Roads and Grade Crossing Gates at Donohue

Progress on Clermont is now focussed on completing the road system. Only when these things will be permanently in place can we start working on the ground cover. Until my spray booth is functional again though, we are cutting cardboard to make our roads.

I must admit Louis-Marie developed a dangerously efficient way of making all sort of pavement follow Gordon Gravett’s methods. So efficient I decided to replace all the plaster roads at Donohue, including the large parking lot. Working with plaster is a mess to be honest. It requires a lot of sanding and unfortunately chip. I tried other products including grout, patching compound for concrete, etc. They all suffer from the same problems and don’t allow you to take them to the benchwork for painting and weathering.

Remaking the pavement is also a good occasion to revise the grade crossing gates at Donohue. These are the basic model for private crossing and we used a Walthers kit. The kit itself is a decent rendition of the real thing, however, it has a big caveat: the supporting leg can’t move, making the gate looking silly when lifted up.

The improvement is simple. We cut the leg then made a new one using phosphore bronze wire and brass tubing. Soldered in such a fashion they look like a “T”, they legs are suspended to the gates using a brass wire forming a pivot. After less than 10 minutes of work, you’ve got operating gates that looks nice down or up.