Moving Along

With the strange spring we've had - sunburns one day, frostbite the next - I have not been too motivated to be in the train room. If it's a nice day, I want to be outside. If it's cold and wet outside, the train room is uncomfortable. Still, I have been able to get a few things done.
First, I stopped at Smitty's one afternoon after an appointment in Oakwood and bought a piece of flextrack to repair the kink in the rail of the passing siding from the outer main to the west end of East McKeesport. I also found a Walthers barn kit that I think I can use for the farmstead between Irwin and Uniontown.

Arrows points to a kink in the track that needs replaced

I did manage to get this track replaced and now have no problems running trains from to to the outer main. I just need to add ballast and it will be complete. I also spent some time creating a base for LAS Fabrics so the building will be high enough that the boxcars can easily move into the loading dock. I need to add some styrene to simulate the rails being placed in cement and then some grass, details and vehicles (which I don't have yet).
Last night I started a project to further detail LAS Fabrics. The kit is assembled but it's a hollow building with large windows and does not even have a back wall.I have a piece of sheet styrene painted black for the back and plan to add some floors, desks, factory machines, tables, offices, lights and people to really bring the place alive.
There are a few more evening projects like wiring the programming track (Track 1 in the East yard), finishing the exterior of the switching tower, gluing the brick streets and sidewalks in Uniontown and attaching the backdrop there as well. There are some 10 cars on the RIP track or my desk awaiting minor repairs plus about 20 car kits that need assembled. I could do one or two of those every evening and clear the backlog but then I would need more storage space for the built cars. The one project I keep stalling on is the hillside in the photo above because I just am not sure it will come out right. I know I just need to tackle it and make changes later to improve it.
The good news is now that the weather is a little warmer day to day, the trains run pretty well every time I go out there. Of course, I have been moving trains without using the car cards so everything is messed up. Hope Bruce does not drop by expecting an operating session anytime soon! Seriously, it only takes 15 minutes or so to square up the cards so no real problem.
Once I get a few of these projects knocked out, I will get some current photos and show the world.