Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Monday Night Train Night

 Well, the turnouts are in but now we have to make a transition from the escape turnout, down a hill to the yard level. You can see the turnout past my elbow where we have no track yet attached as we have about 5/16ths of height difference in the road bed between the main and the yard. So, we need to make a transition.
 So, a visiting friend, Dan, was tasked with making that transition during the train night. It took him a lot of card stock but he did it over a distance of 30 inches and on a curve. Good Job, Dan!!
 The rest of the gang was primarily working on incorporating a hatch into the scenery around the back of the big hill. Jim, a friend from the Baltimore area, was visiting to get some ideas for his new layout and was supervising.
 The fellows are working with cardboard to do a mock up of what we need.
 Meanwhile, Alan was patiently painting and coating plaster shoulders in the Snyderstown area.
 Later, after things quieted down, I went in and used what the guys had done to lay out a plywood lined hatch.
 The hatch sides mimic the roll of the hill side.
 This will allow me to get to an area that would be inaccessible once the scenery is all in. I used 1/2 inch plywood as the sides. The cover will be made of expanded foam with a plaster coating.
 I believe I will have to make the hatch top before I finish the plaster scenery so I can make it match. It would be difficult to do if the plaster is on the hill side.
This is the view from the other end of the curve. The cardboard line is the top of the declining hill.

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