Train Table and Screen Door

A few days after the van project, my big brother Fred arrived from Arizona. The projects this time were a ginormous model train table and a custom eight-foot-high screen door for his house in Prescott Valley. He had come up with a clever design that would allow the big train layout to be folded up and rolled to the side of the garage to make room for the car.

My first task was 3D renderings using Sketchup.

The "Wings" were four feet wide by eight feet long, making this thing ten and a half feet wide by eight feet long.  That's a lot of model trains.

We were able to build the parts in my shop, but to attach the wings, we had to move outside, and then could only set the hinges on one wing at a time.

Once the train table was done, we moved on to the screen door, which we made out of two layers of nice poplar hardwood.  We had planned to take another trip to town to buy the wood, but that would have been about a 90-mile round trip and would have killed half a day, no doubt.

Luckily, Brian had left enough wood here from the van project to save us a long drive.

Projects complete, we loaded up for the trip to Arizona.

This is where Fred really shines.  Anything electrical or electronic.

He designed the front panel and had it printed on metal. 
Mesa Lines was the name our dad used on his train layouts.
Keeping the tradition alive.

When we got to Arizona, we set the table up in Fred and Gayle's garage. This should keep him occupied for quite some time.

Rolled against the wall, it's only about 3 feet wide and leaves plenty of room for the car.

New screen door and happy wife

If you're interested in following Fred's progress on the new train layout, check out his new blog at: https://fredstraintable.blogspot.com/

Da Van

For the last three weeks we've been working on buddy Brian's Sprinter van.
It's starting to look like a little motor home!

The Picture Window

Nothing initiates an expensive new vehicle like cutting a giant hole in the side.

Looks "Factory" to me.

 The Galley

The gray box is an electric refrigerator/freezer

Nice big sink and induction cooktop

The faucet has a long hose and will double as a shower, once he gets the sheet-metal shower pan built. 

The pan will pull out from under the galley counter.

Flip-up extra counter space.
Small water heater peeking out from under the bed

The new aromatic cedar ceiling with LED can lights

The Dining Room

Brian is calling the van Buck, after the main character in The Call of the Wild, a dog who goes from a relatively cushy life to adventures in the wild - a good analogy for the van life.

So we gave Ol' Buck a good place in the new table

The Bedroom

The bed and table can be removed in minutes if the van needs to haul big things.

The raised floor hides a surfboard!

The Bathroom

The toilet box will get a cushion and be a seat for dining.

Composting toilet, which I thought might be a pain, but it has a powered vent system and can go up to two months before emptying!  Try that with your RV holding tank!

The Library

Brian's nifty automated locking system to keep books in place

Once the bar is in the slot, gravity drops the little locking piece in place.

The Control Panel

This van has four big lithium batteries, an inverter, solar on the roof, and more electronics than the Space Shuttle!

330-watt solar panel flat on the roof.

...Barely visible from the ground

The Garage

He who dies with the most toys wins...

 The Man, the Myth, the Legend