East end staging...

Well, the east end ladder is in for staging. Thanks to my buddy Doug for the loan of his compressor, I can get a lot of benchwork done alot quicker..

Now to start installing yard tracks..

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Run at the SP Cascade Sub...

Got to spend Saturday running at Jeff A's. Nothing to get you back into modeling than running on a great layout. Track is ME code 55 and 40 with hand built switches...

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Bridge and tie gang....

So after coming home and getting to bed late, I wound waking up 3 hours later. Since I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep, I figured I'd get the bridge in.

Now that it's in, I'll start laying track into the staging yard.

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A little bridge...

So, I decided that the long uphill side of the new layout needed something to break it up. I'm going to have fairly mountainious scenery on this side, so I needed to add a bridge to cross the creek. Lucky for me, I happen to have a Central Valley Product bridge I built a few months back looking for a home.

A little cutting with a hand saw and now we have a gap...

Some scrap wood and the footings are in place for the bridge piers.

Now to get busy on the piers...

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New expansion!!!

Yes!! I added an expansion to the bench work to bring the track out. The finished plan will be a loop with a staging yard on the lower level and a town with an interchange on the upper level.

This is a test to see if a second level will work, which it would. It would also support the lighting for the lower level.

Here's a test of the min radius for the layout. I went with a 16'' for the mainline. It works just fine for the trains I want to run...

This is a test of a 25 car train with three engines.

Last shot is the cork being layed down. I'll be installing the track tomorrow when I get home.

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Learning curve...

Well, ive learned a few things over the last couple of weeks. One, it is possible to have too much stuff. Two, it does make it a pain.to get anything done when.your tripping over stuff..

I did manage to get my bench cut down to fit it's new home. I trimmed off 14 inches of the door and inserted a 2x2 into the end to brace it up. Now that I have it moved, time to get back to benchwork.

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Well, time for a change...

I've been waffling hard on the scale issue for my layout. Ever have those doubts about what you really want to do as opposed to what should do?

Well, luckily for me, my daughter pointed out the other night while helping me move some stuff around that it was a shame I was not using my N scale stuff that much. Maybe I should build an N scale layout instead of the narrow gauge to use some of it. Then came a visit to a friends layout for an ops session and that pretty much ended the discussion.

So, for now the FdT is going onto the back burner and I'm going to start work on an N scale layout instead. I plan to use code 70 rail for the mainline and code 55 for the sidings and branch. I'm going for a mixture of handlayed and flex track. I just need to order ties and do somemore moving around in my room.

Stay tuned!