| Clean up and painting has been a priority this past year. Fortunately, we've had several Eagle Scout projects completed and that is a big help keeping our facility looking fresh and adding something new for a riders to Enjoy. I took on over seeing having the club house, yellow play house, and tool shed painted. It turned into a pretty big job as the was a lot more wood replaced need then we originally had thought. Next up for painting is the Santa Fe caboose this project is being over see by Dale Van linen. So far this project has taken a few months to and we are getting closer to completion. The plan is to get the caboose to look similar to what it looked like when it was in use on the railroad. To get that look has taken quite a bit of research as all the outside lettering had been removed at some point before it came to our facility. The inside of the caboose had everything removed but fortunately the car number was printed over the doors. So we knew the number and did a lot of Internet, searching after that. I contacted Darren at miracle lettering, they specialize in doing lettering for our 1.5 scale trains. He said they could do the paint masking for the lettering if I provided them with sufficient information. Normally when we do the painting of our equipment we have our choice of vinyl lettering or a paint mask, paint mask is like a stencil That is made out of vinyl. For this project we choosed to do it with a paint mask we're thinking that Painting the letters on will last a lot longer than the vinyl lettering. As of 9-24 we are getting close to being done with this project. In the next few weeks we plan on having the letter completed. Then there's a plan to get the red marker lights and overhead step lights working. We will put them on a timer so they turn on for a few hours each night. We have also start the painting of the station and the depot. The depot is in good shape and only needs a fresh coat of paint. The station needs a lot of wood replaced and patching holes caused by termite damage we have started that. I'm over seeing this project and it probably won't be completed till after the first of the year. With the painting we have completed so far there is a noticeable difference in the appearance of our facility and we have received many favorable comments. What most people don't realize is it not all painting that has made the difference. We have spent a significant amount of time and funds trimming the trees. We did have to replace the large damaged trees in front of the station as they became a safety hazard. We had Flowering crêpe myrtle trees installed They've already started to flower in a few years they should really look spectacular. All of the funds for these projects came from our two fundraising events. The Halloween night train rides and our holiday lights train rides. Those events are coming up quickly on October 25th and 26th and then December 20tt & 21st. With these events each year we come up with some new things to try some work well and some not so well. We always try to make it fun and family friendly. It's a lot of work setting up the displays and takes all week to do so. We like the challenge and it is very rewarding to see the riders have a great experience. If you're interested in helping out just stop by one day the week before and join in. Ever once in a while will be contacted about picking up a donation of an old Railroad item as a donation to our group. We look forward to these as most the time they're fairly interesting and can be very beneficial to our members. In some cases, unfortunately, a family member passes away and their Live steam project locomotive or cars is left for their family to deal with. The Live steam hobby is unique and finding a new home for these items can be a challenge. Donating it to our club may be an easier route to take our group is a registered nonprofit organization so you get a tax credit for any items donated. SCLS President Tom Downing |
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