One Major Chunk Done...

Well, Cascade Mountain (formerly Tunnel Mountain) is finished and in place (first photo above). I was having no luck in trying to make the colors look nice, so I covered the whole thing in sculptamold! Then, I added several coats of yellow ocher, earth, green, and some black washes to bring out the texture, so the rocks didn't look out of place. I then sprinkled earth blend, grass blend, some yellow grass, and forest floor textures.

The final step was to install a bunch of trees. Counting the corner and the area between it and the tunnel, a total of 100 trees are now planted. I used Woodland Scenics Ready-Made Trees: 18 Fir, 23 Deciduous, and 57 Pine. The two large trees make the total 100. I'm not a fan of the WS Ready-Made trees, but since most are seen at a distance of about 4 feet, they should be okay. I did dress them somewhat with textures, but, despite what the package states, you can't bend the limbs - they break! The middle photo above shows the area between the tunnel and the corner. The bottom photo shows the entire background area.

I'm now working on the next piece of scenery (I warned you I had to do this first). I'm in the process of hot-gluing cardboard strips to the front of the elevated track. This will be a low hill primarily to allow the installation of some trees to screen the trains as they go up the hill. I had to locate some structures before I did this to make sure I didn't interfere with their location later.

Speaking of structures. While reviewing my list of required structures, I noticed I needed a couple of Campbell's kits that I didn't own. I was able to find one quickly on eBay and was able to "Buy It Now". This was the Seebold & Sons Manufacturing. I was still missing the Richmond Barrel Company. I found some, but they turned out to be scammers. Luckily, I found someone reputable auctioning one off on eBay. The auction ended at 7:15 this morning, and I managed to buy it at a lower price than I was willing to spend (for once). I should receive it in the next week (coming from Michigan). While these two kits aren't going to be installed for a couple of years (at least), the company went out of business some years ago, so finding the kits now was important.

One of the things I have been pondering is the use of block detection and signals. I want to divide the staging into four areas, each about six feet long, allowing for trains up to eight cars long (plus caboose). Since the staging is hidden, I need to know what track(s) are occupied to avoid collisions :) In addition, I need to know if a train is on the hidden mainline there, so I don't have another train heading in the opposite direction colliding with it. More wiring that I need to determine and install.

I am planning on using dwarf signals in the Albany yard, but I need to determine locations so I get the correct number (plus spares).

While all of this is going on, I'm going to be building the leg sets for the club's new modules. I picked up the 1x4 lumber today after it had been partially cut. I'm hoping to finish building all of them by the end of the month. I need a few hardware items to complete them, but the club credit card should be available in the next couple of weeks, allowing that hole to be plugged.

I did submit my Field Day score (91 contacts, estimated 432 points), so any radio efforts will be only special events or learning Morse code.

Thanks for reading. More next time.