Zebulon Rocks

On30 up a mountain.. anyone guess why 'Zebulon Rocks' ?

Moving on from one project to the next, as I do.. I was recently waiting for delivery of some ordered American HO models and doodling plans for a DCC shelf switching layout, when I was completely distracted. Now there's a first! (not)

Anyway, I had seen Carl Arendt's article on Peek's Pike online, but read it again in MTI magazine.. as I did so,  I looked up at the spare 100x30cm baseboard on the shelf... the spare Peco points and flexi track... the few items of On30 stock awaiting a purpose in life..  and it all came together. I had also seen a picture on the internet that I found very inspiring which helped to form a plan in my mind. Another article in MTI, by Jack Trollope, describing the use of small powerful magnets from Maplin for automatic uncoupling was also used.

Scenically  the setting I'm aiming for is  halfway up a mountain, in the woods. It's autumn and we're looking at a switchback with a small camp.. Up the line is a small quarry and short trains will be passing up and down, loads to the valley, empties to the summit.. the loco needs to be on the downhill side of the loaded wagons so some running around is necessary, using the loff-scene Peco loco lift. Other traffic is to include crew,  tools and supplies etc.

After laying the track on a thin layer of cork, (and submerging those very powerful maplin magnets)..and ballasting between the rails with a fine limestone ballast, I built up the ground level using layers of thin polysterene insulation.. the type you get from DIY shops in big rolls (cheap!). At the rear of the scene I built up a steep bank using thick cardboard formers. I picked up a number of Birch twigs and branches from teh woods and planted these in florsits foam in the bank, using loads of PVA!. They needed swiping with a white enamel to look more effective. I then covered  the bank in plaster soaked paper. A covering of textured emulsion was then applied to the whole ground surface.

The current stock includes a Bachmann porter, a bashed Hornby 08 diesel and  a bashed loco based on a Fleischmann Black Anna HO loco.. along with a mixture of scratched and bought wagons..including a handful of BVM flats which will be the main rock carriers.

Sadly.. Storage is a bit of an issue and Zebulon is suffering from being kept in a cellar at the moment....it might be meeting the scrapman soon :-(