Quote from: S&S RR on September 19, 2026, 03:32:13 PM

Quote from: S&S RR on September 19, 2026, 03:29:09 PMTom

Great to see you back in the train room!!!

Here is my 2 cents on the curling / separation issue that you had.  When you had the train room closed up the materials saw temperatures / humidity changes that it didn't normally see when you were in the room all the time.

Every one of the materials you are using expands and contracts with temperature and humidity. When you glue a material like foam to a material like plywood the material that is not expanding as much tries to keep the material that is expanding more from expanding.  This makes the material sandwich curl. To make this more complicated the glue joint is expanding or contracting differently than the plywood and the foam. 

I use the same construction but I brake the plywood into smaller pieces 18 inches by 36 inches is a big piece.  I glue the foam onto the plywood but I use smaller pieces of foam which gives me expansions joints. If you ever have one of the expansion joints show through to the topside scenery, use the Howard Zane cover it with a bush or scenery technique.

Okay that's all I got for 2 cents.  Give me a call if you want to dive into this deeper.

John

Another quick point.  I would take a razor blade that is long enough to go through the foam and cut expansion joints in the foam before adding the next layer.

Quote from: S&S RR on September 19, 2026, 03:29:09 PMTom

Great to see you back in the train room!!!

Here is my 2 cents on the curling / separation issue that you had.  When you had the train room closed up the materials saw temperatures / humidity changes that it didn't normally see when you were in the room all the time.

Every one of the materials you are using expands and contracts with temperature and humidity. When you glue a material like foam to a material like plywood the material that is not expanding as much tries to keep the material that is expanding more from expanding.  This makes the material sandwich curl. To make this more complicated the glue joint is expanding or contracting differently than the plywood and the foam.  I use the same construction but I brake the plywood into smaller pieces 18 inches by 36 inches is a big piece.  I glue the foam onto the plywood but I use smaller pieces of foam which gives me expansions joints. If you ever have one of the expansion joints show through to the topside scenery, use the Howard Zane cover it with a bush or scenery technique.

Okay that's all I got for 2 cents.  Give me a call if you want to dive into this deeper.

John

Another quick point.  I would take a razor blade that is long enough to go through the foam and cut expansion joints in the foam before adding the next layer. 

Tom

Great to see you back in the train room!!!

Here is my 2 cents on the curling / separation issue that you had.  When you had the train room closed up the materials saw temperatures / humidity changes that it didn't normally see when you were in the room all the time.

Every one of the materials you are using expands and contracts with temperature and humidity. When you glue a material like foam to a material like plywood the material that is not expanding as much tries to keep the material that is expanding more from expanding.  This makes the material sandwich curl. To make this more complicated the glue joint is expanding or contracting differently than the plywood and the foam.  I use the same construction but I brake the plywood into smaller pieces 18 inches by 36 inches is a big piece.  I glue the foam onto the plywood but I use smaller pieces of foam which gives me expansions joints. If you ever have one of the expansion joints show through to the topside scenery, use the Howard Zane cover it with a bush or scenery technique.

Okay that's all I got for 2 cents.  Give me a call if you want to dive into this deeper.

John

Quote from: Zephyrus52246 on September 13, 2026, 10:40:19 AMIt's weird.  I just came to this page and the last 10 didn't show.  I hit refresh and 9 of them appeared, then hit it again and they all show up. 

Jeff

Jeff

It took three refreshes but I got them all to show up.  Thank you so much for posting these pictures.

Jeff

Thank you for posting the photographs. I canceled the reservations while I was sitting in the Phenix, AZ airport for 12 hours waiting for a flight. I will be driving to Hickory and those that follow. Can you give us an update on future locations for the convention?

Good morning!  Dan I remember "Green Stamps" from when I was a kid. I remember seeing my mother paste them in books. 

Curt

Looks great, very nice work.

Tom

You are in my thoughts and prayers, get well soon my friend.

Good morning! Have I said it's great to see Jaime back!

Karl

The storm lost all its water in mid-Michigan - lots of lighting and noise but very little rain when it got to us.


Update:  Round two hit us hard.  On generator - we now have a lake in our yard.

Now that I look at the radar we have more fun lined up for this afternoon.

Hang in there Tom,

You are in my thoughts and prayers,

John

Good afternoon!  I stopped by to see who was hanging out here today, didn't expect to see Jaime. Very nice surprise. And he brought pictures - we love pictures.

It sure is great to see Jaime making photographs at a train show and sharing them.  Thank you Jaime!  I wish I was there.

Congratulations on your retirement Dan! 

Tom

Good luck with the surgery and have a speedy recovery.  You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

John

Tom

I'm hoping you have a speedy recovery! You are in my thoughts and prayers,

John