Bonalbo Ballast Siding Scenicing

Today I got down to the shed and spread a base covering of dirt around inside the Bonalbo Ballast Siding.  I then put a bit of greenery around just outside the fence line.  I intend to make the area just outside the line a bit of a swampy area.  There might be some long reeds and a few ducks and water birds around as well.  There might be a couple of kids also mucking around in this area.  That was all I intended to do today.  I went up stairs and then decided to go back down to the shed and watch the Grand Prix there.  So I then decided to drill the holes for the placing of the 12 foot chain wire fence.

 

This photo shows the depression area that will become a small swamp in the area between the fence and the track in the distance.  The building is one of the many created by Mike Boyde.  It does not really fit in but I just really need to find a place on the layout to locate this as a tribute to Mike's friendship and inspiration over the years.  If it doesn't go here, it might do in the area around Kyogle.

Over the next few weeks, I will have to try and find a few servo motors on Ebay that I might be able to mount under the layout and attach so the gates can actuate when a ballast trains needs to shunt the sidings.

 

I still have some more scenicing to do within the compound, between the tracks, and on the other side of the tracks next to the wall.  I will then create a few ballast piles so the heavy equipment will be able to load the ballast wagons from.  I also have to add the rails to the fence and then follow up with the wire mesh and cotton to simular the barbed wire on the top of the fence.

 

Here are some photos of the Bonalbo Ballast Sidings.

This shot shows the depth of the Bonalbo Ballast Siding complex.

The gates for the entry into the area are just sitting there at the moment.  The catch point are just inside the gates.

This shows the overall the picture of the Bonalbo Ballast Siding complex.  The fence on the right was just removed from an old module from the Old Cassino layout and placed straight onto the layout.  It fits just right.

I will continue working in this area over the next few weekends.