Check last weeks board alignment exercise.
Discussion on scenery
Track - paint rails, infill magnet holes
The session started badly. We reassembled the two middle boards that we had painstakingly reformed the locator pins on the previous week. The track alignment was appalling. We were dumbfounded!
Unwilling to take the pin assemblies apart knowing the damage it could cause, the only answer was to take the washers off the other board and re-fix them in better positions. The washers were just screwed, so came off easily. The alignment pin and board bolt holes were carefully examined. It appeared that there wasn't sufficient clearance around one of them to allow the boards to be bolted up in line, and so a degree of distortion was occurring. The holes were opened up to rectify the problem. The washers now had to be refitted to the board interface, but in their new, slightly adjusted positions and screw holes. To achieve this, circles of thin foam were placed over the pins, and slow-set Araldite dabs applied to the washers. The holes in the washers were rotated 60 degrees to previously and the boards were reassembled. Hopefully, the foam should push the washers against the boards. Next week, the boards can be separated and the screws fitted to hold the washers firmly. Time will tell.
With the boards laid flat on the bench, with heavy steel strips clamped to the sides, all we could do was scenic and track work. We all gravitated to a task - Laurence worked on filling the old magnet holes with dummy sleepers and planks.
Geoff got comfortable and started painting the new trackwork brown-ish and any rails within reach, a dirty rust colour.
Stephen set-to cutting a bit more of the hillside out, to make it easier to form the new, higher hill. Then he started to mock-up the new bridge, but what should the loading gauge for the underpass be? Getting out the old bridge as a template, he realised that as all of our stock would have gone under it at some time, it would form the perfect base for the new bridge, but it would have to be cleaned up.
Looking at the new arrangement of the now 'open' line going off to the mine, Geoff suggested moving the tunnel mouth further back into the hillside. This would allow the adit to be less prominent and more easily modelled, and allow the open section to be used for shunting, for the adjacent siding. No count needed - unanimously carried. (Geoff - we'll need another magnet!)
A wonderful end to what could have been a very disappointing session.
A few ideas for mine entrances.
The first two look very promising.
