Some time ago, I commented that the idea of using fomecore as a roadbed material was not as successful as I’d hoped it would be. Unfortunately, I was not able to show a really good picture of just what went wrong. However, after an unfortunate incident this past weekend at Kimberton involving the module, a small girl and the concrete floor, I’ve got a great shot to illustrate the problem. (For those keeping score, the floor won, the little girl came in second, and the module lost).

Warped Fomecore roadbed

Anyway, despite having applied a layer of glue across the full surface of the sheet, it is pulling away from the plywood sub-roadbed. The plan to correct the issue is a two-parter. First, I’m going to try using staples to hold the foam down. Then I’ll re-scenic around the foam.

I took a few pictures at the show, which you can see here.

Kimberton was nice and relaxed — a little smaller than previous years. I didn’t pick up much, except for a few pairs of SR&RL freight car trucks, and a couple of really nice older books on the WW&F — Big Dreams and Little Wheels by Ruby Crosby Wiggin and The WW&F Two-Footer by Clinton F. Thurlow. The both contain some info and photographs I hadn’t seen before, and the price was great.

We debuted a few new modules this time around. The modules that Sean Heath and I built as Maryland Minibunch modules some years back came back to me from John Weigel’s layout a couple weeks back, and Kevin Hunter and I built some new legs for them and we got them running for the weekend. The still need a bit of renovation, but they did generate a lot of interest.

Kevin Hunter and I drove up together with our modules. I recently put a hitch on the van, and used it to haul all of our stuff. The old van took us up there just fine — almost. Just about 15 minutes before we arrived, it started misfiring. I called the local Ford dealer to see about it getting fixed, but they didn’t have parts, and were completely booked. In any event, the van got us home just fine, so I’ll take it in next week.

In other news, Corinna & Southern Forneys #9 and #10 have been sent to the Big Horn & Moose Drool shops for a little dress-up. Other locos will be following as time permits.