A Touch of Stocking

The next phase of Nowhere Road's construction was the following series of text messages sent in late December (just before the lockdown):

Andrew: Hey there. Just confirming dinner tonight at 730.

Clare: Yes, we're confirmed. Looking forward to it.

Andrew: Umm, would you mind bringing an extra pair of stockings?

Clare: Either you're taking up bank robbing or have a burlesque career you've never told me about. But okay.

Andrew: Thanks.

Clare: So what do you need them for so I pick the right pair?

Andrew: Train scenery.

Clare: I should have known.

Nowhere Road looks like a melted chocolate bar here, not a road.

And this is where the dirt comes in. And the stocking.

Placed over a spray can cap, the stocking filtered my dirt into a lighter, less pebbly grade of dirt.

It is hard to tell from these photos, taken while the dirt was still glue saturated, but the stocking cap method did provide the desired fine layer of dirt.

And then I added some gravel to suggest that the road was maintained at some point.

I was pretty grouchy about the way the road looked at this stage. The gravel wasn't evenly applied. The cork base made the road stick out above the base scenery. And so on.

To lift my spirits I finished the scenery around the loading shed for Generic Canneries and left everything for another month.

Model railroading is one of the few times that seeing a (simulated) weed patch brings happiness. Yet another piece of base scenery covered.