More Posts about Building and FoodChange*

You may think, based on the number of recent “philosophy”- and “background”-type entries I’ve posted lately, that not much has been happening on the layout. But, with the exception of the last couple of weeks where I’ve alternately been very busy or not feeling so great, that’s not the case. In fact, I took a little video to show you that something is actually going on:

Layout Update Video

There’s a lot to take in there, but it shows some of the things we’ve been working on:

• General Motors plant mockup (for more info, go here)
• Keith Avenue overpass mockup (with mirror)
• Fascia is mounted (once piece is down for access while wiring)
• Some photo backdrop mockups and experiments
• Much trackwork in the Penn Mary area (wired and running, including 4 blocks isolated by breakers)
• Lead tracks for the Penn Mary yard, Canton interchange yard, and Bethlehem steel track (not wired yet, but will be shortly wired and running)
• Track for Consolidated Coal (track laying is a current work-in-progress)
• And some other odds and ends, including some weathering, rolling stock construction and upgrading, and so on

And of course, I can’t leave well enough alone, even with things that are “done.” You want examples?

First, I submit Exhibit 1, the track plan detail from this post. Then we’ll talk specifics.

Example #1

See those three curving yard tracks on the left side of the plan? They were originally designed to parallel the curve in the GM1 track… mostly. But in practice, I wasn’t happy with them. The real tracks had less curvature and ran around to the side of the building; they wouldn’t leave any space to differentiate the yard from the industry; and finally, they wouldn’t have left any room for a support pier for the Keith Avenue overpass. So I decided to move and reduce the radius. Just a little bit.

Here are the before and after pictures. (Click to enlarge them.) To be sure, the difference is subtle, but I think it gives that small triangle some breathing space. And space for some scenery. That said, in the shakedown run I did last night, the curve radius is still tight enough on the two inside tracks that 86′ boxcars are hanging up on each other there, so another adjustment might be in order before long.

Example #2

My layout is set in 1984. Which means there were still cabooses. As I was looking at the plan, two things occurred to me.

1. I had no place to store said cabooses as trains were broken down and built up.
2. I had no good place to get the switcher(s)—which would be assigned to the yard and not coming in (often) from elsewhere—out of the way as trains arrived and departed.

So I decided I needed a caboose track. And luckily, despite appearances on the plan, I had space for one between the main yards and the autorack loading tracks. In it went.

Once again, we have some comparisons.

Before
Planning
After

Problem solved. It fit so well, it was almost like I planned it. (I assure you I did not.) Sometimes you get lucky.

These will not be the last changes, I’m sure. I already mentioned that radius problem that may need modification. But as I’ve said before, changes aren’t permanent, change is.**

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