Mid March Update

Captain's Log: Stardate 41153.7  ...Oops, never mind. Wrong blog.

I'm trying to provide a blog update as least once a month, with a goal of twice a month. Today is March 15, so I'm trying a mid month update.

First off, the plywood issue was solved. I finally picked up some descent 15/32" A/C plywood. I am storing it flat to minimize warping. I picked up more drywall too.

Now that I have the plywood, I was able to finish both of the small peninsulas. First was to add a reinforcement corner to the foreground peninsula. Next was to get the last decking on the egress peninsula. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the egress peninsula deck. 

Below is the drywall installed on both.

In order to provide continuity, I opted to extend the decking along the wall to the right. That provided integration for both sides of the Taylor Yard peninsula, which is parallel to the blue level pictured.

The piece at the wall was roughed in so I could trace the curve at the end of the aisle. I also found a great way to cut the curves in drywall with minimal mess and a very clean edge. I use a jigsaw/scroll saw with a fine tooth blade. Thus far I'm happy with the results.

I opted to use drywall mud to cover the screws and fill any gaps in the joints. Probably a bit of overkill, but I'm happy with the results. 

Next was to paint all of the drywall. I use drywall primer that I had tinted gray. I use gray so when I ballast (with gray ballast) gaps or areas of thin coverage are less obvious. 

Now that I have maybe 1/5 of the main level installed, it is time to start laying track. I think that the exercise of laying track will help motivate me more. I have had friend helping me almost once a week, and that has helped keep me going. Another set of hands is always helpful. 

I ordered some SSW and MKT PS-2CD 4785 hoppers. They were delivered from Scale Trains last week. Here is a pick:  

Imagine my surprise when I found six coil cars in the box! Four of which are NS and most definitely out of my era. A quick call to Scale Trains the next day resolved the issue. They sent me a return label to mail back the coil cars and immediately shipped me the hoppers. 

Much better! Thanks to Scale Trains for quickly resolving the situation. Mistakes happen and I'm glad this was resolved with minimal hassle. 

After my last post, I received a number of comments about the Vette. It will be here by the end of the month. I'm looking forward to it!!

That's it for this update.