Weekend Progress - Valley Coal, Goff Brook

This past weekend started early Friday morning, before work. I'd planned on doing a workout (really, I did!) but decided instead to do some plaster-cloth-ing at Valley Coal. Last time, I (re)did all the cork roadbed and cardboard lattice, so getting that area covered was the next logical step - and it could be drying/curing while I was at work.

After the Christmas module/layout project, doing quickie plastercloth is certainly no biggie.

And certainly looks better than cardboard lattice - or, worse, a gaping hole

With the coal hoist in place (click here for how I modeled it), it's starting to look more like the prototype scene below...

John Wallace photo - c. 1943

With what little time I had on Saturday, I actually got back to the DERS-1b a little bit. I really would like to get the detailing on this engine done so I can get it out of the shop and back into service. Hopefully soon.

On Sunday, Bill was able to come over to help out a bit just south of Valley Coal, just over the line in Rocky Hill at Goff Brook.

As you can see, Bill always dives right into whatever he's doing with unbridled enthusiasm. But I had him beat - I used a saber saw and created an even BIGGER earthquake in Rocky Hill than he did with his piddly little hand saw. But even I'm mellowing - last time I was here (over 3 years ago?! Yikes!), I used a SawzAll...

The foam stand-ins for the abutments - ably and beautifully hand-crafted by Pieter and installed by him and Roman - have been replaced by more permanent stone abutments.

RR bridge put back in place temporarily - and roadway narrowed (not to mention old wood abutments and cardboard wingwall stand-ins removed)

There's still a LONG way to go in this scene - and recent efforts have been more like 3 steps back for 1-2 steps forward. But now that we're focusing more closely on this area, I'm hoping we can finally get it finished. Who knows - maybe next time we'll be able to start pouring some water into Goff Brook . . .