Mosslanda: Wrecsam Canolog track and ballast…

This tiny model railway layout, just 55x10cm has been part of my world now for several months. Unlike other projects it seems to progress very quickly but in small moments of focus, with long periods of fallow between…

If we’re honest those periods of progress are no larger than my other projects, just in a small space you can do a lot more! In the week that saw the finalisation of the etched canopy supports a renewed enthusiasm has seen groundwork basics progressed. I’m not learning anything new here, but the mindful practice of rail painting and track ballasting are two pastimes I deeply enjoy.

I’m currently wrestling with what to do with the foreground space though, in reality a finer gravel than the track ballast, in miniature I have a suspicion it will be too distracting to do it in any particulate material so for now it is stippled emulsion with a sponged on lighter colour. Not entirely effective but a placeholder for now. You’ll note the buffer stop base, this will have the hydraulic Rawie buffer added in time, a dash of colour in an otherwise bland depressing dirty grey palette.

Despite the grit and grot of the real location, and the rough story it portrays, the layout is still a lovely addition in the workshop and pictured here I can happily loose a few minutes at the end of the day shuttling the Sprinter back and forth, imagining the doors closing and the guard pushing the buzzer for the driver to know it is safe to move off, before the engines rev up and the train moves off on another journey… until next time, more soon…

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