Thomas for the Youngest Grandkid!

Before Thanksgiving, a Bachmann Thomas the Tank Engine was received.  Of course, it came with loop and hook coupler which only worked with one of the cars that had been obtained in the 1950's!  So, with a little effort from a rotary tool, a Kadee coupler was installed.  It may not be lined up exactly correctly, but it pulls cars around the track which should be sufficient for now.  I wonder if there's room for a DCC decoder. . . ?

A Few Items from Winter Haven Train Show

While visiting relatives in Lakeland, FL, we took a trip to the knitting shop (The Wife) and a train show sponsored by Regal Railways in Winter Haven, FL.  Was able to pick up a few items for the layout at reasonable cost, I suppose.

For grandson Jake, here are two more military vehicles, loosely defined as a half track and as a deuce and a half.

Still not so sure these are 1950's era vehicles, but they are probably a little more "vintage" than the existing Desert Storm era vehicles.  Sorry about what looks like a dead horse and maybe a sleeping lumberjack in the photo.  Someone evidently bumped the layout!

For the Mill Hill area, some junk in the backyard.

We'll blend the scene into the landscape when we add more ground goop.  Again, the age is a little off for the layout.  It looks like a 1953 or 54 Chevy, but it's too rusty already for a 1956 time period.  I just couldn't pass it up since it seemed to fit the overall scheme of things.

Horse Barn

With help from the granddaughters -- third and seventh grade, give or take -- the cotton field has been planted and is about ready to be picked!  However, since one of the wagons used to get the cotton to the gin is drawn by horses, they thought we HAD to have a shelter for the horses.  The best I could do on short notice was the wooden shed that's part of Clever Brothers furniture factory file -- cardstock.  Frankly, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  A little more detail plus dirt and fence for the "pasture" and we should be in business!

I also got a display case that "Crazy Cousin Larry" gave me varnished and mounted to store odd pieces of rolling stock or cars not needed for the time being.

Another Granddaughter(s) Visit

I may have to give up on grandsons helping, but my granddaughters (visiting for the weekend while parents go to concert) jumped right in there today!  They helped mix up the "ground goop" (we used previously) for a cotton field.  Then we spread it out, plowed it with a comb missing four of every five teeth, and planted some cotton plants.  The plants may not be quite green enough, but they seemed to work pretty well to give the effect of individual plants in a row.  They are about 1/2" high, or around 4 scale feet.  We used moss from Michael's cut to the specified dimension.  Then the young ladies dabble some wicker white paint on the moss to give a full blown cotton plant look.  I think it will do.  They want a few weeds around the cotton field, so maybe some broomstraw is in order.

While they were planting cotton, I took the opportunity to reapply and glue down (with heavy hold hair spray) some forest debris.  It had been rubbed off in the move.  Also planted the seven Southern Yellow Pines I had made some time ago.

Finally, while they took the afternoon for a visit to Discovery Place with their grandma, I cut out the blacktop road.  Used a suggestion I saw earlier to use the underside of asphalt roofing shingles (that is, regular shingles turned upside down).  Looks like it might work with some trimming and weathering -- well, and some lines down the middle.

Nice to have some progress again!

Finally, Some Real Progress

I had been hoping to get some grandsons to visit and help finish up the Cotton Factory (Atlas's Middlesex Manufacturing), but finally had to take advantage of a granddaughter's visit over the holidays.  She helped a lot with the windows -- there are WAY too many -- and I finished the kit today, per box instructions.  At some point I'll try some weathering and figure a way to keep from seeing all the way through the building.

Even a few cotton bales I picked up over the holidays.

A bird's eye view including company store.

And a shot through the pulpwood yard.

Now I need to get serious about how to fabricate a boiler room for the smokestack.

Minor Additions

While the design, construction (by a builder, not me), and moving into a new house have usurped much of my discretionary time, I did take an opportunity to bid for some minor additions via ebay!  I suppose the barrels, bags, crates, and pallets will add to the company store atmosphere, I'm not real sure where to put the horse.  The dog plus house and cats on a fence will certainly end up somewhere in the mill village. . . .

Distracted but not Forgotten

Much of my attention recently has been directed toward selling one house, moving, and building another house.  But, the Blacktop Crossing railroad has not been totally forgotten.  A Southern RW locomotive was ordered about a year ago through Walthers as a pre-release purchase.  The delivery date kept being put off until it finally arrived this month.  The switcher should find good use moving cars from textile mill, cotton gin, Armory, pulpwood yard, etc., before being ready for the "mainline"!