First project for 2010, sort of.

Well after receiving some Christmas gifts, it was off to the L.H.S (local hobby shop) for some supplies. Metal wheel sets for my HO rolling stock, couplers for my HO rolling stock (While I love the Kadee #5s I had been replacing my Tyco X2Fs with, Bachman EZ-mate IIs are much cheaper, I will have to wait and see how the plastic EZ-mates versus the metal Kadees go) paint (Engine Black) and glue.
I also bought some materials for a HO engine shed type arrangement:

• styrene sheet for general construction
• corrugated styrene for the roof (later realised some sort of tiling material would have been better but it looks okay so far and will look better with roof type paint)
• a stonework material that has a layer of moulded rubber textured to look like stonework, a layer of foam and a layer of the same rubber on the other side but with no stone texture.

The shed was to cover a single line of track for as much length was practicable to allow some rolling stock to hide from the dust on the layout. With dimensions based on the location, clearances for my rolling stock and a fairly simple peaked roof box design concept, off I went. The stone material looks great and cuts well with a sharp blade. Roof ridging was redone with full length strips when one of my children was honest enough to point out the roof looked, "bumpy". So please enjoy the picture that shows the current progress on the shed (To be done: painting, drainpipes, hinged doors and anything else I think of on the way)

Christmas Project In Pictures

Hope these are in order, some are definitely out of focus but all I have for some key steps.
Baseboard:

Baseboard:

Baseboard with foam dry run:

Baseboard with foam dry run: (is it just me who has uploaded images rotated for me?)

Tunnel Portal:

Bench work and track work (coloured caulk is the shizang for laying track & cork):

In the December 1983 Australian Model Railway Magazine, John Burgoyne quoted 'the finest model engineer I have ever met' by saying, "the most complex structure on this earth is no more than a collection of simple parts properly designed, carefully made and properly assembled." These words were also a caption to a shot of a trestle over Barhon's Gorge, and I mention it here as the bents of the trestle are assembled with what will form the trackbed:

Trestle assembly:

More trestle assembly:

Still more trestle assembly:

Yet more trestle assembly:

More and more trestle assembly, it was great to see the bents becoming part of something bigger:

Possibly the last trestle assembly for a while:

And now for the plaster bandages over the foam form work (and no, that's not a typo or double up):

Those tunnel portals with matching retaining walls, painted and in place:

And the tunnel opening on the other side (the newspaper is to protect the track from plaster drippings):

Pegs to hold the bridge siding on to match the curve:

And the whole lot as it was for Christmas 2009:

And a close up of the family on the hill with a little help from a photo editor for the sky:

And as it looked under the tree: