August 8, 2006

Today was a very productive day for the Mojave Desert and Southwest Mountains Railroad. I was on the layout by 8 AM and didn't get off until after dark, 9 PM or so. Of course I had to take a few breaks to eat and make hardware store trips.

With the help of one of the club members, I got the rest of the pavers in place on the patio.

The first photo is taken from the northwest corner of the patio looking toward the southeast. This photo is from the northeast corner looking toward the southwest.

This perspective is one few will see as it is taken from the southeast looking northwest. I was standing about where the four bridge waterfall will be. The pavers along the southeast edge are stepped to accommodate a 50 gallon preformed pond. One of the next tasks will be to dig the hole for the pond.

At about 5:30 PM, another club member showed up to help, and run trains. This 16 year old is a real train fan, and a quick study when it comes to pike construction. I had him mixing mortar for the tunnel walls after which I taught him how to use the air brad nailer to construct a cribbing retaining wall. (For close up construction photos of this type of wall, visit my September 29,2004 page.)

It took my 16 year old son and the 16 year old club member less than an hour to put this cribbing wall together.

I stayed right behind them filling in as the wall went up. This wall sets the stage for the village of Daisyville. The primary feature of this village will be the sidings on which consists will be put together. Two sidings will allow for trains at least 12 feet long. When finished, any place on the layout will be accessible from these sidings.

The other task for the day was a little concrete work to fix yet another leak in the waterfall for Lee's Mill Pond.

These before and after photos show the lip I had to add to keep the water coming off the stream into the falls on its right path.

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