Layout Ground Cover Finished

A major milestone has been reached on my small Nystrup Gravel layout: all surfaces are covered in basic, appropriate materials. After the petrol pump was placed and the area around it covered in sand and gravel, I got the remaining surfaces on the layout covered. Much better than the painted disposable kitchen rags (that themselves were much better than white foam blocks and plywood). I even made it before my set target by the end of December. The milestone places my little Nystrup Gravel well in the semi-finished category 4½ years after building the module frames were begun. 

A view along the tracks with one of Nystrup Gravel's structures in the background. Fowler loco reversing to pick up a train of skips.

My ballasting activities were almost brought to a halt due to supply chain disruptions. The amount of ballast needed on the layout almost outstripped my available material, but fortunately I could make the last batch stretch. Imagine a model of a gravel line running out of gravel. Humiliating!

Workshop manager Petersen looking at the shrubbery behind the brick shed.

In the proces of adding of basic ground cover I also fitted the petrol pump and test fitted some coarse shrubbery behind the fuel shed. The layout still need a lot of detailing. Some work, like vegetation and plants, has been started, some work is planned and other elements are still only in the 'I could also do that-stage'. 

In this north-easterly view it's clear how much better the layout looks with a basic ground cover added. The petrol pump also adds life and colour to the scene.

And to be completly honest: the layout still need a little ground cover material at the layout's edges. To avoid damaging the backscene or the floor of the room I'll be adding the ground cover along the remaining edges once I have the layout set up in a more appropriate work area. 

Close-up of the brick shed showing how the area to the front and right of the building still needs some ground cover and blending in. A model railway is never finished!

I'll now be clearing away the containers and bags with sand and gravel and clean up my worktable. The work in the coming months will focus on locomotives and road vehicles.

Embedding Petrol Pump

As part of the work giving the Nystrup Gravel layout a more prototypical surface, I have been working on the area around the petrol pump. I wanted the petrol pump to be removable, still not having its looks spoiled by gaps between ground and pump foundation. Not an easy task to accomplish.

In this view the Nystrup Gravel petrol pump towers above the flat meadows to the north of the tracks.

The pump is a cheap chinese toy model I bought back in 2019. I have been refining it a bit but am still looking for a finer detailed pump. By having the pump able to be lifted off the layout it is easily replaceable. When moving the layout, the risk of damaging structures and details is also much smaller when they can be lifted off separately. 

My initial plan was to mount a bolt in the pump and attach it through the layout with a nut from the underside. A bit over the top for an item that won't just fly off at the slightest touch and I settled for a simple piece of brass rod fitting tightly into a brass pipe glued into the foam baseboard.

Before scattering ground cover material around the pump's foundation I wrapped the pump in plastic cling wrap. The thin plastic material creates a good barrier between foundation and the mix of glue and sand for ground cover. Once the glue has dried, the petrol pump was carefully lifted off, the wrap removed and the pump fitted again. A few tufts of grass helped to blend the foundation into the ground.

A brass pipe buried in the layout surface to accept the brass part added to the petrol pump.

Brass rod fitted for keeping the pump in place on the layout.

Diluted white glue has been added to the sand/gravel mix around the petrol pump. The cling wrap prevents the white glue from cementing sand and pump solidly together.

From the front of the layout there is hardly any gaps to be seen even if the petrol pump is removable.