Today was quite a productive day on the Pittsburgh Division. The mountains on both sides of the tracks are now constructed from Altoona all the way to the east portals of the tunnels. This required constructing the mountainside in front of the tracks. I started by gluing a trip of cardboard along the top of the risers to give the edge of the paper towels something to rest on. Then I wadded up some newspaper and stared laying the plaster-soaked paper towels over them.
Now, usually when I build the mountains in front of the tracks, I simply have them slope down and away from the right-of-way. However, as you can see in the above photo, I built I small ridge on front of the curve. This ridge happens to be on the opposite side of Horseshoe Curve from Kittanning Point station. It acts as a view block, at least for the camera anyway, and helps give the illusion of distance.
I also ballasted the remaining track between the curve and the tunnels. As usual this job was about as much fun as getting audited. It wasn't the complete cluster *&^% that I had last time but still not pleasant. I have come to learn that it spreads better with a soft brush rather than a stiff one. Although, after ballasting a stiff one always does seem like great idea if you catch my drift.
In other news, I attended the Central Railroad Model and Historical Association's annual train show. Unfortunately there was very little in the way of N Scale but there were a few good buys. Namely these Life Like PAs:
And this Bachmann Crane and Boom, which unforuntaly will not clear the tunnel portals right now.
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| Bachmann Crane and Boom car, perfect for retrieving the smoldering wreckage of derailed trains. |
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