Coving another corner.

 We are preparing the walls for more photo backdrops so we have to cove or round the corners. We begin on the corner closest to Reed. I had put up some Masonite outlines to show where the plaster scenery would go. These will be removed and a curved piece of Masonite put in their place. Alan is down on the floor and Paul is under the layout scoping out the project. We had to move a lot of boxes out of the way.

 Alan is calculating the size for the piece of Masonite that will be an 18 inch radius and come out 18 inches to meet each wall.

 Ed, Alan and Paul worked on this at the next meeting and I had already cut the Masonite for them.  They cut a groove in the sheet rock and pressed the Masonite into the space. The pressure from the curve held it in place.

 Paul is checking to be sure it will not fall down.

 I am now going in the screw it into the wall.

 Here is the view back over the layout from that corner.

 Rich is busy ballasting for me.

 Here are the wall cuts and the Masonite in the groove.

 I placed screws about every 4 inches.

 It is now screwed on each side.

 The other set of screws.

Masonite is now primed with a water resistent primer

Compound is going on

One more coat to go. Then comes the wall color. Next installment will cover that.

More Dreaded Ballasting

 So, we are starting from the car storage area on the main, and going to the half way point in the yard. That is abut 35 feet.

 You can see that the main is ballasted to the end point. Now all the other tracks have to be ballasted as they have been painted.

 A lot of stone will be used. I am using 20 grit on the main, 30 grit on the Arrival and Departure tracks and the run around track, and 40 grit for the actual yard tracks. The color will vary as well, with the main a limestone, the A?D tracks a dark grey, yard tracks are cinders and the run around a recently laid grey.

 Occasionally, we get spills that I have to clean up.

 You can see the spray bottles of wet water . I am also using an alcohol / water mix as well.

 We start at the rear and ballast along.

 Wetting t down, darkens the color as it washes down the dust.

 I use carpet remnants as protectors for the track as we lean in or actually crawl along.

 Now I am adding the yard lead ballast, a darker grey.

 I wanted to see the look of the cinders on a yard track so laid some in the caboose track area.

 This is the grey for the approaches to the yard tracks

 So, we have ballasted the ladder tracks with a darker grey. We transition to black at the uncoupler.

 Here is a top down view.

 Some more views

 Rich is adding the yard track ballasting. It is the most difficult as the stone is the finest grit. It is HO cinders.

 He seems to be enjoying it though!