Step Ladder

On Friday afternoon I had to go to the shed and add some ply bracing to my ‘step ladder’.  That was easy.  I tested it in the middle of the walkway and it was good.  I then had to move it into the middle of the Grafton Loops return loops, so I could use it.  Hmmmmm!  However I could not get it to fit.  Damn!  So I took off the two sets of stabilising legs, put the step ladder on its side and pushed it underneath the return loops and brought it upright.  I then put one of the stabilising back on.  I temporarily fixed some handles to hold onto, as you are standing ontop of teh step ladder.  The ladder is only 700mm up in the air, and I gave it a try.  Well it works pretty damn good if I do say so myself!  I went in and out a number of times.  Certainly quicker than getting on my hands and knees and going under the layout.

A few guys (Darren and PK) came over on Saturday morning, to car pool, then we picked up another (Geoff C) and we then went to the local NMRA meeting a couple of suburbs away.  It was a good turnout.  Kevin’s layout is in its infancy, but he has a very good area to work with, and his wife is an artist so his backdrops are set to turn out very nice indeed.  At the gathering I was presented with two APs – Scenery and Master Builder - Structures.  Also at the same event Duncan, our Superintendent, was also presented with two APs.

After the Divisional gathering, on the way home, we visited a local auto shop in the hope of picking up a few cans of Yellow Oxide paint.  That store did not have any.  However, they advised which ones did.  So PK received an task to pick up some on his way back home.  Which apparently he did.  We dropped off Geoff, and PK and Darren came back to my place.  I showed off my ‘step ladder’ to get access to the centre of the Grafton Loops.  Together we enhanced an idea I had, and I will take this idea further this week,  This will be to walk over the Grafton Loops, standing on a platform.  So planning diagrams will be produced this week, construction hopefully occurring next Saturday and Sunday afternoons.   

Over the next week, I will hopefully be finalising the documentation for my next two AP applications.  I also have to so some decaling on a couple of wagons and building some pallets and clotheslines.