Handrails

It was pointed out to me by a fellow from Railwire that my Baldwin VO-1000 didn't have the handrails attached. Just goes to show how observant I am. I have had this engine since 2004 and never noticed the hidden compartment in the box that contained 9 handrails that needed to be attached to the locomotive. Foolishly I began to cut and attach them. There are 3 tiny ones that I have no idea where they go and are so small I will not even attempt to handle them.

I got the front and back handrails and the ones near the cab installed with much effort (fat thumbs). I then got the right front handrails on but the left front ones were last seen traveling  at a high rate of speed somewhere over my "workbench". Multiple attempts to find them have failed so they have officially been declared "lost at sea".

Wiring's Done! (3 Modules)

Added a second power pack and completed the wiring for the first 3 modules. Installed an extra terminal block for the common line. What a back breaker! The trapped wall bookshelves (see earlier post) under the shelf layout made for wiring contortions that even a younger person would struggle with. I probably should have found a way to hinge the terminal panels to flip up out of sight but that would have made me view the wiring blocks backwards and that would have challenged me with spatial conception issues. Oh well, it is done! Only one module left that will be over a bookshelf.

So where do we stand. I have 3 modules that are essentially complete. They still need finishing details added but that can wait until there is less construction (and elbow damage). We have 3 modules, 2 mainline tracks and 8 sidings. I can switch 7.  The Texaco refinery stub is a long way off. I can run 2 trains 14' each (and back 14'). I will need to go onto the next module (Woodbury or Delaware River crossing) or add temporary end loops so I can enjoy some continuous running.

A stand-in for the Buzby concrete plant (Walther's Medusa cement plant) is under construction. (I also despise plastic silo kits, I do not do well with them.) Eventually I'll have to do a small brick rectangular station (Westville's replacement station). What would really give the layout a PRSL flavor is some small PRR style passenger shelters for the other side of the tracks (need 3 of them: Westville, South Westville (Olive Street) and North Woodbury). The shelters opposite the Woodbury station were longer and more traditional.

Loft space is getting tight. I will have to sell off the 4'x8' to get space (but first I am waiting for N Scale magazine to tell me the latest article submission pictures are OK). Then that will give me enough space to start new construction. In the meantime, some structure kits and planning, including scheming to find a way to pay for a Norfolk Southern GEVO PRR heritage unit (will serve as another of my planned anachronisms [ready Lee?]).

A Southern New Jersey Mountain

I've been known to drive some modelers crazy with my anachronisms (planned & unplanned) but this falls under the oxymoron category. Southern New Jersey just doesn't have anything that could even be stretched to be called a mountain. Boy, do I miss my old fictional PRR Schuylkill Division (http://myrrlayout.com/R/Aspfiles/DetailPage.asp?Xfer_Code=20001280&Scale=N) Since that was located along a waterway with either small mountains or very tall hills on the sides, it was easy to create an excuse for the tracks to curve. Which also made it easy to hide staging tracks.

When I decided my new layout would cover the towns I grew up in (1950s), I lost that ability. Southern New Jersey is represented by flat land, sand, scrub pines and primarily maple  (and oak) trees. So now I have a problem. The shelf layout will go around the room and I have a strong conviction that tracks parallel to the edge of the layout are toy like (and boring). So I have to introduce some modifications to make the tracks change direction and stay off the walls. The track variations are not exactly true to the prototype here, but I only need me to bend the "truth" a wee bit for interest. And since I can't do a 20' run on an 18" shelf and not have it look like it is parallel to the edges, it must happen! So how do we justify the bends - with a southern New Jersey mountain of course! (Actually something that wouldn't even qualify for  a hill designation.)

I recently finished the Brooklawn trestle (a curved trestle where a straight one had been) and needed to fill in the ground under it (yes, it would have been smarter to do the trestle before the terrain but I am an impatient sort).

I mixed a batch of earth colored sculptamold and finished the trestle area. With the remaining half batch I added some terrain bumps that give the tracks a reason to jog (just a bit). Covered them with grass and course turf. They need something like a few trees or a billboard but that would raise a second issue. This is to be an operational switching layout and the sidings on the far side make these areas prone to some foreground elbow damage. Oh well, that a problem to be solved when the layout is a bit more mature. (Why didn't my parents just live in Pennsylvania?)

I also got the "lots" paved for the Westville power plant and the Brooklawn Murphy's Park N Eat, Merit gas station, and Todd's auto repair. Now I just need to make the signage for them.