Beach Day in G-Scale Land - Part 2 - 06-29-14

(Blog Entry by Bob)

Continuing our celebrations of  Canada Day & the Fourth of July.

Today was more overcast than yesterday with a humidity of 38c (102f).  The sweat was just pouring down as the transport trailer backed up with more refreshments.



The kids in their sunday school outfits buried a sleeping homeless man... ah...I think he was sleeping...



Everyone was in too much of a hurry to get to the beach



Bees at the beach are always a problem because they always travel with their friends.



It was so hot today that no one wanted to move no matter how much you tried to nudge them.



Minions building sand castles.



There was a parade on the beach.



...I'm not too sure what is happening here in the make-out knook...



Even people who weren't dressed for the weather seemed to have a good time.



There was a wedding on the beach attended by all the Disney Princesses.



The waters were calm for canoeing.



And some people were having just way too much fun in the sun.




GO TO PART 1 - CLICK HERE

Beach Day in G-Scale Land - Part 1 - 06-28-14

(Blog Entry By Bob)

Let's go to the beach to celebrate Canada Day and the Fourth of July.

With all the care and attention of looking after the train tracks, roads, buildings and countless plants/weeds, the back of the Commerical buildings have become neglected.





Now, I had always pictured a boardwalk, carnival or a network of small shops and cafes beside the pond, but I was never able to settle on a plan of what to do.

Mary suggested  'a beach'.  My mind stated to cultivate this idea knowing I had a number of unpainted bathers on our artroom table.   We moved plants, relocated the lighthouse , ripped out the weeds and installed sheets of asphalt shingles before we topped it with bags of sand.




At first I was nervous that the rain would wash it away or the stray cats would use it as an outdoor liter box, but everything weathered great. I spent this past week painting new people and finding props for today's photo shoot.

We are very excited about this blog because normally we would take photos and compose the write-ups weeks/months in adavance.  What we post is usually a reflextion of what the layout used to look like.  But we are pleased to announce that these photographs were taken just this morning and we plan to take another batch of pictures tomorrow for a second holiday weekend blog!!!

We hope you enjoy our day at the beach.
























GO TO PART 2 - CLICK HERE

We're Living in a Haunted House..... a HaUnTeD hOuSe - in G-Scale Train Garden Railway Land 06-22-14

Blog entry by Bob

The haunted house has been a fixture in our layout
from nearly the beginning.  Haunted Hill was originally
located in the Southwest corner of the layout until
last fall when everything was moved across the
canyon to beneath the big walnut tree.  No longer
overlooking the downtown core with a winding
driveway that led up from the tracks, it now is
perched above the yellow farm house with only a
spooky staircase leading to the front door.  The new
Haunted Hill is now the highest point in the layout
with a view of everything that happens even in the
new trailer park where haunted hill used to be.

Road / Street Line Painting in G-Scale Garden Train Railroad Land - 06-17-14

Blog Entry By Bob


Back in August of last year, in our Blog Entry:   
Continuing Fight Against Weeds , we introduced rubber roads to our layout.  At the very end of that entry, I stated that I was performing line painting tests using different materials. 

After keeping the test strips out all winter, I decided that acrylic paint from our local art store was the easiest to apply and looked the best.

I first started off easy, with one yellow line down the middle of a street.



I then created a big white stop bar.



Using a metal ruler and a thin brush, I became
proficient and making neat straight lines.



I painted parking spaces in the brewery parking lot.



I created railroad crossing markings.



I created turning lane arrows.



I finished off with parking spaces downtown.





While I was working on the roads, the dam wall collasped
making the road unstable.



I removed a section of the dirt behind the dam and
inserted a couple of cinder blocks the stabilize the
slope