Those of you who've been reading along on this blog for a while would know that Black Mountain in northern NSW, is one of my favourite railway spots, If only judged by the number of photos I've taken in that location. The station originally opened as Boorolong, hence the reference to it, and its use as a starting point for the Splitters Swamp Creek branchline. It is on the mainline on the way up to Wallangarra, but has many of the things that I like in a branch line. If you were to drive there today it would strike you that the railway is the town, as there is little else located close by. The feel of the location is that the line has been built before the town, as was the case in many locations throughout NSW. 
The facilities were enough to get the job done and that was about it. The location of the line is on the side of a hill, and so the station and goods areas of the site have them curving around the slope of that hill to keep the line level with little in the way of earthworks required, it does remind me of Merriwa but on a much smaller scale, and isn't the end of the line either (so how similar are they???!). The loading banks have two different construction methods, wood and cement. You can see in this photo the mix of the two types. There was also a small timber loading bank for cattle opposite this one.
At SSC I want to create some operational interest so I've built a similar 'bank' that combines the two materials and various heights. Limited space in my goods area has meant that they are short, but do mean that some careful, planned shunting will be required. Like Boorolong, SSC is built into the topography of the location, so it is tight in spots.
The hardest part of the construction is deciding how much detail to put in. I like adding the detail, but where do you stop? In the above photo the metal tie down can be seen, should it be added? I don't think it would be obvious if left off, or would it be noticed more by being there? I've stained the timber. individually, then put it together. OK might be time for a photo.
For now I'll post this, as I've already put in the photos, and I'm still rubbish at adding them after the text! Another post for part 2, will be soon!
Geoff.
The sight of some green foliage greeted the townsfolk of Evans' Gap as they ventured out today. The barren earth finally has some undergrowth on it. I've tentatively thrown around some green stuff, hope it sticks!
The area that SSC is set in is quite green and lush, and as much as this appeals there is a little voice niggling at me to make it a little dryer. So for now the brushes are green, however over at the main yard the country opens up a bit so is more inclined to dry out. That should be an interesting change, hope it works out OK.
As I said at the start this is the undergrowth, and there will eventually be a large number of trees over this part of the layout. I tried to match the colours of foliage to background paint, in the hope that they'd create some depth, the jury is still out on this, bit early to tell I think. This at least gives a better impression than the white. 
