Rob D Accomplishments

Rob D has been a member of the club since April of 2012. He is currently the Vice-President of the club. His biography can be found in the April 2017 newsletter.

Additional info from Rob for this web page

Carpenters Club - We do heating and AC units, plumbing (new bathrooom example), new work room, hauling and furniture, electrical (new lights example), insulation and window coverings.

Model Railroad Training Seminars - teaching new members to work on locomotives, install decoders, build structures, etc. Attendies were Dave G, Jared P, Nicolas F, and others from time to time.

Trouble shooting rolling stock - I have fixed and repaired locomotives and cars for many of the club membership.

The long train king -- I have run trains of 187 cars on the layout for a long time. I demonstrated tuning and adding weight to freight cars so trains fo more than 100 cars can be backed into the yard and switched reliably.

Built a coal tower for the layout and installed the big turntable. Built with Paul F most of the additional layout benchwork for the HO scale layout.

Rebuilt with Paul F the support structure for the trolley layout.

Fabricated several control panels.

Cleaning and Working train shows, VP of the club, filling in for secretary and doing the newsletter on occasion for Tom B. Also wrting the club blog on Model Railroad Hobbyist website that is read in 18 countries.

Creating and handing out the annual awards.

Chyrokes Yard - Coaling Station
North Dexter - built table with Paul
Price Yard - put hole in skyboard

Roy King layout - fixed plumbing holes in the north wall

Rob has written extensively about the club in his "Model Railroad Hobbyist" blog. Webmaster note: Much of his blog has been referenced and used (with permission, of course) in this web update.

Newsletter June 2019

Dexter Yard is IN – A team of four — (from left to right) Ron M, Rob D, Bob T and President Paul (under the table between Ron and Rob) use all the levels available to true up the installation. The preplanning proved its worth, as the two modules fit together without a lot of fuss. When they were done, it mostly functioned. Subsequent refinements, mostly at track joints and turnouts, resolved most of the remaining issues.

Newsletter July 2018

Done – The newly repaired coaling tower Rob promised to finish a month ago is done and back on the Chyrokes yard site. A vast improvement, and maybe being back on the layout will protect it from well meaning but careless handling for closer inspection. (Rob D photo)

Newsletter August 2017

Progress – The Skull Mountain coal mine complex has been extensively reworked. Rob D bought and assembled the Walthers mine head kit. (Webmaster Newsletter correction – Bob T bought, Ron M assembled) Tom McC and Ron M reworked the scenery for the mine head buildings, both to make the new assembly fit, and to improve the transition from the surroundings to the installation site. All this teamwork produced the improvement shown in the photo. The club reaction: Excellent!

Newsletter May 2017

Urban Renewal? – The whole southern end of Williamsburgh was cleared to facilitate replacement, rewiring and moving of the fluorescent lights over the layout. The process was repeated over the Chyrokes yard. Six non-functional fluorescent tubes were replaced, and two light fixtures with bad ballasts were replaced by the Electrical Club the first weekend of work. Rewiring and movement of the fixtures over the aisles was scheduled to be completed the following weekend.

Newsletter December 2015

Working on the Railroad – Contrary to how it looks, Bob A was NOT practicing pink foam twirling, but he is busily reworking the scenery on the southeast corner of the museum peninsula to reconcile recent track changes with the original scenery. He still has a way to go. Note that the former deep rock cut on the narrow gauge line to the bridge and tunnel is gone.

Newsletter October 2015

Only Dirt — The facilities crew (left to right) Ron Means, Rob Dove, Bob Austin (hiding) and Paul Fogle clean out the condensing coils on the air conditioner, which was all that was needed to get it working again. The Junction is now much more comfortable, and we only needed to hire our own people to do it.

Newsletter September 2015

Up On the Roof – Paul F (left), Bob E (center), and Rob D (right) try to identify possible leaks before starting to reccoat the roof. They discovered that yes, there were multiple pinhole leaks, and worse, the silicon membrane applied to the roof sometime about 10 years ago was detaching from the roof. The job was finished August 22, and the roof didn’t leak anywhere during the storm two days later.

Newsletter August 2014

The window opens – Paul F and Rob D wrestle with the window into which the new workroom air conditioner will be installed. Eventually, they did succeed in getting it open. Next is the construction of the support structure. Note the fresh paint on the the entire southeast corner of the workroom and the old, empty shelf that used to cover the window, on the extreme right.

Newsletter June 2014

The ducts are gone — In the workroom, Rob D has just pushed a section of long disused ducting through the hole into the next room. On the other side of the wall, Paul F has helped pull it through to the floor where it can be removed. Removal of the ducts will reduce the dirt falling onto the layout.

Newsletter August 2012

Look for the yellow tags – Rob D is one tag closer to keying and marking all the critical locations on the layout electrical control and signal systems. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong with either system, but if it does, the tags and the system manual under development by Bob T will make repairs MUCH faster and easier.