Forward portion of the grade up to Mt. Carmel

 In an earlier post, I showed the building of the hill side behind the track up to Mt. Carmel. I built a band board in the front of that grade and last night Alan and Paul put the webbing up on the forward portion of the grade. The sloped board in the foreground is the start of a ridge line for a forward hill side. That has not been finally positioned yet.

 Here is an overview of the whole grade with the webbing in place. Next comes the rosin paper and then the plaster work.
 The foreground where those horizontal boards are held up by clamps, shows where the ridge line will go. The height of the ridge is generating some controversy as I am tall and most of the team are not (height challenged as we say). So, if I make it too tall, they cannot see the train on its whole way up the grade as there will be a hill side to the left of the ridge line. So, they are advocating that I lower the ridge and make more of the hill side visible. The problem is that I will then see more of the band board I built. I plan to paint it a dark green but may have to glue some vegetation to the front to hide some of it.

 Looking from the start of the grade on the side of the hill.

Looking from where the girder bridge over the gorge will go. The track is rising to the left and then goes around a horseshoe and continues up to the right.

Creating the land forms in Weigh Scales - Part 2

 Earlier, I showed the work Paul and Alan did to put up the webbing and the rosin paper. Here is their second night's output, which is the plaster cloth, covering with Structolite. This area  took them about 2.5 hours to complete with the two coats as they put them on simultaneously. The bridge from Paxinos is in the foreground.

 It will become a wooded area as the yard went into the woods from its eastern side which ended in the town proper. So the buildings in the back of the photo are where the town begins and proceeds to the right.

Looking back towards the bridge to Paxinos.

Trackwork Modifications - Part 2

 Well, here I am in the posture that I had to maintain for about a week as I had to lean over the lower main to get tot he area where i am putting in the crossing. My elbows were a mess by the time I was done.

 This is what I am laboring on. You can see my test truck and the gauges to check the track.

 I am also putting in the other end of the passing track and then I have to build the station siding. I use the long aluminum piece to try to maintain alignment.

 Turnouts are in and I have to cut the ties to make them gradually longer as the route diverges. I am generating a lot of dust though.

 You can see that I get quite a bit of waste material as the ties are cut but it looks good.

 Cleaned up view with the station in place. There will be a backdrop to the left of the station when we are done. It will hide the pole that is in this view. The station will also be painted in more appropriate PRR colors. I got this one cheap due to its garish color. Fortunately, these MTH structures do come apart to a good degree.

 Here is a view with the station siding in. I will not finish the length of the track until I do the backdrop so I know exactly where the station will end up.

 A long view down to the other crossover.

The throat of the yard and station area is starting to look busy with a lot of turnouts.

Track work modifications - Northumberland

 Well, I realized that we would like to have a siding for head end equipment and a doodlebug at the Northumberland station so that required a lot of track work to be able to access it from both directions. So, I had to start by ripping out the main for about 15 feet to allow me to put in two #8 crossings plus a #7 switch into the station track.

 The track is out and laying on the branch line arrival track. I have laid the ties at both ends of the two crossings plus for the siding. The heavy rod weighs the ties down in the glue until they dry. Then I have to go in and sand everything smooth.

 Here is a long view so you see the ties at the other end as well. They have already been sanded.

 A long distance shot. Hopefully, the trackwork will be done in a week.

 I am also going to add a wye track that leads to the turntable and I will have a custom track builder make it for me. He is in Utah so I have to make a template of the track in the area. That is the paper template laying on the track. It also has my instructions to him on it.

 It will be a number 8 wye to make a very soft curve for the larger engines to negotiate. The curve is a about a 72 inch radius. It is on the branch line departure track and allows east bound engines to leave their trains and access the engine house without going down the yard lead.

 I am also replacing an unsatisfactory number 8 double slip that is a critical turnout for me. 

 These are views of that switch so I can see what I have to cut out. It is not going to be a pleasant job.

Finishing the land forms in Weigh Scales

 The west enf of weigh Scales is a wooded area so we just ave to get the land form base up and then we will coat it with plaster. This is tghe view from the bridge over the creek as we approach the town.

 The rosin paper is up on the cardboard webbing. I have covered the rack with tape and newspaper to protect it from the plaster.

 We are now looking down to the curvc in the yard where the woods end and the town begins.

 A look back along where the woods will be.