Okay, 13 working hours in to the project....

First, I hit a snag - namely code 75 track & code 100 pointwork.. B...ER! However I was off to Alton Model Centre
on Friday anyway, so resolved the issue by buying a new Code 75 'three-way' point (it was only later I realised
it would have been cheaper to replace the plain track... Ho Hum!).

So, on to construction. all the goods rolling stock will be built from kits. They'll all be pretty much 'out of
the box', except the buffer-beams will be modded to take '3-link' couplings. I'm a sucker for punishment, but the
operation allows a certain amount of 'thinking time' - and in anycase I love 'mucking about with trucks'! Where
neccessary I'll also swap plastic buffing gear for brass/whitemetal.

So - wagon 1

Bog-standard 'Parkside Dundas' (PD) 7-pl PO wagon. Will eventually be liveried to run on the 'Ambridge Layout'
(yes it WILL happen one day!). About an hour's work.

Wagon 2

'Cooper Craft' GWR 'O5' (well, 'Gods Wonderful' has to have a presence- but there's more to follow....)

Wagon 3

Another 'PD' - this time a 5-plank PO

So after those first three, a scenic break... I KNOW Shunting puzzles are traditionally 'one-board' jobs -
but I'm also a traditionalist & like to see a train enter & leave the scene.. I knew I wouldn't have time to
scratchbuild the buildings etc so whilst at Alton I bought some 'Metcalfe Models', the first of which
is an overbridge -

Interestingly, there are TWO kits in the pack - which started another 'train' of thought... More later...
About 30 minutes work and

I could check the effect. Its quite a TALL bridge...

So on with the wagons, and No.4 is

a PD 'LNER 'VacFit'

Another scenic break and a slight digression... A few days ago, when doing something else I was
introduced to an acrylic material called 'wadding'. I bought some from a local 'craft' shop and then
started the playing process.

Trial 1 -

Glued to the board using latex adhesive, when dry, colour with artists acrylics using a 'dry brushing
technique

Trial 2

As trial (1) but a different colour!

Trial 3

Lightbulb moment (It's now about 10 hours into the project and VERY late at night...) PAINT THE BASE
BOARD FIRST...

I went to bed...

Full -scale trial. Front edge of the board, base painted, wadding applied. Just waiting for it
to dry before peeling some of it off (Its about 5mm thick) then painting as above.

So on with wagon 5 -

Slaters LMS van. Bog standard. Another hours work.

So then more scenics. Remember that 2nd bridge??

Well, I chopped it down a bit...

About six scale feet to be precise. Much better, and

This is it roughly in position. Now a story-line starts to appear. THIS bridge is a CANAL
bridge. The canal served a small basin, but has suffered the fate of many, in that it has
been filled in to become a small sidings area. The canal bed has now become the
track bed! When I'm 'playing on my own, I now have the ability to run trains in either
direction.

I'm also now thinking about the operation of the 'shunting challenge'. I'll just create a
series of 'business cards', with images of the individual vans on. These can be shuffled
to provide a 'train order' for the shunting the outbound train...

More later!

Regards

Ian