Killing time waiting for the modelling clay ballast to dry on the left of the yard, I made myself a few wagon-loads of various minerals for my POA wagons. Cut an oblong of card or plasticard to fit the Open, mould a lump from floral foam and glue it to the former. Paint, or cover with glue and chippings:
The wagon on the outer left has two, incorrectly shaped, 'heaps' glued to a base, unpainted. My first attempt, this will be re-done. The inner left is an exper
Having waited a week for the modelling clay to dry, on closer examination I see my method of squashing and scraping with my thumb a large lump of modelling clay across and into the track has caused the sleepers to move and distort:
My how I laughed! Thankfully, this was done for only one-third of the layout. For the right hand sidings (general merchandise) I will make little 'sausages' and cut them off to push down into the sleeper gaps. For the passenger statio
Spent Wednesday covering everything with what looked like Cornish china clay, but was far less romantic: Hobbycraft air-drying modelling clay. It gets everywhere. However, I filled the 'four foot' almost to my satisfaction, and must now pluck up courage to attempt not to glue up a point. Thankfully, it takes about a fort-night to dry, and it is freezing cold and snowing outside, so a good reason to find something else to do, or at least start wondering whether the cracks will show under a cou
Snow is falling, which is reason enough to assume air-dried modelling clay will not cure properly in a freezing cold garage as ballast, so I have put the viaduct passenger station frame in situ, and come indoors for a cup of tea and an early brandy paanee. The station, of which one will see little of the building, is to be my homage to Mr William Baker's 1865 London Broad Street, the memory of whose derelict, un-loved, Renaissance atmosphere still haunts me. Quite whether it will be worthy, on
An A.B.S./Speedlink day to-day. The coal bins have been painted, and thanks to Oasis bought before the latest confinement, some mounds of minerals have been put into them: three piles of 'coal' painted an undercoat of black, and various mounds of 'aggregates', one coated in Woodland Scenics medium buff ballast. Two more 'green mounds' await painting.
The coal merchant's top-loader is fitted with a bodged, larger, shovel from Plasticard, with a 'weights' box added to the
The model world is awash with 'shunting planks', I know, but I hope my design might be of interest to a few readers, and maintaining this diary might spur me to keep working on the layout. The track plan (9'6" x 2'6") is thus:
[PICT2209 DESTROYED]
The red line denotes the boundary between the two levels. Inspired by a diagram by Iain Rice, I can claim no credit for the ideas. I am working on the lower layout at the moment:
[PICT2204 DESTROYED]
Apart from problems with 0-6-0 shunters stalling on the 3-way 'king' point, all is going well with the layout so far. Thus tempting fate, I hope to start sawing the plywood sides of the viaduct level to-day, plus re-number a Dapol '73', and try and see where the shunters are losing power on the afore-mentioned point. I posed some rolling stock this morning for a 'vacuum-braked wagon-load' photo-shoot to send to a chum, which might be of interest, working along the layout from 'north to south':
