Starting the trackwork in Clearwater
Well work on the layout has slowed downed quite a bit due to going back to work but there is some progress to report.
I glued down and stained most of the ties on the line into Clearwater including all the sidings and the passing track. Only ties not layed are for the curved turnout at the north end of Clearwater. I need to figure out the radius of the curves for this turnout first and add a leg to hold a train pass the turnout. This will allow for a runaround track. Looks like more of the bench work will be built before the Clearwater section is completed.
While waiting for my rail to arrive I installed my Digitrax system and wired the loconet and installed track feeders. My bus wire is 12 gage stranded and my track feeders are 22 gage. I’m installing track feeders every 3 feet. I also had a RRampMeter from Tonys Train Exchange sitting on the shelf so I wired it into the system. This is a great device that measures the voltage and actual amperage and is great for trouble shooting. I highly recommend one if you are using DCC.
My rail finally arrived in the second week of January so I was able to replace the rail I borrowed from a friend of mine so construction could continue. My forney arrived and I wanted more than 6 feet of mainline to run it on. I now have 16 feet of mainline finished so I can finally run some trains back in forth. It isn’t much but it sure is fun watching and listening to my forney, shay and climax run back and forth with a few cars. I have three more turnouts to build for the sidings that I should be able to build in an evening once I get my paying customer’s work done.
As a change of pace I built a “Chivers” 20ft wooden gondola that I bought at the Syracuse show last November. At first I was disappointed in the ‘chunkiness” of the parts, I still have to get used to the differences in wall thickness between N scale and O scale. Once it was put together I was very satisfied with the finished product. Although the kit was a bit pricey (imported from England)compared to Bachmann’s gondolas, I will definitely be adding a couple more of these cars to the fleet. It is also the first car to be lettered and weathered for the Clearwater Valley.
I’ve also decided to ground my free lanced line so I have written a history about the railway. I guess its a thing I have from my previous proto freelanced railways. If you are interested in reading it just click on the history link on the menu.
Well that’s it for now, time to get back to working on the railway. Hey, I think there is a song by that name.