Finishing the cut under the branch line bridge

 Well, we have the ground cover on the hill as a basic coat. Now we have to fill in the open area between the fascia and the track below the bridge.

 I am putting the ground cover on the hill and trying not to cover the stone wall below.

 So, I began building the webbing in the open area after the ground cover was done. I am also trying not to burn my hands with hot glue in the process.

Working my way around the curve and building a low hill in the process.

  Ground cover and webbing is essentially in place before the Monday crew comes over.

 Covered the rack in preparation for the guys coming.

 They have covered the webbing with rosin paper and now Alan is putting on the plaster cloth.

 Alan and Mike are working from oppposite directions to cover the area.

 You can see the rosin paper is disappearing under the plaster as Alan comes around.

Mike is putting his last sheet onto the completed hill. Next comes the stucco and paint.

Plans for 2018

 I am trying to plan for scenery in 2018 and I have two main goals. One is to finish the two towns on the branch and this one is Paxinos. I am working to get a photo backdrop like I have in Crowl to complete this scene.

 It is just around the curve from Crowl so it would flow nicely.

 

 The next big area is the end of the loop between Northumberland and the entrance to Reed.

This is a big bare area with the Susquehanna in the foreground. I am trying to devise a way that allows another mural to be used. We will see how that goes. 

 This is how the mural completes a scene.

 It ties together really well.

 I like the look

Washington Group Gathering - Nov 2017

 Well, the gang from DC came down to see our progress in our annual gathering that Ed and I host. After a visit and lunch at Ed's, the guys came over to run trains and look at what has been accomplished since last year. We look at things daily so the changes seem so minor, but when they come, they see a big change.

 As you can see, there are deep discussions about the many topics that involve modeling.

 Old friends like Ray Grant, Dan McAuliffe and Rick Wright come and talk. In this case, Dan is running the branch, so you can see that the train is passing Ray and Rick but not interrupting their conversation!

 More of the train comes past Shamrock tank and down into Crowl.

It is really fun to see everyone and to share information, techniques and challenges for the future. You can see that some folks never move from where they start a conversation!