Warren's Trains Page

Welcome to my home page here on MyLargeScale.com! Some of my photos & slideshow galleries were down for a couple of months while I underwent a massive Web Host switch (switched to 1&1.com), but now I'm back for good! Here you'll find a wealth of info about my outdoor garden railway, the Bullfrog Las Vegas RR (scaled out to approximately 1/24th). You'll also get the keep up with the progress of the construction of my hobby workshop room, which is my main priority so I can start building locomotives & rolling stock for the BLVRR. Click on the links below to view online slideshow galleries to follow along with my work.

Some of my favorite online movies:

Several months after moving into our new home (where the layout is located in the above slideshow galleries), I was finally able to start building my hobby workshop room. Both my wife & I agreed that we did not want to ever have to move again, so I wanted something very permanent. I've tried to keep up with photos, so that hopefully someone might be inspired by my work or gain some ideas for their hobby workshop. My hobby room was a spare bedroom, converted into my workshop; it measured approximately 14 feet by 12 feet, with 9-foot high ceiling. I wanted to maximize my storage space for all of my model kits, as well as other hobby-related items (full-size & mini football helmets and facemasks; and of course, my G-scale trains and supplies).

I started off by removing the carpet in the room & closet, and my brother-in-law installed Brazilian Cherry laminate wood flooring; this way, any model parts or pieces that fall on the ground can be easily located. I retained the original baseboards, Wainscoting, and crown molding, as these would all be hidden by the cabinets and did not interfere at all with their installation. Also, in the VERY unlikely event that I ever had to convert this workshop back to a bedroom, at least all I had to do was to fill screw holes and touch-up paint, once the cabinets were all removed.

I bought unfinished Oak cabinets for the floor units from Lowes (14 units total), and stained them Red Mahogany once installed. I decided to build my own countertops with Formica laminate and 5/8-inch particle board, reinforced with steel angle and tubing. Then, I started building my own wall cabinets/shelves from 3/4-inch finish-grade plywood, as I wanted the wall cabinets to maximize the available space and cover the entire walls (360-degrees!). Each large corner cabinet and each large wall cabinet has adjustable shelving inside, which I drilled myself. I did leave about 3-inches of space between the tops of the wall cabinets and the ceilings, to allow the installation of crown molding and to allow wires to be run along the tops of the cabinets without being seen; I pre-wired the room for my old home theater surround-sound system, which will be updated with an LCD TV.

I insulated one of the bottom cabinets to house my old 20-gallon air compressor, and installed black iron pipe from the air compressor up to the spray booth for my airbrush. I also installed a moisture trap and filter/regulator, as well as an additional tap with quick-disconnect fitting for any possible future needs. I had to extend all lower wall electrical, phone, and cable TV outlets into the cabinets themselves, and then ran electrical outlet extensions along the countertops.

I trimmed out all plywood cabinets with various oak and pine trim pieces, which did much to improve the overall appearance. For the crown molding, I trimmed each plywood edge with a pine 1x3 stringer, and then installed the unfinished pine crown molding pieces with my electric nail gun. I had to build a notch around the room's smoke detector, since it was not easily moved (due to being tied into my home's alarm system).

Various storage and detail items have yet to be added, and photos will undoubtedly be posted here once available/completed.

The closet will also be redone, and feature floor-ceiling storage shelving.

Click on photos below for online slideshows of my hobby workshop room construction:

September 2006 -
June 2007

November-December 2007

December 2007

Something I've wanted to build for many years was a walkway based on the real mining railroad rail & ties (sleepers) I've had stockpiled. The rail is a mixture of 10-pound and 12-pound rail. I started by stripping off all the decorative landscape rock, rerouting & reburying all irrigation drip hoses, and digging out a shallow trench for the ties and underground pressure-treated 2x4 stringers. Also, I've sifted out all the native rocks from the dirt I dug out of the shallow trenches, and will dispose of the rocks later. The ties (sleepers) are placed on 18-inch centers, which gives me 12-inches between the ties and allows for 12-inch square pavers to be placed in between to complete the walkway. Now, it is a snap to wheel my lawnmower & other lawn implements from the front yard to the back and vice-versa, and I can showcase the rails & ties.

To finish the final portion, the walkway will have to make a 90-degree turn to the right to end at my driveway, which is also the entrance to my garages where all my lawn & yard implements are stored. The walkway consists of 12-lb rail, as I had originally considered making the final portion near the garage end to consist of 25-lb rail. Most of the 25-lb rail is bent and twisted severely, so it would have involved a LOT of serious work to rehab these rails to prepare them for use on the walkway. I priced real railbenders, and had a severe case of "Sticker Shock!" The least-expensive rail bender I could find that was suitable for 12-pound and 25-pound rail started at $3,000.00!!! And that's in US Dollars!! BUT, I did find a fantastic website with instructions on how to build my own rail bender, which is right down my alley: One Yard, Three Foot. I've found a 50-ton compact hydraulic jack to use for the rail bender at Harbor Freight Tools (just a few miles away!), but due to the price of plate steel I've decided to delay constructing a rail bender and instead obtained more 12-lb rail to complete the walkway (see the June 2008 slideshow below) and I used a section of 10-pound rail for the sharp curves near my garage, since 10-lb rail is very easily bent/curved. I've reinforced my bench-mounted vise in order to make some short bends, aided by notches cut into the rail webbing and plenty of heat from my cutting torch.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the slideshows below for construction progress of my Side Yard Walkway:

May 2008

June 2008

Once the hobby workshop above was constructed to the point where only finishing details were left (countertops, air pressure lines, electrical extensions & outlets), my wife and I decided to get started on our garage workshop. This was necessary to house my "heavy machinery": bandsaw, drill presses, welders, air compressor with air tools, and lathe. We specifically bought our new home with a 3-car garage, so I could convert the 3rd car parking area into my workshop. In the summer of 2006, I lucked into the purchase of 700 pounds of 5/8-inch particle board remnants from a custom cabinet job at a local lumber store; these remnants were all 18-24 inches wide and mostly 6 or 8 feet long (there were also several 10-foot long sections). I believed that these would be a perfect starting point for the garage workshop, as I could fishplate (boilerplate) the particle boards together for strength. The price was irresistible, only $75! I loaded all 700 pounds into my truck and carted it home for when construction could begin.

I started by laying down steel studs (2x4 size) on the ground in the area I wanted to start building my main workbench, in case water flooded our garage to prevent destruction of the particle board. This proved wise, as within a month our garage-located hot water heater blew up, flooding the garage with water. Luckily, the metal studs on the bottom prevented any damage to the now-extensive main workbench framework, and I only lost 2 or 3 sheets of particle board overall (not bad, considering!). I purchased some full-size sheets of particle board to put up a wall between the 3rd car portion of the garage and the main parking area of the garage, to keep dust, debris, and other nasties off our vehicles parked inside. Against this reinforced wall, I started framing out the workbench. I laid down 4 layers of fishplated particle board for the floor of the workbench, screwed and bolted together, then began installing the frame for the main workbench. The overall dimensions of the main workbench are 3-feet wide by 11-feet long, to provide the maximum workable counterspace possible along with maximum storage space beneath. For the crossmembers, I again fishplated 3 layers of particle board together, all screwed &bolted together. Reinforcement is provided by 2x2 stringers, which also provide mounting surfaces for the heavy-duty roller-bearing drawer sliders. For the cabinet doors, I used 4 European concealed hinges per door. I constructed the drawer & cabinet facings from particle board, and glued on pine trim strips all around for visual appeal.

The top consists of 3 layers of particle board, screwed and bolted together, and the same goes for the front and side facings. I finished off the basic construction by screwing on strips of 1-1/2 inch slotted angle steel to the top edges all the way around, to protect the particle board edges. All bare wood was primed, sealed, and painted. Since I am a huge NFL San Diego Chargers fan, I just had to paint the workshop in the Chargers' colors (Navy Blue, Gold, White, and portions of the wall in "throwback/retro" Powder Blue). Much detail painting remains to be done, including the opposite side of the workshop wall facing the main parking area which will be painted in NFL Green Bay Packers' colors (Green, Gold, and White) since my wife is a huge Brett Favre fan.

February - May 2007

June 2007

Coming soon!

I've got quite a few photos (both print & digital) that are just sitting around, so I decided to post as many as possible for the benefit of others. It will take me some time to get the print photos scanned & formatted, but I will post them when I can. Just click on the photos or links below and you will be able to browse photo pages with many more images than are shown here.