Good progress and the 'ballast' has crossed the viaduct and arrived at the junction:
The 'branch' is ex GWR but the 'junction' provides a connection to the the old LMR. The foot bridge is the ubiquitous Hornby model cut down for platform use:
A view from the main line, the engine shed will have wait for another day!
Another wet week so the potatoes are still in the ground! However good progress with the ballast on the mainline:
As originally constructed the exit from the goods yard / station was a simple diamond crossing with dead frogs:
This was then changed for a single slip. There is more metal rail on the single slip which gives superior running. However the rather abrupt 'turn left' is too tight for some engine / tender combinations and is in restricted use.
The change from '
Mixing and pasting track ballast currently looms large and I am attaching details of the procedure that works for me. I prefer the small poppy seeds to gritty mineral sands. I use wallpaper paste as the adhesive. It should offer less resistance than PVA should there be a change of plan or track repairs needed.
I use simple tools, a small plastic bowl (ex Christma Pudding basin), stainless steel spatula and a small screw driver:
I use a heavy duty wallpaper paste which has been ch
Four weeks ago a back of envelope calculation indicated a requirement for circa 3.5 kg of ballast. Four bags of poppy seeds were purchased. Now four weeks later the first bag has been all used up.
My wife confirms my suspicions. Instead of four bags, the visible trackwork will probably require at least five bags. Four weeks to use one bag, 20 weeks to use five bags. A Christmas completion is still a possibility?
There have been discussions on this web site regards the optimum w
Longsheds layout started life around 2005. Base board construction and track laying is complete but as a number of observers have noted the track is unballasted and the scenery is lacking. This blog will detail progress with these tasks.
Last week saw completion of the ballasting to the mid level junction station:
This week has seen a start to ballasting at the branch terminus:
Ballast is blue poppy seed otherwise known as maw seed and it is mixed with wallpaper
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