I haven't been downstairs yet today. I'd like to get some more ballasting done. Patrick is coming over tomorrow.
Yesterday, I finished gluing the last bits in this section. I still need to climb in there and paint a short section of rail, on the mains, at the far end, behind the fan. Then, in order to ballast, I need to get some foam or something to prevent the ballast from falling off the back edge, into the hidden yard below.
I spread and glued both mains around this curve between Newport and Cottage Grove.
Made a quick Menards run and bought another sheet of plywood. Should be the very last one! Also got a few 2x4's. Those should also be the last. Spray paint, literally in rainbow colors. Some caulk, and three gallons of white glue. The ones in the photo aren't them. Those are the previous jugs, that I now fill with ballasting mix. I cut it 3 to 1 with water.
I ballasted about 15' of mains going past the Northtown bowl tracks, and then got on the ladder and started in the yard. It'll be fun connecting the dots, as it were, because the other side of the aisle, the upper deck is mostly done.
Over at Hiawatha, the glue was dry in the yard,so I did a final cleaning on the rails.
After I finished cleaning, I moved the cars back,so I could start the next section. I also started working on the next street.
I spent a little while studying this spot on Google Earth. There are four different grain facilities in this three block section. Three are still active. My brother-in-law just got a new drone. We've been talking about flying along the corridor above the tracks, among other train related places. The temperature has to be above 14F, so it might be a while before we can get out.
Gotta keep pounding away at this thing. They want to take photos at the end of the month for the National Narrow Gauge Convention in September.
