Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

Franziska and Sofia at Nowheres Yard with train #420 ready to go on AD4, and #370 ready next to the caboose track Today was Ops Session #89 at Silicon Valley Lines. Franziska brought along her friend Sofia, and the two girls helped me run Nowheres Yard. The morning part of the session was quite intense with lots of live switching, and the girls were very happy when it was announced that the lunch sandwiches had arrived. A part of the lunch crowd Sofia ran the switcher engines most of the day, while Franziska manned the turnouts and uncoupled cars. Nowheres was a very busy place today, so I didn't have a chance to take a nice picture of the two girls. Due to many willing operators today, we had a couple situations when Nowheres Yard was completely full. In the picture below the two reefer express trains #101 and #102 arrive at the yard simultaneously on AD2 and AD3, while AD1 is occupied by partially built train #376, and AD4 also has a train ready to leave. The stub-ended classifi...

If my loading doors get even remotely close to this, I'm happy.

We had a lot of wind the last couple days. This morning my usual shortcut to Coyote Creek Trail was blocked by fallen branches. The big branch wasn't too heavy, so I could move it to the side and step over the rest. While doing that I appreciated the mayhem of freshly overturned dirt thanks to the wild pigs in the area.

[ Hallelujah Paper posts ] While waiting for the gravel roofs to dry I started painting the loading dock doors. The rubber lips need to be toned down a bit, but I'm very happy with how the doors are coming out.

[ Hallelujah Paper posts ] I started painting the warehouse last week, but ran out of spray paint before the walls were appropriately painted. This weekend I finished the wall panels, masked for the trim, and painted the trim. I went slightly overboard with masking tape here. The trim comes out nicely. Of course, the miscolored roof areas will be covered with gravel. Next up: the window frames, vents, and doors. I would have very much preferred to paint this while still on the sprue, but the building was already mostly assembled when I started working on it. You can't always have it your way.

I had some trouble getting the OpenWRT 15.05.1 x86/Geode image download to boot on my Soekris net4801. In the default setup the boot didn't get past Grub. Here are my notes on what I tried. Download the SquashFS combined image Delete CompactFlash: sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 Copy the image to CompactFlash: sudo dd if=openwrt-15.05.1-x86-geode-combined-squashfs.img of=/dev/sdb bs=512 mount the boot partition from CompactFlash  in grub.cfg: change serial speed to 19200 to match Soekris BIOS settings, so that we can view the whole boot process with the same settings. remove console parameter from terminal_input and terminal_output entries. It appears Grub or Linux choke when console is present here. in kernel command lines: replace PARTUUID... parameter with /dev/sda2. remove console=tty0. There is only a serial port. change serial console speed to 19200. See above. Attach a terminal to the serial port on the net4801 and watch boot process. When using the squashfs image th...

Fixing the Internets The last couple evenings have not exactly been fun. The flash memory card in my trusty Soekris net-4801 died. Yes, that's the box I set up 10 years ago. The net-4801 acted as my firewall, dhcp server, and primary DNS server for Lostentry and related domains. I'm using secondary DNS services from RollerNet. Without Internet and working from home, I switched on the hot spot on my work phone and finished the work day. After the pets were taken care of, I rebooted the firewall again. When it didn't come back on, I figured "No problem. I just connect the null modem cable to my MacBook Pro and ... oh, right. No serial port." "No problem, I pull out the trusty laptop from my data center days and I'll be connected in no time ... oh, right that Compaq got stripped off it's hard disk several years ago." While I was contemplating which monitor and desktop computer to lug to the workbench in the garage, I found another laptop in my stas...

"... vertreibt Kummer und Sorgen." A little bit of rain over night left streets and gardens wet. I really like the rain drops reflecting the morning sun on this flower in one the front yards on our street.

Koef III delivers a beer car filled with very important liquids to the team track in Talheim.

This weekend I continued adapting Dave's loading ramp structure for the freight area in Emsingen. I started out by dressing the laser-cut wood sub-structure in Heki walls, both to give the sides more structure, and to widen the ramp a bit. Next came the fun part. After marking the location on the layout, I used the circular saw attachment for the Dremel tool to cut the hardboard, and then remove the glued down board with hammer and chisel. A very weird feeling to attack the layout like that, right next to signals and track... Some minor adjustments in the hole, and the ramp fits ok next to the track with no clearance issues.  I mocked up the surface and edges. The ramp sits about a millimeter too low, but that can be easily fixed during installation if needed. I cut the plaster deck from an Auhagen sheet, and made the edges from Evergreen 0.060x0.080 styrene strips. The Auhagen sheets can be seamlessy extended in any direction with no ugly gaps. With some prodding and artful slici...

I worked later than normal today, so decided to take Caltrain and beat the bus home. The idea was for train #274 to pick me up in Mountain View at 6:38, drop me at Blossom Hill at 7:15 and I'd be home shortly after 7:30, vs. some time after 8:00 if taking the bus. That didn't quite work out... At 6:40 the signs at the platform showed a delay of 5 minutes for train #274, and then happily showed "ARRIVING". ... But no train came. There was some light reflecting off the rails in the curve before San Antonio station, has it usually does when a train is about to come around the curve. But no train came. The signs eventually stopped their happy "ARRIVING" dance, and moved on to show that trains #276 (departure at 6:52) is 10 minutes delayed. Hmmmm. Something happened. I checked CaltrainStatus on Twitter, but they only had a notification about non-functioning crossing gates further up the peninsula. #274 finally pulled into Mountain View station at 6:55. Oh well, o...

Double Sunset at the end of the first hot day of the year.

Artemis has no problems climbing the wall in the terrarium.