First Frogs at Falmouth

Some of Scott's gear for the video shoot

 

Hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving. On the day before the holiday, Scott Wahl visited the Aquia Line to shoot video. He is taking a class in film production. He needs to make a 5-10 minute film as the final project for the class. He asked if he could shoot a feature on my layout and I agreed.

The video and audio set up was quite impressive

Scott had done video production for a true crime podcast in the past, so he had a complete array of professional level video equipment. The video format was an interview with me that will be intercut with scenes from the model railroad.  It will be interesting to see how it turns out. 

Scott has a very professional tavel rig

On Thanksgiving morning before helping cook the meal, I started working on laying the rest of the track at Falmouth. The first step was to make the switch stands and bridles for the stub turnouts.  I needed three 2-way and one 3-way switch stands. These are photo etched kits made with stainless steel. They are a bit tricky to assemble. You must use silver solder and flux for stainless steel. Regular rosin core solder will not work. I set my soldier station to 400 degrees as that helps melt the silver solder. Once the kits were assembled, I scrubbed them with soap and scouring powder. Then waited overnight to let them dry. 

I primed them with self etching metal primer. After a few hours, they got the final coat of black paint. The targets will get red once they are installed. 

I have some of the main track in Falmouth and one and half turnouts done so far. I do like the Ess-curve that the track makes as it flows through Falmouth. I think it will look nice when it is finished.

Switch stands and bridles before priming and painting