The Mountain Men Visited

On Tuesday this week we all assembled at Barnacle Bob’s place for our fortnightly Tuesday night get together.  We were all interested in seeing what new features Bob had implemented on Mosquito Creek.  There is always lots of little tweaks and occasionally new scenes to admire.  More on that later as I will post some photos from that evening.

On Friday I went down to the shed and did a bit of a tidy up.  I took the Peco track rubber to the track and managed to remove lots of glue and paint from the rails from a considerable number of locations on the layout.  The reason was that I did a considerable amount of scenery work across a number of locations on the layout over the last few months.  I however did not run any trains, and in particular my track cleaning train.  My track cleaning train is made up of two wagons with a metal weight with a chucks wipe rolled around the weight, and it semi spins in the middle of the wagon and does clean a lot of muck off the track.

The Mountain Men, Bill and Steve came down from Toowoomba on Saturday morning and were joined by Darren, Geoff and Brendan at my place around 10:00am.  This was the first visit for Steve and the first in quite a while for Bill.  I think even Darren, Geoff and Brendan saw some new scenes.  In particular some updates to my Park Road Trans-shipment Shed, complete with working lights and junk scattered in and around it.  I also showed off some A4 printed photos that PK stitched together for me.  A couple of years ago, we visited Glenapp signal box and had a talk to Rob and Den on a Saturday afternoon.  While there I took a series of photos of the mountain backdrop behind the crossing loop.  So now I am trying to use it.  I printed a series of the photos myself, and stuck them together end-to-end but they were not going together too well.  Differnet heights where they joined etc.  So I called for the help of an expert.  But one was not available, so I got PK instead to use his magic to stitch the photos together with his programs and then I printed them in a number of combinations, landscape, portait, etc.

PK's efforts in stitching my photos together

Today after watching the last session the NMRA-X online, and having a talk in the chat room, and then watching the NMRA Awards Show, I finally got down to the shed.  I decided to loop some wire around the four gates in the Lismore Gas Siding, and tied the gates to the adjacent fencepost.  This technique allows the gates to swing.  Next task was to apply white glue to the posts and rails of the front side fence of the Lismore Gas Siding.  I then place some painted tuile on the glue and let it dry.

The next task was to then take some of the stitched together versions and cut them down to remove the white boundaries on the printed A4 page, tape them together and attached them to the wall of the shed behind Glenapp Crossing Loop.  I then added another version of the photos to the end of the first multi page print and it sort of goes together and does not look too much out of place.  However, someone really looking at the scene will identify that this is not one continuous print.  I was most impressed with the end result.

And just because I can, I will post a series of photos from Bob's Mosquito Creek from Tuesday Night.

Sawmill with a blackboard outside the office

A couple of tree loppers after they got stuck into a tree

Koala running across the road

A load of ballast being dumped

The gate to the grain terminal.  The card swipes on either side of the gate are fantastic.

A gate onto the railway property.

Pigeons having a feed.

A humpy with an incinerator and a pot belly stove.  On top of the stove is a stove top kettle and a frypan with bacon and eggs cooking in it

The cement truck doing a concrete pour.  The bowl even rotates

The mangroves beside the creek.

The car that drove off the jetty is being retrieved.  

The undertakers are ready to take possession of the body. when it is removed from the car

The local pub getting a delivery of a keg or a dozen.

The local funeral home, I Burium Funerals.

A few bin chickens.  The future mascot for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games - Barry the bin chicken.

Bush turkeys

A local service station, with air and water for the locals.

This post is early today as I will be a little worse for wear tonight after some birthday drinks this arvo.  So better safe than sorry.

Lismore Speed-e-gas Facility

On Friday afternoon I started cutting out a number of railway speed signs and supergluing these to a wire post.  Saturday this week I picked up a tin of paint at the local hobby shop and came home and painted my flying pig from Miniprints.  It turned out OK.  I then installed just two of the numerous speed signs that I made.  The two that got installed were put at Border Loop, and I also installed three small trees near the Signalman’s house.  Next task was to add tuile as chain wire to 9 adjustable/moveable gates in various chain wire fences on the layout.  I measured up a piece of tuile and cut it out.  I then applied aquadhere to the styrene gates and stuck the tuile to the gates.  Next step was to drill some holes in the ground to finish installing the split post and rail fence from Baker’s Farm to the Rocla Sleeper Siding.

On Thursday this week my AMRM magazine arrived in the mail.  Upon scanning through the pages, I saw an article on a Gas unloading facility.  It made me want to revisit my gas unloading facility at Lismore.  When I looked at my structure, I realised that it had not been painted.  So that changed on Saturday.  My unloading facility did not yet have a fence around it.  So that also changed.  I found 4 styrene gates that I had made up many years ago, and installed them on the front and back of the unloading facility.  I also went looking for some spare 10’ high chain wire fence posts.  I found some white metal ones from a kit.  But I would normally make my own from 1.2mm or 1.6mm styrene rod, which I bend into shape and paint silver for making it look like galvanised steel.  I added the rails made from styrene painted grey, which had been sitting in the Rocla Sleeper Siding for a number of years and were excess to that area's fencing needs.

Today I added chain wire (Tuile) to 4 more gates.  I installed about 13 fence posts around the Lismore gas unloading structure.  I also spread a bit of scenery and ballast around the gas unloading areas and the areas towards the Murwillumbah end of the station yard.  I still have some more ballasting and a small amount of scenery to complete the area behind Lismore station.  A task that I need to complete, maybe during the week, or even next Friday evening, is to install the wire on the fence around the Lismore gas unloading structure.  I also need to use a fine amount of wire to tie the top of the swinging gate to the nearby post, so that the gates actually can be opened and closed to protect the unloading wagon.  All my gates in various sidings around the layout are operable.  I will then need to find some signs to put on the gates for when the wagon is there and unloading.  I also had had to go looking for a wagon to use as match truck, to allow the loco to place the gas wagon into the correct location without the loco entering the actual siding.  I found an old scratchbuilt NOCY that I made many years ago.  For now that will do.  I realised that I might have to locate an uncoupling magnet between the rails in this location so the gas wagon can be placed in the compound and the match truck can then be withdrawn and gates closed in the siding.  The loco can then find another track in the yard to stable on.

The Lismore gas facility with the fence around it and gates at either end

The installed scenery behind the tracks

Lismore Oil Siding taken from the southern end.  The gates here received wire.

At the opposite end of the Lismore oil Siding.  One of the gates received wire.

One gate at the Old Cassino Oil Siding also received chain wire.

I then went around and started painting the rail on a few lengths of track around the layout. 

The track at Cassino which had a really bad purple tinge to it was painted brown.

The track leading into Cassino was also painted brown to hide the original purple tinge.

Glenapp has a bit of a back scene.

The Risk also has a bit of a back scene.

Next Friday I might have to clean the track so that the layout is runnable next weekend when the ‘mountain men’ arrive down from Toowoomba for a meeting of the local guys and the guys from Toowoomba.  I have done so much scenery over the last few months that there will be that much glue, paint and scenicing material that has found its way onto the rails it will take some time to get the layout all running again.

Still More Fencing

We had Tuesday Nighter’s this week at Shelton’s place.  There was 10 guests there as well as the host and his boss.  Bit by bit, more scenery is completed on Shelton’s VR railway.  He was also fixing various sections of track where some wagons might have had some issues.  So good progress is being made.  Dr Peter was doing a bit of cleanout of his office space and quite a number of Railway Digest magazines, other magazines, various hard cover railway books made it to the meeting and were distributed to those in attendance.  I have since found out that I already had some of the books that I had purloined.  So these doubles will be boomeranging back to the next Tuesday Nighter’s meeting for redistribution to others.

On Friday I went down to the shed and completed a few tasks.  Firstly I got the diluted aquadhere out and added it to the ballast in the Kyogle Butter factor Siding, and the Kyogle Veneer Siding.  That was allowed to set.  I then installed some more wire fencing around the Lismore Shell Oil Siding.  Today I continued the fencing task and eventually completed the fencing around the Rocla Sleeper Siding.  At both locations however, I still need to add wire to the actual gates into the rail sidings.

I also created another length of guttering for the rear of the Kyogle Butter Factory building.  I also did some maintenance on the roof structure.  I then added two downpipes from the front gutters, as well as a bit of junk around the end of the building.  Some graffiti was also added.  So I think that industry is almost complete.  I will probably add some downpipes from the rear gutters and then I just need to fit the sliding doors to the front of the building.

I also painted up some sections of white metal post and split rail fencing.  This will go around the Baker’s Farm scene between the Rocla Sleeper Siding and Rappville Loop.  Quite possibly next weekend, or maybe during the week, as I have Wednesday off.  I already have some fencing around most of the farm, but the scene needs to be extended in both directions.

On Saturday I headed over to the Club for the AGM.  The club is running quite well with good cash reserves, plenty of members, plenty of workers and development activity happening on 4 layouts and the outdoor G/Live Steam gauge.  When I came home in the arvo, I added wheels to the fettler crew’s speeder car.  I was thinking of trying to make this work on 12mm track, but the underneath frame was just too wide for the wheels to sit on 12mm track.  So it ended up being fitted with 16.5mm gauge wheels and is now sitting on some sleepers at Kyogle.  

Every time I go the shed I see my half finished Kyogle Station building sitting on the kitchenette benches.  Well I think it will soon to be put back onto the top of the 'to do' list, as the current tasks above are completed.

I have some visitors coming over on the 25th, so I am trying to complete a few loose ends before then.

The Bad Men made Me Do it!

Well I was a bit naughty during the week.  I decided to purchase a couple of 44 class locos from Auscision Models.  Who could resist?  They were about $375 with sound on their early bird purchase offer.  A few of my mates also have them already locked and loaded so these guys made me do it.  They were inside my head advising, it was a really good price.  I was trying to build up a bit of a nest egg, before I purchased an Ausciaion Models DEB set.  Oh well!  You can’t take the money with you.

I also got my second jab yesterday so now I am fully vaccinated.  I caught the bus into town, walked to the convention centre, got jabbed, caught the bus back home.  All for $1.50 in bus fare.  Not bad.  It did not take long at all.  No effects so far at all.

On the model railroading front this weekend, I had been filling in a few gaps so to speak around the layout with scenery.  I did have quite a few scenes around the layout, but sometimes the locations in between these major features were left undone.  So my plan is to address all these areas of inactivity and complete them.  I did some work behind the Lismore Shell oil siding, and the area near the traffic lights just before Lismore Station.  I also started attaching some chain wire fencing to the fence posts around the oil siding which has sat there for quite some time.  I also got stuck into the area near the Kyogle Dairy (Old Butter Factory) siding.  I also filled in a few locations around there next to the track that had not yet been sceniced.  I also spread ballast in the two sidings around the Butter Factory, and the Veneer Factory Siding which is behind the Butter Factory.

Around Old Cassino, I added some plaster to help create some gentle slopes around some of the roads.  I also added scenery near the road into the back of Old Cassino Station near the Old Cassino Dairy.  I also did some work on the Old Cassino Shell Oil Siding, repairing some fencing there and adding the chain wire.

I also spread some plaster around the roadways near the Murwillumbah Cement Siding, and this might get some more scenery work next weekend.  I also put together a couple of white metal details items during the week.  I gave a 4 wheel covered speeder a coat of paint.  I still need to attach the wheels and then put it into a scene on the layout.  Another fettler's 4 wheel push trolley still has yet to be painted and added to another fettler’s camp on the layout.  That reminds me that I have about 6 or so fettlers trolleys in a kit that I also need to finish assembling, painting and then add them to the layout.  But these are quite fine models and do take quite a few hours each to put together.  Maybe soon!

Next week I plan to complete the adding of chain wire to fences around the Lismore Shell Oil Siding.  That will be followed with more chain wire being added to the Rocla Sleeper Siding.  This location has only had chain wire added to half of its fencing.  Following this I will return to the Kyogle scene where Fawcett’s Creek is, and blend in the scenery at the back of that location.