The layout welcomed three new P42's over the past few weeks. This is the first time Athearn has made these as part of their Genesis line. I'm a huge fan of the Amtrak/Operation Lifesaver paint scheme. Athearn has done a great job bringing it to HO Scale. It's also great to see they have done the modern wrap for VIA Rail Canada.
Last December a kangaroo got loose in Oshawa while she was being transported from a zoo in Ontario to one in Quebec. It looks like she has escaped to the layout!
I didn't have much time to work on the layout this weekend. Saturday, I went to the Northwestern Vermont Model Railroad Association's Model Railroad Show in St. Albans, VT. It was a great show. There were a lot of vendors, layouts, and visitors.
On Sunday, I put some of the finishing touches on the parking lot construction project at Oshawa's GO Station. I had added the ground cover to different piles during the week. Some are dirt piles, and one is a pile of gravel. Sunday's work included painting the construction fence blue and doing a little weathering work on it. I also built a load of pipe made from black plastic straws and yellow masking tape. It's hard to see in this picture because the fencing blocks it. I also added a couple vehicles to the scene and a porta-potty. I need to add a few construction figures and the scene should be done.
My latest project on the layout has focused on the Oshawa GO Station. I've always wanted a dedicated track for GO trains since one train stays at the station overnight. Last week I was on vacation and started on this project. The prototype has a large footprint and I've tried to capture that on the layout. Although the real Oshawa station does not include a parking garage, I had the structure and didn't want it to stay off the layout.
This week I started work on the construction project in one of the parking lots at the station. I got the idea from a Google Map image and felt that I could model something similar. The mounds are just pink insulation foam. They'll get covered with a different dirt or stone once this layer of ground cover dries. I'll also add in construction vehicles and other details that are seen in this picture. Kibri construction fencing has just been ordered. I'll also add some Miniprints construction barrels into the scene to model the black and orange ones seen in Ontario.
