 1:43 scale. However we did find some light strips, Christmas ornaments, and trims to adorn the hall and depots.

After all the painting and the window installations and the railings and the stairs and the fireplaces and chimneys and smoke stacks, Christmas hall now needed to be married to the clock tower viaduct.