Forced into a corner

Well I was notified during the week by one of the narrow gauge drivers that they needed more baseboards and track to be made and laid. Fair call  I said to them, so I started on the next corner baseboard.
I wasn't looking forward to doing this section as it had some tricky (for me that is) carpentry. We already know carpentry is not my strong point, so I spent quite a few hours just sitting on a stool and staring into the corner. Glad the  wife didn't stick her head through the door, she would have seen me and thought I had been sent to the naughty corner. No dear just, just some heavy thinking.
The corner baseboard has to be done to enable trains to finally achieve getting into the next station, so that I will be able to run around the train and come back to Eden again. It will also form a crossing loop in the overall scheme. I have also decided to rename this place from Greigs Flat to Broadwater. Originally I just looked at the Google maps, worked out my start station and the finish station and picked out the number of planned stations, then just matched them up with local names. To me the name Greigs Flat didn't do it for me. Similar to "my tyres flat" was likened to "Greigs Flat". This name also suggests that the landscape around here is "flat". This location will be flanked by a trestle bridge on one side and my version of the Thomson River bridge on the exiting side of Broadwater. The track has shifted slightly east towards Pambula Lake. Isn't it great to be able to run your own railway? Just a few clicks of the mouse and the new route is done. No Acts of Parliament, no petitions, no dirty deals done by politicians, it just happens. As Mel Brooks once said "Its good to be the King!"

New railway route via Broadwater.

Also to be noted on the above diagram, the line to Candelo will branch off from Bega rather than from Wolumla. This is due to another track plan change that will be explained when the track gets to the other end of the shed.
The little guys stirred me into action during the week and I have started on the framework for the corner baseboard. I managed to build most of the board near its intended destination, on the floor. It got a little cramped but I suffered with the cramped conditions, rather than take some time off and move a few things. I am like that.

Sydney turned on a beautiful Autumn day today, so I took the corner out into the fading sun for a few shots. I am still trying to get my head around the scale changes from HO to O scale. Everything is bigger I must convince myself.

This corner baseboard has the Monbulk trestle on the Puffing Billy railway for inspiration. I am using a 30" radius curve, mainly because its the only track gauge I can find at the moment. It looks OK.
After sitting back onto my stool for a bit longer and staring into the "box" I still haven't come up with a final scenery makeover for this corner. I know that O scale trees are way bigger than HO ones so I don't know how many will fit into this corner. I will come up with something between now and the next blog entry.

Location of road under trestle similar to that of Monbulk trestle.

This trestle will also be similar to that at Monbulk in that a road will pass under one end. I am not sure at this stage if it will be just a dirt road or paved. In the above photo I have used some ply to form the track base and part of the trestle. There will be seven intermediate piers between the ends. I would love to flood this valley with tree ferns but I haven't seen any model tree ferns that come any where near the real thing. They are a complicated item to make but they would look nice done properly.

Rear view of corner baseboard.

 

The above photo shows the trestle from the rear that will be eventually up against the wall, so photos won't be obtainable when the rear section is in place and scenery done. Having taken these few outside photos, it was then time to return this section to the layout inside.

The engine crew are now happy, they can see progress.

The boards are temporarily together for now.

Taking the board back inside the shed I moved a few things around and clamped up the new board to the existing baseboard. (i.e. the one the crew were doing their whinging on in the first photo)
The bridge roadbed was placed up on a temporary stick to finally give an idea on how this corner section will pan out. This corner section will be supported by the baseboards on either side of it, plus a set of legs in the far corner.

The inspiration for this trestle is in the photo above.

It was ironic and not planned that there was a photo of G42 on the Monbulk trestle on the wall above. If the finished product looks half as good as this I will be happy.

The left hand corner will lead onto Broadwater station.

So things have been moving along this week on the layout. The weather is thankfully becoming a little cooler and the humidity is a lot less so work down there is becoming a pleasure.
As I write this the Narrow Gauge Convention is underway down at Geelong, Victoria. I almost got there but missed out. I don't know where the next one will be but I hope I might make that one. I'm looking forward to the reports and photos and a possible write up in the "Narrow Gauge Down Under" magazine.
Keep tracking in the mean time!!