Don't take offence at my incomplete fence.

When we bought the property that would become Whistlestop it was terribly overgrown with native tea-trees.  These are the result of a natural process- tea-trees require sunlight to grow, so that when all the big trees were knocked down by a previous owner- creating lots of sunlight- all the seeds sitting in the soil thought all their Christmas's had come at once, and decided now was a good time to grow.  In due course the gumtrees would  grow again too, creating shade, and the tea-trees would die back.  However, not wanting to wait that long, I needed to give nature a hand.

The track that had been crudely bulldozed through the property was impassable, so as a start to regaining control of the property, and opening it up a bit, I decided to start clearing along this track.  Not only were there tea-trees growing everywhere, but there were piles of dirt, rocks, and dead wood from the bulldozing efforts.  It was a very big mess.

Eventually I had cleared enough along the start of the track to make it passable, but it still looked really untidy.  I wanted to define this area better too, and make it look presentable for visitors to the Trainbarn, and Miniature Railway.  As I really enjoy carpentry, I decided to build a fence along the track.  To enhance the overall railway atmosphere of this area, I decided it should be a picket fence, painted cream, as are many fences on real railways.

Defining the area better has also allowed me to build the start of a small garden here.

As someone who is interested in so many different hobbies- not only trains, but old cars and machinery too- I tend to jump around from one thing to another at times, to the annoyance of others.  Having quite a large property which requires massive amounts of work to get it how I want it also causes me to move from one job to another without finishing things off.  The grass and tea-tree didn't stop growing while I was building the fence, and eventually attracted my attention!  So, the fence remains a 'work in progress'!! I'm not bothered at all by that, as I know I will finish it one day.  Well, it has to be finished before I can open Whistlestop to visitors.  I will enjoy finishing it off, when the right time comes.

This is a picture taken along the main track, from the Trainbarn carpark. You can see the start of the fence in the middle distance. Eventually it will extend further along the track, before heading off to the left along the formation of the miniature railway line, near where the white peg is.  Having the incompleted part of the fence in place was really helpful in deciding on the exact alignment of the track, which has just recently been surfaced with deco, and proper drainage provided.

I guess my 'philosophy' of working on Whistlestop is like doing a jigsaw puzzle.  I like to do a bit here, a bit there, a few edges to define things better, all the while keeping the big picture firmly in mind.  One day, it'll all come together and be finished!  But what will I do then.............