Workday Wednesday - Part Two

Workday Wednesday - Part Two

After Lisa arrived following her grocery shopping for Fred, it was nearing noon and Lisa and I had to depart along with Lawrence.  Bernie continued working on the tracks below Mount St. Helens with the assistance of Marcel...and...they finished the job!  Bravo!  Here is the story and pics in Bernie's own words!  

We did it! Marcel and I were able to complete the track laying and run his big SD-60 through with a short train. We did have some problems at the curve but we just had to align the tangents better. We had no problems under St. Helens. So now it's good to go "full circuit running" Saturday morning. 

We did not reinstall the fascia as Fred thought it better to use 1X4 instead of 1X6 to allow better access for cleaning. Up for discussion, but I think it is a good idea.

We also had a visit from Andrew. He had a great idea of marking two meter distancing lengths by using reflective tacks. He has placed them around the layout.

Thanks to Lawrence, Mike and Marcel for helping get this done. I think we were all surprised that the falling dominoes aligned from the thought of installing a shim to full replacement. Great job and lots of fun. (Fred, you're not allowed to read the next sentence!)  The best part is that we snuck this in before father Fred knew what was happening. He is still shaking his head.

Marcel has his UP SD-60 and train ready to traverse the rebuilt line under Mount St. Helens. What better way to test than with a big six-axle unit. 

 Marcel watches his train depart.

Starting into the curve. We did have to do some minor realignments on the curve.

 Coming up the rise under Mt. St. Helens. 

Still on track for a successful first run.

The tracks fit perfectly at the switch. Even got the little screws back in.

Approaching the switch.

A successful transit.

Now for a real test, pushing the cars back through.  A couple of bumps were witnessed due to ballast on the tracks.

Successfully pushing the train.

 Father Fred thinking: "What just happened"?

Father Fred is gobsmacked!

The train emerges all in one piece and still on the tracks.

An overview of the roadbed and tracks under Mt. St. Helens. Still needs a little ballast clean up.

The curve has also been properly aligned and ballasted.

Andrew measuring and placing the reflective tacks two meters apart.

A big smile!

Well done, Andrew!

The reflective tacks. 

As for me...after I got home I went back to work on the Berkshire Valley Models "Pulling Team" for the machine shop diorama I am building for Doug.  This image is from the company website.

I have begun the work on the horses first.

The body of each horse is made up of four metal castings, two for the main body split in half down the length of the body, the third for the head and the fourth for the tail.  I chose to colour the horses similar to the website image although I find the horses on the website appear shiny.  I chose a flat paint look instead.

The stance for the two horses is different as is the head angle and the tail which pleases me.  I painted the collar for the rigging black and dry-brushed silver.  The collars are placed gently around each horse's neck although I have yet to glue them in place.

The next step is to complete the rest of the rigging and then get to work on the wagon and the lad who drives it.  Oh yes...hmmm...how to model O-scale horsey poop!  (Big grin!)

For those of you heading to Barry's tomorrow, the weather looks fabulous!  The forecast calls for 26 degrees and sunny!  Take plenty of pictures for the blog!

Thanks to Bernie for sending along this addendum to our Workday Wednesday blog posting!

All the best, Mike Hamer, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada