2021-22 Annual Progress Report

 

On Halloween of 2013 work began on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Here we are nine years later and the layout is nearly finisher. Well, as finished as a layout gets anyway. Also of note, this layout now ties my old garden railway for title of my longest lived layout.

Anyway, last year's goal was finishing Altoona. I didn't make it, but I'm darn close. I wanted to finished all the ballast work. I manged to get the main lines and most of the yard tracks done. However, obtaining Woodland Scenics fine cinder ballast has been difficult due to supply chain issues. The good news, is I tracked some down and ordered it. It should be here next week.

As for scenery, I managed to get all ground cover finished. Not just for Altoona, but the layout as a whole. So no more fuzzy turf until next layout!

The last scenery items on my docket include finishing a small lake and planting some trees. That will round out Altoona.

With Altoona finished the final project will be wiring up Pittsburgh Staging. With that, It's major combat operations over and I begin focusing on operating the layout. 

Goals for next year?

-Finish Altoona

-Wire up Pittsburgh Staging. 

-Pop a bottle of Champagne and celebrate a job well done!

Finished With the Ground Cover

 

I'm finally back at it. Today I knocked out all the ground cover. With that, every inch of foam, save for Pittsburgh Staging is covered with ground foam. That is a major milestone. I can kiss all this fuzzy turf goodbye until the next layout!

While I was at it, I worked on the lake. I painted the bed a mix a navy blue and black. Next I painted the bank burnt umber. One side of the lake came out a bit steeper than I would've liked. Rather than dig into the foam, I added some Talus rip rap. The next step will be to apply some Woodland Scenics field grass around the edges.

As You may have seen from the above photo, the yards tracks still require ballast. That's on order. Unfortunately, Woodland Scenics Fine Cinder ballast seems to be unobtanium. I managed to buy the last bag off Amazon. The big shakers are completely unavailable. Gotta love the supply chain issues.

Anyway, I imagine the scenery should be done by spring.