Appalachian Southern

Having only a little time this morning to work on the layout, the final steps were completed prior to laying the first sections of Atlas Code 55.  Some cutting made the walk-through bridge / gate look much better.  You can see in the pictures below, the track lines are now drawn in.  A three inch piece of 1/8 Masonite is invaluable for drawing curves as long as you can find a friend or spouse to help you hold it in place.

All of the lines for the staging track turned out really well. They are located on 1-3/8″ centers.  The six foot metal ruler I was using is also proving to be invaluable for drawing the straight sections of the staging area.

The next step will be to start laying some track. If everything goes as planned, the first sections will be installed this evening. My wife has to work late, so this will be the perfect opportunity to get it done.

Modifications Made to Walk-Through Gate

Guidelines to Use When Laying Staging Track

Staging Area (Lower Level)

Bridge Locking Device (One of Two)

The Look of the Staging Area Prior to Track

Here are a few progress photos. The lower staging yard is complete and the upper level staging yard is framed. I still have to add metal bracing before the plywood is put on. The framework for the helix is also in progress. I am going to consider some lighting options soon.  Everything is proceeding nicely.

Be sure to visit my friend Mike’s – Owens Valley Subdivision; as his latest progress, on his n scale layout,  is quite impressive. He is the creator of the design that I am building. My thanks go out to him for these great ideas.

Getting Ready to Fit the Plywood

1/2" Birch Ply in Place

1/2" Birch Ply in Place

Overview

Helix Base Frame

Another Angle on Helix Base Frame

Excellent Progress For One Day

Many of you may not know, but I also play the classical guitar. My parents started me when I was very young and I took lessons for about a year.  Like most young kids, I was severely misguided and decided that I didn’t like guitar lessons.  Last year I met one of the best music instructors in Florence, and we started working together on the guitar again.  Allen has brought me a long way towards improving my skills and my age has brought along the discipline to practice every day.  Anyway, I have a performance at St. Luke on Tuesday night.  I spent most of yesterday trying to get ready and my practice went pretty good.

About 4:30 yesterday, I had the urge to work on the new layout some. I called my friend Larry who came over and helped me stand up the walls for the new layout.  By 7:30pm we had all the walls up and they turned out really good. This new layout is going to be great. All the credit goes to Mike, or Pastoolio in the N scale world. I know you guys are really getting tired of see layout diagrams and drawings, so here are some progress photos from the work yesterday.

Layout Framing

Layout Framing

Layout Framing

Layout Framing

Layout Framing

Layout Framing

I have good news to report this morning. The wiring in the yard is complete and all the tortoises and DS64 stationary decoders are functional. Even though it seemed the wiring would never end, it concluded this morning. It makes me very happy to be able to move on to something else now.  I was like a kid running the CSX GP38-2 this morning. I even got a little adventurous and pulled MTLX 1048 through the turnouts. I was thrilled to find no problems with the track work!  I haven’t soldered my rail joints yet, but that can happen any time now.

I have attached some photos of the completed wiring and the first locomotive and the MTLX unit.  Overall, I think my background painting is going to work out well. I didn’t have to edit the photo at all.

CSX 2733 GP38-2 & MTLX 1048

Finished Wiring Switches 9, 10, 11

Finished Wiring Switches 5,6,7,8