Ripping Out Some Scenery

Some time ago Master Modeller Jim Hutchinson built and gave me a model of the Glenapp Signal box.  The building of this model was documented in our Club magazine.  Well that great looking model has been sitting next to the track in the loop at Glenapp since early this year.  My issue was that the base scenery that I had created in that location did not exactly match the scenery required to locate the signal box and the various other buildings required for Glenapp Loop.  So on Saturday, I took the craft knife and cut out a 30cm section of scenery and re-made it flat so the signal box will be the correct height in relation to he track.  So I then replastered over the visible styrofoam and then painted it and then spread some dirt as a base for the scenery.  This was followed with some basic shades of green scatter and you would now not know that I had done any work on this area.  The Signal box is sitting perfectly on the newly flattened ground.  My next task is to design and build the other two major buildings and the small toilet block and the staff exchange platform.  I plan to complete these before the November Armidale Convention so I have something to take along.

 

Saturday afternoon I also spent some time looking at my Tillig dual gauge point in Acacia Ridge Yard (see first photo in last blog update) that was causing a short when it was thrown to the standard gauge only direction.  I could not work out why there was a short developing.  Overnight I must have been thinking about it in my sleep, so on Sunday I decided I needed to put an insulated joiner onto the entry side of the narrow gauge third rail.  So today after a bit of effort, ripping up the track so I could remove the metal joiner and install the plastic insulated joiner, I gave it a test run with my Eureka CPH railmotor.   Believe it or not, this solution fixed the issue!  The CPH has to make a few trips around this location in my standard timetable, so it was great to see it was now runable.  However, the CPH derailed in the frog area point.  So after checking with just a standard gauge bogie being rolled through the point, and with it also derailing, I resorted to the standard solution to this kind of issue.  I installed a piece of styrene to the back of the check rail with my trusty styrene glue.  I used a set of tweezers and carefully put the styrene strip in place and reran the CPH.  Just like a bought one.

 

While being on the track bandwagon, I decided to install the last point and point motor into the Loco Pilly area.  Being a Peco electrog frog point, I installed two insulated joiners on the middle two rails and then installed  track jumpers to these rails from the outer rails.  The point motor was wired up to the common supply and I installed the two wires that will go back to my DS64 point controller.  I have yet to screw these two wires into the vacant terminals of the DS64.  That will be a job for next weekend.

 

Also on Sunday I also did a bit of work trying to manufacture what looks like some concrete culverts out of plaster over the top of some pipes I had previously installed under the track on the lead in to Cassino Station. I made up four of these in situ over the pipes.  I will haev to paint them so they don't appear to be too white, but overall i'm happy with what I had occomplished.

 

Those followers who hang out for an update every sunday night will be disappointed.  The reason that my update is a few hours late is that Blogger would not let be on to do an update on Sunday evening, so I had to wait until Monday morning to do this post.  I could get onto the Blog, but just not create a new post.  But all seems OK now.