The Right Track

As the good weather is finally upon us, work on the layout has slowed to a crawl. However I have been doing some trackwork lately and thought that I would give a brief description on my trackwork. I use the familiar cork roadbed and Atlas code 100 track. Turnouts are by Peco. Once I have the trackwork in place, I airbrush the track with a 50-50 mixture of Floquil railbrown and roof brown paint. Lately I have been using Highball cinder ballast along the very edge of the roadbed and then I use Woodland Scenics greyblend on the rest of the track. Ballast that has gotten into the web of the rail or on the ties is removed with a small dental pick. Note this is monotonous but the effort is worth it. This is all glued down by first wetting the ballast with 70% alcohol and then using Woodland Scenics scenic cement. I use eyedroppers to apply both, as you have to go slow so as not to disturb the ballast. After it dries, I remove any pieces of ballast that have gotten onto to the rails or ties. Have a look at this posts photo for a look at the finished trackwork. Till next time....

Another Layout Visit

I had the opportunity to revisit a layout in the local area that I had visited several years ago. Pierre called me last weekend and asked if I would be interested in having a visit and also with the opportunity to do some operating on his and others layouts - they have several in their group that hold round robin operating sessions. I had to admit to Pierre that I am more of a modeler than an operator, but Pierre encouraged me to give it a try. I must admit I had a great time Monday night. I was put under the watchful eye of one of the regular operators - this took alot of the pressure off for me - Thanks Doug W. I had a great time and am looking forward to getting to know the group better and to do some more operating in the future - Thanks guys.Till next time...