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As I mentioned in the
last chapter, I have been doing a bit of work on the Holman area
of the layout. Over the last 6 weeks or so (and in between a never
ending series of shows) I have managed to build a small fence
and place some scenic details around it.
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I started with a few off cuts of rail that I
had lying around. I cut these to about 40mm lengths. The next
step was to “tin” one end of each piece with a tiny bit of solder.
I also bent a length of 0.3mm brass wire to have some slight curves
in it. Once this was done, I soldered the lengths of wire to the
tops of the rail.
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Once this had cooled
down, I drilled some holes in the layout and placed the rails
into the holes at what looked to be about the correct height.
All in all, the entire fence took more time to describe above
than to actually build. Last of all I painted the fence with a
bit of Floquil Reefer White.
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In preparation for placing my new fence, I used
a small quarter inch chisel to remove a small strip of the static
grass to make a pathway. I simply filled the now vacant patch
with a little bit of sifted dirt and applied some diluted white
glue.
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Once all of that was done, I added
some trees, some weeds, a shifty looking bloke with a pair of binoculars
and some kangaroos. I have a few more weeds and shrubs on their
way from Modellers Warehouse (www.modellers-warehouse.com.au) and
that should complete this small section of Holman. |
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The idea behind this little section as I’ve mentioned
in a previous chapter was to try and recreate a version of the
walking paths behind Spring Bluff railway station. I am hoping
to have a small pagoda style building as well as a few more paths
winding their way through the bush when it is all done.
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Over the last few weeks, I have also
managed to get a little bit more done on what will become Hillside
Station on the branch line (let me know if you have a better name
as I’m not completely sold on it). This little station is nothing
more than a short passing loop built at about the halfway point
of the helix. The track will then disappear back into a tunnel and
do another loop before emerging into daylight once again at Warthorpe.
This will be the terminus of the branch. |
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I had some Woodland Scenics retaining walls left
over from a project and decided to cut them up to make a short
retaining wall section. As the hill behind the station looms rather
high, I figured it would be almost a necessity to avoid the hill
from “greeting” the passengers. The Toowoomba Range is covered
in sections of retaining walls.
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Some of them are actually a long way
from the railway line and are difficult to find without trekking
through the scrub. On most of my little expeditions over the range
I have found little pieces of our forgotten past hidden in the bush
and I would like to try and recreate them on layout. |
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I used a cutting wheel in the Dremel to cut the
Hydrocal walls sections. You more than likely should wear a mask
as the dust flies everywhere. Or better still see if you can get
you darling wife to do it for you. If you succeeded in getting
her to do it then please send me a detailed list of instructions
explaining how you did this so I can try it next time.
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I used a bit of runny plaster to secure
the castings into position and then used a small paintbrush dipped
in plaster to join the sections to the layout so there was no visible
joint.
The next step was to back fill the area behind the walls with some
crumpled up toilet paper and cover it with plaster. I did this in
two stages and as you can see it is still not 100% complete. |
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Once the plaster dried, I applied some very heavily
diluted el cheapo paint to the ground and then applied some static
grass and a few shrubs.
Overall I am rather pleased with how it is all panning out. Hopefully
in the next chapter, I will get some more scenery completed but
as always, we shall see how we go.
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