Believe or not, that Pennsy S-1 is not the engine that has the greatest overhang in my stable. After gluing a bunch of strips today, I decided to try my 3rd Rail H-8 Allegheny on that spur and guess what? I have to make more modifications. The front just cleared the cardboard, but the cab didn't. And that's without any plaster or sculptamold.
The front didn't actually touch, but the rear actually pushed into the cardboard.
This will necessitate another rework session. I need to move this wall back at least a half inch if I'm going to get any terrain into the area. Again, it's just cardboard. It's best to find all this out BEFORE any plastering.
I got all the tracks masked. Putting tape on the track that's already buried in the mountain was a challenge having to do it from underneath blind, but I got it done. With open, L-girder benchwork there is sufficient access to all that trackage except for the what's at the immediate tunnel openings.
I got another cross member in and then started framing the far left edge and the left, rear tunnel portal. I'm grinding trough lots of cardboard, but I believe that I'll have enough to finish the monster. Before I do any plastering, I'm also going to attempt to do some mural painting behind the mountain making some mountains receding into the distance. The point of view will probably be at the control panel. I will take pictures from there and do some design studies before attacking the wall. This needs to be done in that area now or else I really won't be able to reach it.
I didn't like the way the mountain approached the portal so I added an extra layer. Otherwise, I was going to have to fill the whole area with plaster to build it out. Filling with cardboard is much easier to do this with.
This cross member was the last one that will span the entire width. It took a lot of ribbing to make it stiff enough to bridge the gap. Beyond this point, the design will change. I need to add another vertical former or two to build the contours between these two portals. It will not be just the mirror image of the right side.
Tomorrow, I may or may not be doing a mural. I do hate to cover over my happy little clouds.
