Hello everyone.  It has been too long since I did regular updates to the blog.  Too much work and time being spent on other things it seems.  I have been working on the layout on and off in the little spare time I have had and have documented things along the way which will make for some interesting posts.  It will take a few post to get things caught up here on the blog. Lets bring you up to date somewhat on the construction status.

Construction has continued up the branch line with most of the track work being completed in Holden (contemplating a few town name changes, again.) including the rough wiring.  Everything is mechanically and electrically working great, I just need to hard wire the leads to the terminals and switch machines and tidy things up.  I do still have to install the west end turnout which I can start working on now as I have competed the installation of the trestle bride which I will do a separate post on.  The track work is complete up to Walton which is the second town on the branchline.  I am not installing the towns industry tracks until I confirm where the lumber industry buildings will go so I can work the tracks in around the buildings as I do not have a lot of space here.

Hopefully I will be able to complete the west end of Holden soon and start installing the risers and spline work for the third and furthest west bound town Clifton on the branch line.  I am trying to complete all the track work as a priority so I can start developing an operating schedule.  This is why some scenery projects have taken a back seat on the priority to do list.

Here are a few pictures of the track work in Holden,  awaiting scenery in Woodshill and the temporary Fire Proof Storage building on Gainesville.

Well I have been doing lots of scenery for the past few months on and off but have come to areas that I can’t proceed until more track work is in place. I am still working on 2 building projects at this time. One to complete Gainesville and a 3 building lumber mill. I had to move a short section of track to better fit in a nice tressel bridge that will be aprox. 2 feet long in total length and will span the valley of two mountains that surround my main town. The tressel itself is in progress as well.

So I have started to work my way up the branch line which includes 3 small towns. 2 of which will have run around sidings and industries to allow some interesting operating movements. Here you can see the progress of the spline work and riser assembly as well as the installation of the homasote roadbed. I spend a few hours cutting and taping all the ties in 19inch strips which go down a lot faster and cleaner. Once all the homasote is installed I will draw on my center lines with my radius templates and a straight rule. I use the templates to ensure that all the curves are smooth and accurate. I also transition the curves into the straight sections for a smoother and more realistic look. I hope to be laying some track before the end of the week of which I will update.

I have been meaning to redraft the final track plan but time has not been on my side so I am posting images of my rough work.  It does the job and is to scale but isn’t 100% pretty.  The first image here shows Gainesville at the top center with the 6 track off line fiddle yard to the left and Clifton at the end of the branch line to the right.  The lower middle shows a scrapped concept of Woodshill and the east end of Gainesville.  I have reversed the entrance to the industry where the grade will be more leveled off and repositioned the branch line track work to allow a nice tressel bridge and an additional rock portal.  This area is where the mountain range I have just recently finished.

This next image is the other side of the layout room showing Stone Valley and its yard tracks.  Walton can be seen in the upper left and Holden should be on the right hand side but is not shown on the draft copy as I added it after I confirmed I had enough scenery room to support it visually.

I have started working on the spline work, roadbed and laying ties up the branch line from Holden to Walton and to Clifton.  I will be doing a post shortly showing my spline techniques.

Thanks again for reading and happy railroading.