Hey, that's looking really sweet Lee.
I'd like to suggest one thing....but really cant think of anything
I "saved" some more junk post war accessories over the last few days.
Last fall I picked up an old post war 4x8 loop layout with a 1033. It was obviously stripped of its unbroken accessories but it had the frame work of the timed AF taking City Station, Lionel crossing gate, flagmans shack, girder bridge, a bunch of pressure contact switches, lock-on isolated rails, a #90, the controller & accessory shoe W/uncoupler track etc. etc., and two pickup shoe-to-the outside rail, accessory actuators. Much like the giraffe's tell tale pole holders, but it has two rails for the old shoes. I think it is for a operating brakeman (Is it? Ive never had one)
In fall, I robbed the layout of its station. It worked, but it was "hit".
No roof, no door section, filthy dirty, and stained windows. It was stained too bad
missing parts. So I turned it into a factory with PVC for smoke stacks, and a semi-trucks inner tube covering a sheet of Masonite!
After waiting all winter, the weather break had me in the garage, and I decided I better pull the rest off, and breath some life back into them.
Washy washy washy....rinse rinse rinse....dry dry dry...Viola, shiny post war.
The crossing gate was missing its plastic optics for lights, but I had two red machine panel jewels that fit the holes perfect. As luck would have it, the balance happened to be perfect at this point. But the gate has operated so many times, the rear-most horizontal brace of the arm, between the counterweights, has near completely worn away! So I will drill and thread the counterweights to take a horizontal screw covered by a rubber tube to act as the up-stop. This weight should also let me wire l.e.d.s inside the gate jewels, and then re- balance it with a few washers on the ends of the screw & rubber tube. I painted the bulb red, in the mean time, to get the red glow I'm used to seeing near the cross-bucks.
The flagman seemed relieved as he may not have had a bath since beginning the job. Nice paint on the face, not an offset glob. The shack got a new roof made of rough cut wood veneers & a center beam. Nothing too fancy for my layout!...
As in nothing fancy belongs there
The cross-bucks were gone, but I had a white plastic chopstick with a squared handle that fit the cross-buck base well enough to epoxy it to the base then screw in place. I was going to cut it further to build a cross-buck sign, but I think I'm just going the place one at the road, and use the chopstick to fly "Old Glory"
Those brakeman actuators, will get used to support two more homemade tell-tales I happened to start building...even though I didn't think I had any pole supports.
Nothing going to waste, I'm going to throw a quick coat of urethane on the layout, and fill it's bare spots with gravel, sand, and moss, using it outside at some yard sales this summer.
My luck has been running great this year for little PITA details requiring no real effort.