I’ve admired that mill since I watched it being built a few years ago. Marvelous.
I am truly jealous of all the flowers. The altitude at which I live, the tulips are just now in bloom.
The azelas are just starting to pop out up herein SE PA…
Thanks, guys. I still like the mill as well. All the school kids stop at my layout on their way home and point out the changes. I’ve moved the mill so that they can see the wheel from the gate. I still keep them outside the fence! :0 Jean put in a few plants the other day and it’s much improved!
Hey Bruce
What are you using for your track centers on passing sidings? Are you spacing them with pieces of 2x4 or 2x6? (2x6 looks like it should be right)
Hmm…good question. I’m thinking 6 inches or so? Let me go measure…
Hmm… I was a bit off. Looks like my minimum is 7". I’ve got 9" in places…
Cool…so spacing them via a hunk of 2x6 should do the trick then…
Sounds good to me…that will make them a lot straighter than mine! 
I did some work a few weekends ago. Got the turntable area covered. Now I just need to get some ballast.
Beautiful work, Bruce! Where can we learn more about your turntable construction?
Mario
Thanks, Bruce. I will put your info to good use.
Finally got some ballast for the yard.
And a chance to run a few locomotives around there…
Hi Bruce,
Just thought I would pop in here to say that the turntable is looking real GOOD and the ballast work that you have done has made the turntable stand out. It is remarkable what a little ballast can do. Now it’s time for some pictures.
Happy Railroading
Beautiful, Bruce!
Bruce,
Your work is outstanding!
I do like the look of your turntable better than mine (mine’s more of a caricature than a model). I’ll be needing a second turntable when I reach the other end of the line and will probably extend mine out beyond the benchwork as you have done. I may also taper it like yours, which is more prototypical, if I don’t get too lazy.
Your out and back operating scheme is great too. I wish I had proper space to do the same. I hope you’ll post some photos and info when you begin actual ops, especially solo operations. I have some preliminary ideas on how I’ll operate the POC and I’d be interested in seeing your approach as I think the size and type of railroad you have is somewhat similar to what I’ll have operationally.
That’s awesome! What is the ballast? Is it a mix or just one specific type like stone dust,crusher fines,etc?
Thanks! Now, I still need to do a bit more work, but I’ll wait for some cooler weather.
David, the ballast is just “stone dust” that I got locally. In this case I just bought 3 bags, as I needed to take some pictures for an article. It took about a bag and a half to get that area done, so the rest got applied to other parts of the layout. I plan to get delivery of a ton or so to redo my stone walkway AND also finish ballasting the track.
Thanks Bruce!
I did see your article on the box car however I’m not into scratchbuilding yet,good article though. I did notice that there was a can of Fosters (I believe ) in the background of one of those pictures…LOL…That’s Aussie beer!
David - that IS Fosters! A nice ale. Now, it’s the revenge of the oak trees!
In case you can’t tell, that’s about a zillion acorns. And, even though I had cleared this off for some pictures…they’re still accumulating. I think I need a hard hat to work out here.
