Traverses Chemin de Fer

Again, this problem of weathering is exercising me.

If one Googles "traverses chemin de fer" which is French for "railway sleepers", one finds loads of websites selling wooden sleepers to the domestic landscaping market in France.

eg

And what strikes one is how light-coloured they are. Likewise, downloading images of sleepers in situ, one finds the same thing: the sleepers are not dark.

Whereas, PECO code 100 sleepers are almost black by comparison.

Also, I want the station to have a murky melancholic atmosphere and the colour that comes to my mind is that yellowy-gray that sometimes characterises a heavy evening sky.

So, I think I will look for a yellow-gray to paint the sleepers and underlay with.

This injection of yellow into the scheme of things should fit in with the colours in the ceramic facade of my Gare du Nord.

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Shostakovich:

In a very Shostakovichy mood today: went through both his cello concertos, his piano quintet and one violin sonata. Fantastic.

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Last night's dinner:

The Aga has been condemned by the gas engineer - needs a new burner that costs a fortune and will take a week to arrive so looks like the microwave  and our emergency one plate induction cooker will be in use for a while.

Sainsbury's microwavable Chicken in Butter. Actually, very nice.