Mine too. I didn't put in an interior on that one. You really couldn't see it anyway, but it would have been fun.
The J-B Weld fused the coupler bracket cured perfectly, only one problem. I installed it backwards. There is a notch on one side. I saw the notch, but it didn't register why it was there. When I tried to re-attach the coupler, I found that the round shank end bumped into the bracket and wouldn't let the screw align with their holes. So… that's what the notch was for. I needed about 3/64" more travel. A little time with the Dremel and a small sanding drum created a half-moon shaped relief that let the couple settle in where it belongs. I then ran the engine around and around and it worked perfectly. It's one of my two most repaired engines which doesn't help their resale value, but I really like them so they're not going any where.
I was then able to park the Big Engine (really… that's what PRR called the S-1) on the high line and out of the way of all this road work.
Speaking of road work. I erased all the center pencil lines and touched up any white area that has some masking leak. I then taped all four pieces together, laid them out on my big cutting table and air brushed first some Model Flex Refer Gray down the entire street to add some variety to the texture and then with some Tamiya Rubber Black but this time paying more attention to the driving lanes.
I couldn't find the sticker sheet I had made of manhole covers so I had to go to the MacBook Pro and make some more of them. I had kept the JPG file that had the images, but had to re-size them in CorelDraw and print them out again on Avery Label paper. After printing I shot them with some artists fixative spray.
I sized them to 30" after doing a quick research project on Google to find out "What size are manhole covers?" 30" is 5/8" in O'scale, so before sticking them on the road, I drew circles of that size opposite the storm drain inlet location. I used this circle as a guide to paint a gloss black circle around it and the sewer inlet openings that would simulate the tar sealant around the edges. Then I stuck down the manhole covers.
I found my "XING" stencil I used years ago when laying the streets the first time. I put some MicroMark PVA on the back to give it some stick, put it in place and masked around it with some newspaper and rattle can sprayed it with Tamiya Matte White. I did this on both ends of the street.
With the road all taped together I put it back on the layout. It's curling pretty bad with being painted on just one side. The color matches pretty well now.
Tomorrow I have to figure out how to glue it all down. I'm not worried about the construction adhesive being able to counteract the warped paper. What I am concerned about is the sequence of gluing it all down. I will probably take the street apart since I don't trust the tape to hold those critical seams. That will make it easier to put each piece in place since I have to work it from both ends since I can't lay across the whole layout from one side. The layout is open in a little portal between the two bridges at the opposite end of the street in this image, but I have to get to it by scooting under the layout on my creeper and coming up in the opening. I start laying the road from this end since it's fit back into the space is critical and the entire street is spaced from this end. The hardest piece to glue down is the long middle one (obviously).
