More greenery added

 Starting at Shamrock, we can walk back and see what has been added.

 The rough turf is in and I just have to spray some glue on so I can remove the tape on the tracks and ballast.

 Paxinos is filled in. I have to do the backdrops before I do the trees.

 Weigh Scales looks good

 A nice view

 Rough turf up the hill to Shamokin.

 Narrows has the first coat of stone on the embankment

 Looking back over the whole area

More turf on the hill around the curve.

Outside help

 Jim Mucka drove all th eway down from Allentown to help me clean up the area and paint the exposed plaster on the main backdrop. He worked for 3 days with me and we got a lot done.

 You can tell he is thrilled to be here!

 We got the main hill side painted with our earth color

 We also did all the embankment around the whole yard.

 The yard is now nice and clean

All the way around the curve. I had to promise him I would not put anything on the tracks!

 He is still working as he repaints the shoulders of the track.

Still thrilled to be here!

Working on the Narrows

 We have to put down a lot of rocks on the embankment so the guys were really focused on that last week.

Got the attention of everyone now! We have to try to finish this week.

Working hard

 Well, we have been pushing hard to get some scenery up to make the layout presentable for an open house. So, here are some shots about how we looked three weeks back. The branch coming into Shamokin. Tpae covering track until I get the last layer on.

 Moving down towards the Narrows. The basic ground cover is on.

 Around the curve and the Narrows is starting to look okay

 A deeper view

 An overview showing the river in front, the rrail road and then the road, and then the Reading RR high on the hill.

 Looking back at the entrance to the Narrows

 End of Weigh Scales

 Trees in and a final appearance.

 Approaching Paxinos

 Paxinos going green

 Looking back from Shamrock

 Getting plaster up on the hill into the backdrop on the main

Working my way along. This is a pain as I have to lay on the track. That is why the rug remnants are thee.

Continuing to work on scenery

 Well, we are working hard and not having time to post as we prepare for the big open house in November. Paul and Alan have been giving me some extra time which is a big help. Here is Alan adding some scenry in the Narrows area.

 He is adding talus or crushed rock above the Reading RR track which has finally been laid. It is covered by blue tape for protection while we work above it. Photos show that the land sort of fell away when they improved the RR and the road in this area.

 So, we will start the tour of the update from the eastern end, below the area where the Glen Burne colliery will be built. The track is painted and now I have to paint the land form.

 Coming around the curve into the Narrows where Alan was working, we see that the road is starting to go in. Paul has been working on this. It sits in the valley between the two railroads. The Reading line is visible in the upper center of the picture. The PRR is under the plastic top.

 Here is a full on shot of what Alan has done. It looks really good. We now have to carry on down the hillside.

Continuing around the curve, we come into Weigh Scales. Julie's trees look good and will blend well with 3D trees I will build and place on the hill side. The road is very visible here.

 Looking down at Weigh Scales, the ballast is and track cleaned up. The track is completed. Now I have to get some flats to put buildings along the road which parallels the wall.

 Cars sit in the yard awaiting space on other portions of the layout. Looks sort of railroady already.

 We approach the end of the yard and you see the hill side is greened up.

 Further down, the end of town has some trees to illustrate what we will be doing as we plant them in more locations

 Now we get to cross the bridge over Shamokin Creek as we leave town and enter Paxinos.

 Track is painted in Paxinos. The wall will be covered by a building and a big loading dock.

 Looking down at Paxinos - we see the land forms are in and the road leaving town is rising from the rear of the area

 A closer view of the road going up the hill and over the railroad. This provides a visual block to the next scene around the curve. Makes the run of the track seem longer.

 Looking back, we see the abutments and the painted track. Have to paint the plaster now.

Last shot shows Shamrock where the water tank is located. This is the end of the scenery for the show, I think.

More Scenery Work

 Well, the crew came over again last Monday and they worked on vegetation at the back of Weigh Scales. Here is Phil, and Mike adding the base green coat and getting ready to put in some bushes.

 Meanwhile, our plaster expert Paul was putting in plaster cloth and then Structolite on the climb up to Shamokin.

 He was ably assisted by Walt as they formed the side of the hill surrounding the railroad fill where it climbs the grade to the junction at Shamokin. That area that you see above Walt's shoulder with the cardboard showing is where they will plaster tonight.

 Jack joined the crew working on the hillside and they did some great work in that area. You can see how the hill is blending into the backdrop on the wall. Jack developed a method for getting the green foam to stick to the  steep side of the hill that works very well!

 Here is the finished work area. I have to add the trees now but it seems a shame as their work looks so good.

 This is the other end of the hill side that terminates behind a feed mill that is on a siding to the right.

 I continue to slowly add trees to the hill side to further disguise the junction with the wall. That last tree to the right has not been planted yet, it is only resting there.

 This is the plaster work that Paul and Walt worked on. This area is what was the cardboard strips in the earlier photo.

It is almost ready to add color and then the ground cover.