C19ERR

My Real Hobby is Overthinking the Geometry of Sectional Track | Driveway ’22 Part 1

Truth be told, sectional track is the main reason I stayed awake in high-school math class. Once I realized that mathematics could answer important questions like “how close to the edge of the plywood will this loop be?” and “how long do I need to cut that fitter section?” it became much more relevant to me. To this day, I carry a calculator with trigonometry functions everywhere I go, just in case a track-planning emergency crops up. Thanks to my enhanced geometry skills, my first book—about track planning, naturally—was well along by graduation time. (I self-published it a year later.) When the time came over the winter of ’21-22 to design a replacement for the Covid-19 Emergency Railroad, I was rarin’ to go.

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The Essence of the Season

Don’t get me a present. Don’t even bother with a gift certificate. Skip the tree. Forget the decorations. A turkey sandwich and a beer will suffice for dinner. Please don’t make me listen to that Mariah Carey song. There’s only one thing I really, truly want at Christmas time: a few hours spent watching a train do laps in a dimly-lit room.

Well, okay…some cookies might be nice, too. (more…)

Running Trains at Twilight, in My Driveway, During a Pandemic, With Neighbors Watching

It’s been a weird summer. Society has been gradually opening back up, but large gatherings are still taboo, we’re all wearing masks when we’re out in public, and train-club meetings remain on Zoom. I’m starting to miss those things we used to call “events.” Because the recession came knocking at our shop, and slashed our workload, I now have four-day weekends to fill. The COVID-19 Emergency Railroad has been coming out a lot lately. (more…)