Progressing the Coal Dock at VTEX

I had an opportunity to demonstrate at the Craftsman’s Corner of Vancouver Train Expo yesterday. Despite having organized the predecessor of this meet for several years in my twenties, I’m not really into train shows. Sure, I love seeing all my hobby friends, but there is little to buy from the trade tables here at […]

Pasture in Place

Except for cattle, the pasture is as finished as it is going to get. They’re getting painted with oils, and those will take a week or so to dry completely, so in the interest of tidying up, I’ve put the pasture in place for now. Depending on how herd installation goes, it may be in […]

Weeds around the pasture

I’ve put the static grass away for now. I still have the bit next to the backdrop to finish up, but otherwise, I think it’s time to stop and consider before it gets worse. Some techniques are worth mentioning so I can remember them for when I get to work on the near side of […]

Pasture gets Another Background

Something bugged me when I posted that photo on the weekend of the four different backgrounds for the pasture: why had the barn turned out so much smaller than the aluminum version? As I thought about it, I realized the fence in the foreground had needed a lot of shaping to match the ground profile. […]

Cricut Print and Score and Cut Experiments

It’s time to conclude my Cricut printed car sides experiments. In the end, I’ve not been able to replicate the beaded siding that graced most Canada Atlantic house cars. However, the single-score method might be good enough to represent passenger car siding. In photographs, the freight car siding looks like alternating deep and shallow grooves. […]

So Long Skin Tags!

The other day, I happened to open this site in an incognito browser, and was shocked by how prevalent the ads have become on this platform! Not only were they so loud they overshadowed the blog posts, but they were all depressingly related to the health effects of aging: hair loss remedies, skin tag solutions […]

Butchering 1120

The first step in back-dating the Spectrum Modern 4-4-0 to an 1890 Brooks product is getting rid of all the bits that don’t look Brooks-y. There are numerous modern details and appliances that are not appropriate for my 1905 timeframe. In fact, all the boiler fittings came off, with the exception of the stack and […]

Unusual consist at Pembroke

Today’s number 46, the in-bound mixed train, brought with it caboose #2, sandwiched between the combine and the locomotive to provide a little extra relief from the noise, smoke and cinders. The caboose will enable 1120 to run an extra train to Ottawa tomorrow, where it will be taken off the layout for its cosmetic […]

XTool Learning Curve

It’s been six weeks since the XTool came into the house, but I’ve had little time to play with it. Until this evening, the maple leaf remained the only product. I can only use one basswood maple leaf around the house. What I really want are cores for rolling stock and buildings. This means ironing […]

Pembroke Southern Narrowly avoids Service Interruption

My friends Brian Rudko and Jamie Neilson were scheduled to stop by on the Thursday of what turned out to be a very busy week at work and in my various volunteer organizations. I’d hoped to have 1120 on the layout by the time they came, but work had other plans. However, 2543 had run […]