The Past Comes Back To Haunt....Or Help???

All,

I had a SICKIE today!!!!!....although i am not quite sure how you achieve that when you are self employed???

I spent the first half hour after getting up trying to work out who i should call to inform of my non attendance...

After taxing my brain for an hour or so....i took the opportunity to drop Soph off at school & just bask in the joy of my deception for the day...

I have been trying for a while to set aside a few hours with a view to cleaning up the shed & take a couple of trailer loads to the tip.

Well by about 10am one trip had been completed & of course i gravitated to the train room...

With all the track now laid, all electrics working as designed & testing complete, the station area & environs of Fish River are now ready for the next step &  my mind has been drawn toward ballasting, scenery & detailing.

I had decided earlier in the year that i would mentally section the layout & try to totally complete each section as i went so i did not end up with a vast network of bare track & completing ballast, scenery & structures for the whole layout would be too daunting to contemplate.

I spent the next couple of hours searching out & assembling all of the detail items & structures i have on hand & mentally picturing the scenery etc.

While on this search i uncovered some items that we manufactured around 5 years ago under the Laser Rail Bits brand.

When our first laser engraving machine was installed around 6 odd years ago... it quickly became apparent that this technology could lend itself to the manufacture of model railway lineside items and so during the rare down time that we experience i started to design & manufacture a small range of items...following the mantra that if it was timber in prototype then we could build it in small scale.

We began selling both in HO & O  on ebay & it was an enjoyable time designing, manufacturing & packaging these items. It appeared by sales & comments that they were favourably received by the market which was very satisfying.

( There is a shot of the timber station facing kit as built...based on Crookwell Station in an earlier post )

The upshot was that our main business workload would not allow us to devote enough time to ensure we could do justice to this sideline venture & as such we scaled back to the odd release when time permits.

I have got a head full of ideas for new items & if time & demand permits we will commence again...

In the meantime i have enough bits laying around to furnish the layout & have posted some pics to give an idea of  some of the items...

I must apologize for the quality of the photos & must learn how to take macro or close up pics some time soon...

Goods Embankment Facing 

Ash Buffer...

 

Goods Embankment Detail

 

Various styles of level crossing utilising "new " timber & "recycled" sleeper decks that can be extended or shortened depending on installation location...

Regards,

Rod