I took advantage of the weather and Kim’s work schedule to do some more work in Derwin’s Drop over the weekend. I was also able to get some photos for future articles at the Scratchbuilder’s Guild. I’m pleased to say that I’m about half done of the basic scenery in Derwin’s Drop now. I’m still not certain what to do with the mine area, but I’m sure something inspiring will happen in the next little while.

Here are some pictures I took last Sunday evening of my weekend’s work…

This is an overall view of the town looking west. From left to right is the Freight Shed, Standard Electric with the mine behind and a cabin in front, and Chemical Hazards on the far right. There are a couple vacant lots that are calling out for buildings but I have no idea what to put there yet. There will be a train station behind the Freight Shed some day.

So, here are a couple closer shots of the Freight Shed. It looks like it’s getting close to the end of the work day and the guys are taking a break before heading home for the day. They had a long day of loading and unloading “stuff”. Their beds will feel good tonight.

Chet, the night watchman is just coming on duty.

The mail man is doing his rounds a little late today. Fred and Bill haven’t seen each other in a while and are catching up outside. Standard Electric used to manufacture electrical components for the housing industry, but have fallen on hard times lately. Allan Lectric, the owner, hasn’t made up his mind whether he wants to “go big or stay home”.

Chemical Hazards can be a very dangerous place to work. They don’t seem to care about regulations. We can see how they get away with it. Clayton, the Plant Manager, is greeting the inspector from Environment Canada, Bernie McBribe. I’m sure there’s a big bag of cash and a bottle of Clayton’s “Special Blend” inside somewhere.

You wouldn’t even have to go inside the gate to know that this place would not pass an Environmental Assessment. There’s nothing left alive inside the fence!

Drums of “God only knows what” are scattered everywhere. It’s a wonder these guys are still alive! I’d really hate to see what their kids look like!

Old Bentnose Willie is taking his life in his hands living so close to Chemical Hazards! There’s only a scraggly fence between him and an uncertain future. It’s a good thing his nose is so bent that no woman would ever have him. Think of what their kids would be like after years of ingesting that ground water!

Well, that’ll be it for scenery updates for this week, I think. I have to get the layout into operational condition for the visit by the Moncton guys. After a few weeks of scenery work that’s going to take a while! Plus I need to work out an operations scheme for the biggest crew I’ve ever had on the BS&T!

Later!

Scott

I’ve finished my series about ballasting at the Scratchbuilder’s Guild. Have a look at it with this link and let me know what you think.

The next step will be the grass, bushes, and other scenic details. Once these are done things should blend together and look a whole lot better.

Later!

Scott

I’ve been working in Derwin’s Drop a lot this week. Why the rush, you ask? We have some guests coming from Moncton on Saturday for a day of layout visits and operating, so I wanted to get rid of the last little bit of all-blue foam on the layout. With the recent changes to the track arrangement there I was ready to start scenery.

Anyway, last evening I painted the road and the base for the freight shed. I am planning to put a layer of plaster over the road to try Harold Minkwitz’s cracked road method, but I won’t get that done before Saturday, and I wanted to tone down the black foam. I dry-brushed a coat of “Linen” and “Grey” acrylic tole paints over the road. It seems to work, for now.

The “Linen” tole paint looks pretty good for concrete as well, so I painted the freight shed lot with it. Then scribed some expansion joints and added a cost of india ink/alcohol mix.

I painted the fence at Chemical Hazards. It’s hard to tell that it’s just a bunch of 2.5″ air nails. They look fairly good as a board fence.

The surrounding “land” got a coat of dark and light brown tole paints to get rid of the blue foam look. Grass, secondary roads, bushes and stuff will come later.

I’m happy with the area for now. It’s far from finished, but it looks a lot better than it did before.

I’ll have a post about our Moncton visitors next week. Until then, stay warm (P.E.I. Hit By Major Ice Storm)! Hopefully Derwin gets his power back before Saturday so we can operate the Canadisle Rail. Oh, and so his family can eat and be warm too!

Scott