George’s railroad wasn’t quite finished when I delivered it to him, back in the fall. I made a few trips to his place to tune the track a little, and apply ballast, but it still lacked the trees I had promised him. Making trees is a messy job, especially when my dollar-store can of Aqua-Net blows hairspray in unintended directions. Can you blame me for procrastinating just a wee little bit on this task?
George’s N scale railroad still isn’t finished, but the clock was running out on my borrowed workbench, so I had to deliver what I had. George indicated that he was quite happy to accept delivery, so long as he could run trains on it.
Ever since the carpentry work was completed, I’ve been working on George’s layout in borrowed space, and I promised to vacate that space by the end of the month. The whole retaining-wall adventure took way more time than I had anticipated. The entire layout, in fact, has taken way more time. Now I’m on a push to make that time up.
By late summer, George’s railroad had progressed to the point of needing bridge abutments and retaining walls. Little further work on the scenery would be possible until this masonry work was complete. No problem, I said to myself, I’ve done this before. Piece of cake. (more…)
This blog opens as I’m deeply into the construction of an N scale railroad for George. Benchwork, track, wiring, and rough scenery are complete, and I’ve got ground cover on one end of the railroad. Right now I’m doing the masonry work—more on that in the next post. After that, it’s the remaining ground cover, trees, structures, and other finishing touches, before I deliver it to George’s living room.
Furniture Railroads 