Ok, so maybe I didn't actually build a bridge. However, the bridge has been built and I can finally get over it.

It's been a busy few weeks for me in the train room. My neighbour has installed the bridge across the doorway for me and I have managed to complete the 2 lower circuits of the railway as well as half of the fiddle yard. Now the fun can really begin, Ballasting! Any volunteers want to come around and help (do it for me)? Given that about a third of the lower level will be in a tunnel, I guess it isn't really that big a job. Of course, there is still the upper level to be sorted out but that's another blog entry to come.

I've found that the biggest trap now is that, now that I can, I just want to run trains so I have to try and resist the urge as long as possible when I'm out here. I'm just chuffed that I can sit and let rains run while I mess about . I have found a happy medium to the dilemma though. I have a work train running while I work. Once I finished the first circuit, I made up a train of three open wagons, a bolster wagon, and a well wagon all hauled by my Bachmann Pannier 5700 class pannier. The bolster wagon carries long lengths of rail which is purely for looks more than anything but the three open wagons actually serve a purpose. One has the track nails in it, one has sleepers that have been cut off and the third has any small off cuts of rail left over from track laying. I'm sure there must be a use for them so I'll hang on to them for now.

One thing I am fortunate enough to posses is a tack hammer that has a "T" shaped head on it which has a magnet in one end. This has proved its worth time and time again 'when it comes to dropped track nails. simply flip the hammer over and the magnet does the job that my slightly large fingers cannot. It also means that I don't have to stop the work train every time I want some more nails. I simply wait for it to trundle past, dip the magnet into the carriage as it passes and Viola! a half dozen or so nails stick to it and the train continues on its merry way. I just have to remember to make sure I use the right end to drive the nails in.

Ok, enough about my shenanigans with trains and track laying. On the modelling bench, things have been a bit quiet but not entirely at a standstill. I have partly built Metcalfe station platform which I'm tossing up between using for the main station or the branch line. I am leaning toward the branch line at this time as the mainline will be a large station which will require more than the on kit if I do use a Metcalfe kit.

Another little project that happened quite out of the blue (that seems to happen a lot here) is a cenotaph for the eventual village that I plan to have one day. After some years Mrs Milkman and I have started on a project of dressing up our rather plain internal doors by the simple expedient of adding some decorative beading squares to them. Of course, this meant cutting a lot of triangle pieces off the end of the beading the get the angles right and I found myself thinking about what I could do with all of the off cuts. I found that, if you place four of them together, you get what looks like the stepped base of a cenotaph memorials in some towns. I figure that, by gluing them together and with the addition of the square end of a chopstick (the irony is not lost on me here) followed by paint and weathering, it should look quite good. Stay tuned for future updates.

That actually means that I now have four unfinished projects on the bench at t his time Problem is, I am trying to source scarce parts for most of them with the exception of the grounded coach body which is just stalled while I think about the next move with it.

The off cuts of beading from our interior decorating

And how they look when glued together.

The bridge with the two tracks across it.
I still have to cut the tracks in order to make it removable so, for now, I have to practice my limbo skills when entering or leaving the room.

Half of the fiddle yards.
I used Peco setrack points here as it will eventually be hidden and they are a lot cheaper. I also used a number of Setrack straights that I had around and save the flextrack for other work.

The "Works train"

Playtime!!
While I was typing this entry, I had these three tootling around across the top of my work bench. After all, all work and no play.......