Adorned

A beautiful sunny day today, after a wet and dismal weekend.  Good news- the painting of all the verandah timber is finished!!  I'd have to admit that I'm a bit 'over' Manor Red, but I'm sure that'll wear off now that it's finished.

The good news too is that the doors are now installed and look fabulous!  They were made by TFD Joinery in Toowoomba, and they're superbly made.

I was planning to paint the doors Wilderness green, but they're made of such beautiful timber I don't think I can do it!  Perhaps I'll oil them initially, then they can always be painted later on, but once they're painted you can't go back!!

Not a good photo as the light was all wrong, but this is the external progress to date!  The actual roof will go on the portico tomorrow, then the rest of the verandah roof will be built later in the week.

It's been a fantastic month, though extremely busy.  Overall though, seeing the Trainbarn coming together so quickly is everything I could have hoped or dreamt of!  Definitely worth waiting for!

Inside, on a rainy day

Light rain all day has prevented any further painting of the verandah timbers, as they're outside and too heavy to move inside!  I took the opportunity to have a good clean-up inside, and while one end is still open- providing good lighting- I took a couple of photos.

The doors in the photo are to be the main front entry doors.  They're resting on the wall that divides the entry area from the display area.  The 'skeleton' wall at the far end allows you to see through into my workshop 'annex', which is still roofless.  There is some moisture on the floor still as the ridge capping hasn't yet been installed.

Taken from the far back corner, looking towards the entry area.  The windows aren't installed yet either.  Lots of space!!  A pleasant surprise is the space above the entry area, which has a drop ceiling.  I had always planned that this should be accessible and could be used for storing the empty boxes from the trains that are on display.  Well, there is way more room up there than expected, as I can stand up between the trusses.  Fantastic storage space!

A sea of red

We had a marathon painting session yesterday, painting all the hardwood timber that will be used in the verandah roof.  It needs dressing, priming and then one topcoat before it can be used, all of which is much easier to do while it's on the ground!  My good friend Lincoln (aka The Cavalry), a retired professional painter, came and helped, which was greatly appreciated!

Here is Lincoln painting some of the battens Manor Red Lo Sheen, which will also be the colour of the Colorbond siding.

There is still some painting to go, but that will have to wait for a drier day, hopefully tomorrow.  Then, of course, it will all need a final topcoat once it's built.

The doors also arrived yesterday and they're superb!  Really excellent joinery and beautiful brass hardware.  The entry doors in particular will provide a very welcome entry!

Really?

After our 'snow' day on Friday it was a really nice weekend, particularly Saturday.  With everything totally back to normal here, when I look back on the snow pictures I can't help thinking 'did that really happen?'  Anyway, with minimal moisture and warmer temperatures I'm back into painting all the hardwood for the verandah roof, and it's going well.

Today the builders installed most of the guttering, which is heritage 'quad' style, and continued with the portico, which is nearly finished.  Tomorrow both the main roof and the portico roof will be completed.  The 'valley' where they intersect has been installed.  Most of the portico has been given a coat of Manor Red Lo-Sheen Dulux, which I'm really happy about.  I think the red and the green fascia look great together, although not everyone agrees!!

Let it............snow??

Well, it was forecast, but pretty amazing nonetheless.  Queensland is Australia's 'tropical' state, but being at about 2500 feet/ 760metres elevation we do occasionally get snow here, about every eight years.  We haven't had this much snow though since 1984, which was prior to us buying Whistlestop.

Today the builders are not on site, wisely listening to the forecast and choosing an inside job elsewhere, and I had plans to catch up with the painting, and preparing the hardwood verandah timber.  Scrap that!!

The builders framed up the portico entry roof yesterday, which is quite a difficult exercise in geometry, but they did a great job and it's going to look stunning!!  Once the framing of the portico is completed they can install the remaining roof sheets, which will have a big 'V' cutout in them where they intersect the portico roof, and then the Trainbarn will be snow..... I mean water-tight.

The snow started falling about 1 am (don't ask me how I know that) but has stopped now.  Overall I'd say we've had about 4 inches/ 100mm, which isn't too shabby!

Here are a couple of other shots from around the place.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!

Bad words

As we grow up we soon learn which words of our language are acceptable and which ones are not.  Sometimes we learn this the hard way.  I never learned French when I was young, but I have come to know the word ciel, from which, presumably,  our word ceiling is derived, and I am moving it into the 'bad word' category.  A simple translation of ciel into English is 'sky', as in 'up in the .....'  The reason for this innocuous word coming into prominence in my life has been that I've spent the last two days installing the ceiling battens in the Trainbarn.  Sounds fairly straightforward when you say it like that, doesn't it?  As I've said in previous posts I really like the proportions of the Trainbarn, particularly the spaciousness afforded by the high ceiling, and the portal-frame-like scissor trusses.  Note the words 'high ceiling'.  All well and good until you're the bunny who gets to actually take part in installing said high ceiling!  The apex of the ceiling is 4.5 metres, or 15 feet in the old money.  And let me tell you that standing fifteen feet up on wobbly trestles (another bad word) using both hands to achieve the task in hand, therefore not leaving any hands to hold onto something firm, is actually not much fun for someone not used to it.  Once again an increase in respect for anyone involved in the building industry!!  Builders are my new heroes!!

Anyway, they're done.  But please learn from my 'experience'- if your best mate who's been doing home reno's asks you to come and give a hand with the ceiling battens, assuming he's not a Hobbit with six feet high ceilings, you very quickly need to think of a good excuse why you'll be away that weekend!!  And if the words plasterboard/ Gyprock and ceiling are uttered in the same sentence then it's probably a very good time to fake a heart attack.  My plasterboard ceilings, of course, remain to be done, but sadly that'll be the weekend of my Great Aunt's 95th birthday in ............... (insert anywhere except here).

In better (and lower) news, the builders have framed up the portico entryway over the verandah and it looks fabulous!!  It'll really set the building off well.  Photos tomorrow hopefully, unless it snows, which it is forecast to do.

Roofed

Fantastic progress today on the Trainbarn, as we have most of the roofing iron (Zincalume) on.  The only part that isn't on is the section in the front where there'll be a portico entryway over the verandah, which interacts with the main roof.

We've also been installing the ceiling battens for the Gyprock plasterboard, although that won't be installed for a while.  Anyway, having the roof on further defines the space inside and I couldn't be more happy with it!  I was concerned that the walls were going to be a bit high (3.3m/ 11'), but they're perfect.  

Another item to arrive here is a kit to build a really cool replica of a NSWGR station 'Tickets' sign, which I'm looking forward to building and installing in the entry area of the Trainbarn.  They're available on Australian ebay.  Included are all the detailed instructions including what items are required from Bunnings hardware!

I've said to various people close to me that I wish I'd been doing all this when I was 38, instead of the 58 that I actually am.  While that remains true, a more grateful viewpoint is that I'm so glad I'm not 68!!  Nothing wrong with being that age, but I'm struggling enough with all the intense labour now, I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if I was older!!  My respect for builders increases daily!!

Settling Dust

It's a nice quiet day here at Whistlestop, after a hugely busy and productive week.  I am extremely happy with every aspect of the Trainbarn, including both the construction progress and design.

I've been painting the fascia, which has not been plain sailing due to the cold temperatures and light rain that we've been having.  I really want to have them all finished before they go up as some of them are seriously high!!  I know that I'll have to patch up the nail holes though.  Here are some of the fascia boards after receiving their final topcoat.  I'm really happy with the colour, and the paint generally.

Hopefully if the snow stays away I'll be able to get the rest of them done before the builders return next week.

Raise the Roof!

More excellent progress the last two days!  Yesterday all the roof trusses went up and that made a huge different to the look of the building.

I've chosen to use scissor trusses, which have a nice angle on the outside- not too flat like many sheds- and a portal-frame type effect on the inside, giving a nice airy feel.  I'm extremely happy with every aspect of the building so far!

I'm very fortunate in being able to help with the build and so far have installed many of the tie-down straps and rods, which has involved lots of upping and downing of ladders, the result of which is that I've discovered many muscles which are now protesting at all this activity!  I work really hard around Whistlestop generally, and try to keep reasonably fit, but I now realise that I'm not as fit as I thought!  I have greatly renewed respect for builders and other manual workers who work physically very hard each day!!

I also feel incredibly blessed to be constructing such a large building solely for my train hobby.  It is everything that I have hoped and dreamed of, for so many years.

As part of my contribution I'm also doing all the painting, which I enjoy, but at this (cold) time of year it has it's challenges.  The paint has to be above 10 celsius otherwise it won't dry.  It's been minus something most nights recently.  Here is some of the fascia that I've just given a coat of primer.  Incidentally, the trestles that I'm using are the original supports for my very first model railway about 50 years ago, built by my Uncle and Grandad.

Let's hope the good weather holds for a while to get some more of the painting done, but they're actually forecasting snow on the weekend.  Fingers crossed!

Fantastic progress

I had to go to Brisbane yesterday, but met the builders briefly before departing.  When I arrived home in the dark, I shone the lights of my car on the Trainbarn site and the amazing sight of all the walls being up greeted me!!  Really quick progress with the prefabricated frames.  There were a couple of errors in dimensions, but these were quickly fixed today, so here are a few pictures of the progress.  I must add that our builder has been really excellent and patient with all the small details that I'm so fussy about, and he's making sure that everything is just as I want it.  Thanks Nick!!

One of the roof trusses has been erected and soundly braced-up in readiness for the other trusses to be installed tomorrow.  From then on there will be less obvious progress as a lot of time will be spent bracing everything up and tying it down to the slab.  And then the corrugated iron roof will go on, which will be a real milestone!

Walking around inside- the entry area, my workshop annex and the main display area- it is really amazing and incredibly satisfying seeing 'in the flesh' what I have dreamed about and planned for so long.  All the 'worries'- would it be big enough, would it be too big, would the walls be too high etc. etc.- were quickly dispelled.  It's absolutely fine, totally wonderful.  How much fun is it going to be fitting it out, and finally, after years of dreaming, setting up most of my trains.

Full steam ahead!

It's obviously been very quiet around Whistlestop for the past month or so, but that all changed after lunch today!  The builder arrived to say that all our prefab frames for the Trainbarn where here, but couldn't get through the gate.  Some quick work with the crane fitted to one of the trucks, and some chainsawing, and voila, a newly widened gateway!  The frames were offloaded onto the slab, ready for erecting, starting on Monday.

These frames should go up very quickly, although there is some internal framing that will be done in the traditional manner.  The scissor trusses for the roof will arrive mid week and then it will really look like something!  This stage also involves fitting the iron roof, and building the verandah roof with the entry gable.

This weekend looks like being the calm before the storm!  'Twill be exciting seeing it go up though!!