D&RGW narrow gauge: Back to scenics.

[JZ]

All the DAS papier mache has been removed, still nowhere near dry. My replacement for Scultamold should have been here this morning, or maybe not. Email from DHL last night to say they had collected and it would be delivered today. Check the tracking this morning and it says it's delayed and would now be next working day, Tuesday. So I change it to deliver to neighbour. A few minutes later I get the email confirming this. Go the their tracking to find out it's in transit and would be delivered today.

Your parcel's journey

DateTimeMessage

14th April 202210:14Your parcel 4XXX29200XXX33 is due to be delivered on Tuesday 19th April 2022

14th April 202208:33We're sorry but the delivery of your shipment has been delayed. We expect to deliver on the next working day

13th April 202216:19Your parcel 41812920010833 has been collected

But above this is: We're sorry but we do not appear to have received your consignment from the sender.

 

This is the second time in two deliveries from DHL that has gone wrong.

 

Enough.

Back to the layout.

With the high line finished to the trestle, it was time to build the other side.

Rather than have a river disappear into the backscene, a second river will drop over a waterfall behind the steel trestle and form a confluence with the main one and drop off the edge of the, mmmmm, well it's hardly a baseboard, but you get what I mean. A campsite will sit on the front of the gorge.

 

[JZ]

Bit more Scultamold and a bit more paint.

I've added a bit more since this was taken.

 

I've been asking about options for water, but yet to get a reply. I have used E-Z Water in the past, but on a much smaller scale than this, but this time I don't need to get a look of depth. As can be seen in this picture I took in 2019, the fast moving water stirs up sediment and is fairly opaque.

So I'm probably going to go for an epoxy type and have a layer 2-3mm thick. For the base colour, Farrow & Ball Emerald Green appears a good match for the deeper water, with Arsenic blended around the edges. I've used Farrow & Ball match pots a lot in this build, great range of colours and their match pots are a decent size and most importantly, available at my local, independent hardware shop.

The tree near the centre of the shot is a good 'prototype for everything' sticking out the bank at 45°.

Work will shortly grind to a halt for a few days. I have one mix of Sculptamold left, though DHL now say that they do have my package and it will be delivered today. But as it's now 7:30pm, I think maybe not. Also waiting for some thin, 10mm, expanded foam sheets which will help layer the camping ground and once over the trestle, the first small township.

[JZ]

Painted the river this morning.

Than added some rocks that will protrude through the resin once poured.

Mobile phone is a wonderful tool to use to look at those hard to see places. The holes in the right cliff have now been filled.

Looking down from the camping ground. The left wall needs some more texture. As can been seen in the next photo.

Probably going to add more rocks to the base of that wall too.

Looking back from the other end.

A waterfall will come over the edge between the rocks behind the trestle.

And this will be the fall that drops into the gorge.

Not so much a single drop, more a cascade. A while ago, I bought some white water rafters from Noch. As I wrote this, I realised that I will need to make some sort of path down from the camp for their access to the river. White Water Rafting started in the early 1950s or earlier, so fits in with my timeline.

 

[JZ]

Back in 2016, I visited the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. To get to the foot of the main falls, there is something akin to a fire escape. It's a bl%dy long way down, about 450 steps. So that gave me an idea for the descent down to the river. So two packs of Walther HO fire escape have been purchased. I will add a clifftop viewing platform with a hoist for lowering the raft.

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by JZ
spelling

[pH]

32 minutes ago, JZ said:

Back in 2016, I visited the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. To get to the foot of the main falls, there id something akin to a fire escape. It's a bl%dy long way down, about 450 steps. 

It’s not the 450 steps down that’s the problem - it’s the 450 steps back up! Especially since they’re at an elevation of over 7000 feet.

[JZ]

2 hours ago, pH said:

It’s not the 450 steps down that’s the problem - it’s the 450 steps back up! Especially since they’re at an elevation of over 7000 feet.

Absolutely. Slow and steady was my method. Many that passed me on the way up, were passed themselves by half distance.

[DGO]

Re your DHL messages, We're sorry but we do not appear to have received your consignment from the sender. is the usual message you get if they turn up to collect a bunch of packages from the sender and not all of them were ready for pickup. Another one is something like "your package arrived late and will go out on the next shipment" which usually means it arrived too late at the local hub to go out on todays courier list, but it might actually still arrive today, as sometimes they send out a second van to meet up with the local delivery guy part way round his route ... Still could be worse before DHL we used to use Parcelforce, it's fine in the UK but in Europe they use a right bunch of idiots, one very expensive parcel went missing and another got run over by the couriers truck, you could see tyremarks on the box !

[JZ]

For the camping ground, I purchased this Busch set.

Two Airstream caravans, some benches and tables, fence and information hut. Oh, and a few small trees.

I also have a WS scout camp and, hopefully, another small caravan(on ebay now). Probably ignore the entrance sign and make my own for the hut. A bit of research was done for the gas bottles and appears from period photos that the are white or very pale grey, rather than the silver on the model box.

While I know that many modellers would have just modelled the one side of the gorge, I do like to finished thigs off and I feel it make for more photo opportunities and it will make any visitors look around corners.

[JZ]

My alternative to Sculptamold arrived Tuesday and with a day off today, I was able to get on and try it. A few pros and cons. It dries more quickly, which is both a pro and a con, meaning you need to mix smaller quantities, but it can be painted after around 45 minutes, whereas Sculptamold needs a more thorough drying. Once mixed it turns grey, as it uses finely shredded newspaper(you get odd bits of colour and the occasional letter), it is also grey once dry. It is also denser. I've used 2 kilos this morning and it doesn't seem to go as far as a 1.36 kilo bag of Sculptamold. And, finally, the bags that the Scultamold comes in are easily resealable, unlike this stuff.

[JZ]

So, using the alternative, I finished the front wall of the gorge. Apart from a bit more paint to bring out some texture, I won't be adding any more 'rocks' as it mostly cannot be seen.

Using a can of expanding foam a builder neighbour gave me, I added something to the waterfall area and covered it with some plaster bandage supplied by a nurse neighbour. It's out of date, so couldn't be used medically.

From rail to water is a scale 95ft.

Getting some idea of the layout of the campsite. Trying to give the impression that this is just the edge of a larger site. I have smoothed the roadway with plaster and will sprinkle it with very fine sand.

The other areas will be grassed.

The small pond is something I have had lying around for years. I'll be adding some children with their fishing poles.

The Willys camper is a bit modern for my time period, so I am looking to find a 1959 Ford pick-up for the body to go on. Also need to get some plywood for the edging to finish it off neatly.

I found some Scultamold at a very reasonable price and ordered 3 bags.

Edited April 21, 2022 by JZ

[JZ]

 bit more scenic work done this morning and then had a bit of a play.

 

[JZ]

Put a few rock castings on the waterfall wall.

Going to need some dense forestry on the right, otherwise it may end up a bit like a Yes album.

©Roger Dean/Yes.

 

Rock casting are stick on using No More Nails and hot glue. Must remember to put the scalpel down when screwing the nozzle on a new tube.

Bu99er.

In the meantime, I wait for my Scultamold. The replacement is OK for some things, but the more rapid setting time can be a right pain the the arse. Also, the Sculptamold is much easier to work with your fingers to get a nice smoothish finish. This stuff clings.

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by JZ
Spelling: No More Nils makes it look like I have a thing against Norwegians.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Ooh, painful!  i just wondered, do you have an up-to-date layout design / track plan?  If I remember correctly there were some changes early on and may have been more since.  Just wondered - fantastic the way it’s coming together, Keith.

[JZ]

1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Ooh, painful! 

It was a brand new blade in the scalpel. Didn't notice until my hand was getting sticky.

1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

I just wondered, do you have an up-to-date layout design / track plan?  If I remember correctly there were some changes early on and may have been more since.  Just wondered - fantastic the way it’s coming together, Keith.

Still not got around to doing one. To be honest, this side of the layout is still evolving in my head. Off the trestle will be a small township with a mine, maybe a couple of spurs. Then the line will loop towards the centre of my usable space. Then back with another small town, this time with a single road loco shed and turntable and several spurs. Got to have somewhere to park my stock. Maybe a stockyard. Mmmmmm... Banta?

[JZ]

The last photo I put up before RMweb crashed, was this kit I built of Forks Creek Depot.

Today this picture was posted in one of the Colorado NG groups I am in.

[JZ]

Time for 'Picture of the month'.

A pair of newly outshopped K-28s. 478 & 476 on June 28 1968 at Romeo Junction.

476 has been converted to oil firing, while 478 is at present in the museum at Durango awaiting overhaul and conversion.

Originally there were 10 loco's in the class, built by ALCO. Seven were purchased by the US Army in 1942 for use on the White Pass & Yukon. Unsuitable for winter conditions on the line, the counterweights would ride up on ice at the side of the line, causing derailments. All seven were withdrawn in 1944 and shipped to Seattle in 1946 and scrapped. The three remaining loco's, 473/6/8, are owned by the Durango & Silverton.

The Oahu Railway and Land Company in Hawaii was impressed with the K-28 and ordered four locomotives of the same design which were delivered in 1925 and 1926. These were identical in specification but oil-fired and with minor differences in fittings (slightly shorter tender with an oil tank in place of the coal bunker, smokebox front, air compressor location, headlamp, etc.)

 

A K-28 is the one remaining loco I want for the layout.

Edited May 1, 2022 by JZ

[JZ]

Going up to Thornbury for the Bristol show later. I had planned to go by public transport, but find the direct bus from Bristol Parkway no longer operates and now the bus stop is 12 (or 17, depends where you look) minutes walk away. Probably one of those things done 'for your convenience'. There is a bus from Parkway, but it involves a change that appears not to connect directly ( or drekly, as they say in Brizzle). With the change in the weather, I though sod that, I'll drive.

 

Next Sunday is the Slim Gauge Guild meet in Rugby, so an early start to get the best offerings from the sales stand, not that there's anything I want, but we all say that and come away with much more than we bargained for.

[JZ]

Picked up a few scenics at the Bristol show and saw some good layouts.

Back into the shed this afternoon and after picking up my plywood for the facias yesterday, it was time to start fitting.

And slapped the first coat of paint on the rock wall. A very thin wash of black will highlight it

Doing behind the trestle bents is a pain, but liberal use of shrubbery will come to my aid.

[JZ]

After painting in the track through the campsite, this afternoon I got some static grass down.

Still to vacuum it all up as the vacuum ran out of battery. A few more trees will be dotted around and a proper fence needs to go around. Probably build something like this I saw between Antonito and Durango.

It will take more than a couple of packets of cocktail sticks.

 

[JZ]

In the end it took 1¼ packets. I cut the main timbers 10' long (35mm). The posts are made from the ends. I made up a jig for spacing and have drilled the holes ready. At the moment the sticks are drying after being stained. I used mainly one colour, with a few done in different shades. Made up some veils of water for the falls using WWS products. Maybe pop out again later and give the falls area a coat of gloss Mod Podge before installing the veils.

[pH]

Cariboo fencing doesn’t have posts, so no drilling needed:

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/HpQbUc1ARm41yG958

Edited May 6, 2022 by pH
Spellchecker!

[JZ]

1 hour ago, pH said:

Cariboo fencing doesn’t have posts, so no drilling needed:

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/HpQbUc1ARm41yG958

I took a picture of this type of fencing, but cannot find it. I might use this style elsewhere on the layout, but will stick to the other for the campsite.

This turned up in the post this morning.

Wanted to get hold of this for a while, but it doesn't seem to be available in Europe. Put it on my watch list and the seller made on offer of 50% of his original asking price, which was already the cheapest for the item and postage. Only took 7 days from California. Amazing as it came USPS.

 

Put the gloss Mod Podge on the falls, but it doesn't show.

Probably look better when I sort out new lighting for this side of the room. And of course, when the 'water' is added.

Talking of water, the riverbed is almost ready for the pour of resin.

Might still add a few more rocks and some dead fall.

[JZ]

Family barbecue this afternoon, so not much done this morning. But I did get some work done on the campsite.

[JZ]

Trip up to Rugby today for the Slim Gauge Guild spring meet. Two layouts today, but only one was operating while I was there, there other had 'technical' issues. This one was On30 and based on the the Sandy River & Rangely Lakes RR.

 

[JZ]

Another few layers added to the high waterfall.

And to the  other one.

I've now poured a layer of gloss Mod Podge. Once this is dry, I will pour resin over this before adding more white highlights.

I have popped the bubbles.

Edited May 9, 2022 by JZ