Having not had a proper day/weekend in the shed since Christmas (generally due to too much time being spent on the real thing), I managed to get a number of jobs done today, and have done far more than anticipated.

Over the past few weeks I've slowly but surely got the landscaping nearly finished and have made a start on putting down a bit of scenic cover. On Friday, a box arrived with 7 Packets of Peco Platform Edging along with some ramps, which I've been waiting on so I can make a start on the platforms. After measuring, cutting and setting some balsa wood blocks in place last night, the platforms sections were suitably moulded to shape and fixed into position.

Once reasonably firm, I moved my Airbrush compressor over to the layout so all of the trackwork could be sprayed up as I've found this is far quicker than painting individual rail sides with a paintbrush! I used a mix of H155 & H82 for the job and this gives a slightly rusty shade suitable for the rust, brake dust, oil and grime as per the prototype.

After this job, I measured up and cut up some Metcalfe Stone Card Sheets for the platform edges - the ones supplied are no good and from past experience they peel off eventually anyway! By midday, the platforms were in and ready for ballasting:

I hadn't intended to ballast the track up today, but after remembering I had two large tubs of fine granite chippings stashed away I made a start on it and glued the first section to make sure everything was OK.

After this, the rest of the ballast was put in place:

All the ballast has now been glued in place, so hopefully it will be dry in the morning!