I'm board!!

A bit of amateur carpentry with thin ply sets up the layout for the next stage of growth. Always surprises me how a bit of simple work seems to make a layout look more finished, even though it is very unfinished! The gap in the backdrop is to allow the passenger sidings, seen below in use between suburban runs, pre-backdrop:

It's not over 'til.....

  Qualmann's Ware/Store house is pretty much complete now, however the major sections aren't attached nor is it fixed into the layout pending quite a bit of surrounding work (including backscene, rear scenery, fascia, overhead wiring, signalling the siding etc. etc....!) that needs to be done. Good enough for a picture, though sans wires means the siding needs to be worked by steam.

Protection & Delivery.

Work on the Qualmann Warehouse precinct continues....The private siding serving the Warehouse joins the VR at the point visible here, which then joins the Dn main. As such, with wagons regularly stabled there, it needs the protection afforded in these situations. The above picture shows the derail arrangements, and also the backs of both the "End of wire" inverted star (a scale 50ft from end of wire per specification, for when the wiring arrives....), and the "Engines must not pass this board" sign which is immediately prior to the warehouse, below. I have'nt decided yet whether this derail is controlled by hand lever or from the box, hence the absence of this detail. My thanks to Phil Dunn for diagrams of the derail, and information from the VR Enthusiast forum regarding appropriate protection arrangements in suburban areas.

Beyond the excellent kits provided by the US maker Jordan, pickings are quite slim for interwar road vehicles, particularly trucks. Some exceptions were the excellent models made some years ago by Roskopf, a small German company. These models respond well to a bit of work, and look the part for the more traditional truck types of the era. While they have been out of production for quite a few years, they are still available from some of the 2nd hand sellers in Europe. The picture below shows the delivery truck following detailing (repaint, flush windscreens, removing one set of rear wheels, decalling, weathering) which will be parked outside the warehouse, with a comparative of an unmodified Roskopf truck.

Here she is "hooning" down Glenburn Rd at 30mph heading for the warehouse.

Err Houston....we have a problem....

Anything wrong here? The two lines on the right of this shot are the Up and Dn main, here passing the yard (I haven't named it yet as it serves several purposes) on one of the unscenicked sections of the layout. There's a wee gap on the Up (furthest right) line! I had a point there which I had suspected was a bit iffy, and while testing it out as an access point for some more stabling found it was definitely iffy. Fixed down, there was nothing to do but wrench it out and I took a fair section of the straight also, as this wasn't my best laid track. Murphy's Law dictates any work of this kind always has to be in the least accessible spot, and hence that's a 600mm reach across the yard....so I thought it pertinent to empty the yard before attempting the replacement. Once my stock is on the layout I prefer not to touch it too much, so rather than lift it, I ran it all to the other end of the layout which explains why what looks like a major signalling overun problem has occured in the shot below. No doubt VR has arranged a replacement bus service as no-one is catching a train at Glenburn today....