'Dizzying Times'

 I feel as though the last few weeks have my mind spinning in two directions and four or five directions at all times.  Everything has either gotten more complicated or more difficult, or both; people are struggling in different ways, some unexpected; fear seems to be growing everywhere that ignorance is not.  This is a wild time.  Even big success can pale in comparison to the dizzying array of information and emotion that rolls around it.  

As things twist and turn and veer with little regard to my whims, I am especially grateful to my wife and kids and community and also to the model railroad hobby.  It offers a respite along the journey and this is one of those years that really seems to need more respite!

And so I turned to the job of adding some more scenery around Iroquois Paperboard, which will include paved-in track in the industrial property.  This follows the prototype in Solvay, NY in the 90's, and is a fun thing to re-create, albeit a tedious task.  I used the Walthers grade crossing styrene kits to suggest concrete panels, which were trimmed one by one to ensure clear flangeways.  Once the canopy glue dried, I added yard ballast mix to the tracks around the panels.  

Ballast is carefully tucked into the sides and ends, and then spread around to fill out the tracks.  

This is gentle, careful work, just the sort of thing that requires focus and therefore gives the mind a break from spinning too quickly.  Little by little.  

It is deep in places to reach to the top of rail elevation, so I used some other stone I had purchased for ballast that was the wrong color to fill out a base, enabling more coverage for the yard mix.  I glued it down with my usual 3:1 mixture of water and white glue, with a few ounces of isopropyl alcohol mixed in, and with a generous pre-spray of just isopropyl alcohol to break the tension.  After 8 hours it is solid as a rock.  

When you need a break from chaos or life, the hobby is there to help!