Ballast work in the yard

 Been a enjoyable 3 day weekend.  The Tigers are up 2 games to none in their series with the A's.  I am anticipating the game tonight.  Last week I did manage to get the ballast down in a couple of evenings.  It's never fun to ballast around multiple switches but it has to be done.  The gluing is pretty fast as long as you don't miss any areas.  My mini shop vac tells me I missed a few small spots.  I get those spots redone this week.  I also put in switch machines beside the switches.  I hand throw all switches in the yard and they add a nice touch.  The caboose ground throws work good but are so out of scale.  Last time I checked, your looking for realism, and those type of throws are not realistic.

The switching lead .

The beginning of the yard with RF&P staging on the right and the VM mainline on the left.  The foam in the background will be a ridge above the tracks with a rural scene.

The switching lead end.  Notice the MP15DC.  She's the main switcher in the yard.

Overview of the yard.

The other end of the yard.  Some boxcars pose for the camera.

Up close of a switch stand.  The ties are painted matchsticks.  So many colors to choose from on the switches.  I went with white and red.

If you don't know, I love the BN, thus you can find several cars on my layout with BN markings.  Looks as if I have found 2 BN boxcars!

A car I weathered up last night.  This was probable was the best looking one in the bunch.  My airbrush was giving me some trouble last night.