Work on the railroad has been quite limited lately due to Cris’ health issues, however I have managed to get a little bit done. Here’s what I’ve got so far… First up, I decided that the next building in the town of Dos Manos would be a hotel. I’m still working on the design, but here’s a simple drawing of the front. It will be a “Mission Revival” type building, with Spanish tile roofing, arches supporting the roof over the sidewalk, etc.:
I wanted it to be three stories tall, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t overwhelm the other buildings too much. So today I knocked out a very crude mockup and placed it on the layout. I think it will have to be another inch or two taller but I think it will still fit in ok. What do you think? I also need to raise the roof over the sidewalk a bit, and add a few more features to the mockup:
I’m still trying to figure out what material to make the hotel out of. I’d like something about a half inch thick that is totally weatherproof – maybe some expanded PVC board? I’m open to suggestions. The other project I’ve been working on a little is the site for the town of Mineral Ridge. Back in July and August I started preparing the site by building a miniature concrete retaining wall, supporting a short road up the slope. Now I’ve started creating foundations for the buildings that will eventually line the roadside. Here’s a couple shots of the first two foundations under construction. I made forms out of foam core board…
Here’s a shot of the townsite under construction. As you can see, I’ve also been building a miniature stone retaining wall on the cliff above the town. This will eventually support a small mining tram that will run between the mines and a future mill:
Anyway, that’s it for now. But I would like to share something non-RR related. Here’s a couple pics of the tiny little goldfinches that come to our feeder. These are one of our favorite types of birds! Cris calls them “tippy birds” because they hang upside down to eat from their special feeder:
Enjoy!
