It is not every day that when I am asked what I have been doing that I am able to answer "weathering cows". I had that opportunity today so I grabbed it with both hands. 

My original plan included the possibility of a cattle dock. The time has come. The cattle dock is going in the original planned location at the back to the right. 

I want to make most of the features on the layout either scratch built, or made from less familiar kits, in the hope that it will look a little different. I therefore considered scratch building a cattle dock. I looked at how to make the fencing and came to the conclusion that an etch would be the best option. For the gates I thought plastic but it is difficult to fashion such things from scratch in N gauge. As for the platform there are many options but Peco platform edgings seemed like a good option. As I reviewed the options I realised that I was pretty much describing the Ratio cattle dock so this time I decided to swallow my pride and buy the kit. 

The kit goes together easily. I did however find the lights difficult to make. The posts are very delicate. I managed to snap 2, one while clipping off the sprue with clippers designed for the purpose, the other with a paint brush. I managed to fix them both with Mek Pak! Perhaps 2mm is  bit beyond me these days with my aging eyes. The finished kit is shown below plonked on the layout in the intended position. I will have to fix it permanently to deal with the gap at the base. I used a slightly unusual configuration for the gate positions to ensure cattle could be loaded from both pens on this very short siding. It is weathered in a lime washed state complete with weathered Graham Farish cows. The photo tells me that I will also need to blend in the lime washed state to the track and hide the join between the steps and the platform.