The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[packers#1]

Liking the new progress DFF, looks great!

I saw this in the September RMC announcements; it might be perfect for the sand transload!

https://www.miniprints.com/product/portable-auger/

[davefoxx]

Of course you could always just cover it in kudzu and say it's there and no one would be the wiser? 

Kudzu is always the answer. 😜

DFF

[davefoxx]

Liking the new progress DFF, looks great!

I saw this in the September RMC announcements; it might be perfect for the sand transload!

https://www.miniprints.com/product/portable-auger/

Thanks for the heads-up.  @John is looking into printing an auger, and it looks similar to that.  It may even be that one.

DFF

[davefoxx]

A little bit of ballast and ground foam applied around the warehouse.  This morning, I graded the parking lot with scrap cork roadbed and lightweight spackling.  While that dries, I’m headed to the LHS for some scenery materials.



Oh, and I finally decided where to plant this orphan tree.  If you go back through this thread over a couple of years, I’m sure there’s pictures of this tree next to the SAL station and in the A&R’s yard where it temporarily sat waiting to be permanently planted.  Done.



DFF

[davefoxx]

I took the opportunity, now that I no longer work Saturdays, to go to Yankee Dabbler this morning, where I bought some oversized ballast for rip rap and I spoke with @ChristianJDavis1 for a few minutes.  Thanks for taking the time to chat, Christian.

The rip rap is installed. It probably shouldn’t be up against any of the metal siding in those few spots (it’s mostly against the concrete foundation that I scratchbuilt), but it’s very difficult to see and work back there.  The only clean picture that I can get is taken by holding the camera above my head from about seven or eight feet away at the end of the layout.  You really can’t easily see back there.  But, I know it’s there. 



I also got some other materials to work on the gravel parking lot.

DFF

[davefoxx]

U-Boats off the port bow!



DFF

[davefoxx]

It's a big soupy mess right now, as I just laid down the gravel parking lot.  Like I've written before, I've never been satisfied by my gravel roads and parking lots before.  I don't know why it's been so hard for me to succeed on a mere parking lot, but it is what it is.



This attempt was a thick layer of my sandy paint over the whole area followed by a layer of sandy-colored unsanded grout.  I patted that into the paint, getting a nice even layer.  Then, I spread the gravel intentionally uneven.  The gravel was an unmeasured concoction of two different colors of gray WS ballast.  The proportion leans slightly more than 50-60% of light gray ballast in the mix.  I further varied the "dirt" and "gravel" by using an old wallpaper roller to smooth the surface.  The more I rolled, the more I was able to bring the sandy grout through the gravel.  I tried to focus on high traffic areas.

Like I said, it's a soupy mess right now.  You can even see how far the diluted white glue that I applied on top of everything has soaked into the adjacent ground foam.

More pic(s) when it starts to set up.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I finally painted the track in Aberdeen.  Ballast next.



DFF

[davefoxx]

A little bit of ballast.  For me?  That’s progress! 😜



DFF

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One grain every night, right?

[Chris333]

On the other side of the isle,  brown ballast. 

[davefoxx]

On the other side of the isle,  brown ballast. 

Ooh.  I hope not. 

DFF

[davefoxx]

One grain every night, right?

That description just about sums up my progress, so, “Yes.”

DFF

[davefoxx]

A couple more grains this morning.  With this turnout and the legs leading to it ballasted, the wye is now completely ballasted.



But, that’s not all.  I also ballasted the turnout leading to the new beer distributor siding.  About 24” more and I will connect the ballast in Aberdeen on the passing siding to the ballast under the highway bridge in the distance, which will mean one track is ballasted all of the way around the layout.  Is there such a thing as a golden spike (stone?) for completing that milestone? 



DFF

[mu26aeh]

A ties covered every night