Saturday, February 28, 2009

Update at Dawson Junction

Dawson Junction is progressing steadily. I think I've discovered another secret of model railroading: building is as fun as operating.

There is a stream running under the mill. In the mid 50's, they channeled it through a concrete tunnel to keep it from washing away the timber supports. A recent EPA study found more fish in the tunnel that out.

The stream is of course, bridged by large timbers, no doubt cut on site. The owner of the hobby shop doesn't seem to mind that I come in every week and buy several lengths of balsa. They are only 22 cents apiece. The smallest regular balsa I can get is a foot and a half wide in scale. It works well for a lot of things at the mill, but I had to buy some special "scale" stuff for the loading shed and dock.

In the movie The Girl with the Pearl Earring, the painter Veermer asks the maid, "what colors are the clouds?" She initialy answers "white", but after studying them for a few moments, begins to detail all the different colors she sees in them. How about asphalt? I thought gray was gray, but after studying it for a bit, it is a bit more subtle than that. I wouldn't be too concerned, except that it need to match the backdrop image. Most of my photos are in overcast weather with a bit of dampness on the ground. That changes the color dramatically. You can see I'm still working on it.

It is starting to take shape (and color). You can see my "test patch" in the lower center. Next up, the chip loading rig.

3 comments:

Eldon and Janeil Olsen said...

Intricate work. Can't wait to view the finished product.

Neil said...

Cool bridge, but what happened to the cool shed? Is it just off to the side?

brenda said...

I've often thought of that quote about the clouds. In the book just before that, she is sorting vegetables by color before dumping them in a stew. A real artist probably thinks like that all the time, seeing color and shape much differently that the rest of us.