So what's been going on these many quiet months?
I've been busy.
That’s not an excuse, but a proclamation, and in my opinion, a good one. Well, not for the blog, but for the layout.
It all started before last Memorial Day. We had planned a cookout for our families (a rousing success, I must say), and so I set a deadline for myself. You see, I didn’t want people to ask “How are your trains coming along?” and be forced to once again say “Well, I haven’t done much.”
So I did things.
The Goals
Goal #1 was to have enough track laid and operational to, well, operate. At least a little bit. Keeping in mind that not a single one of the family members attending are model railroaders, operation in this case meant the ability to run a locomotive with some cars on the main track and into some sidings. At the time, I had not yet ordered the large Peco Code 100 wye that I needed to split the track at the north (right) end of Wicomico St., so the main track ended just where the wye should be.
Having taken care of the bus (as described here), I was free to wire up the drops. I managed to complete that in a few hours over two evenings, and I didn’t even burn myself. (An achievement in itself considering my soldering skills.)
Goal #2, as I alluded to at the end of this post, was to get a backdrop up. As the photos attest, I wasn’t quite as successful on this count. (It’ll make a good topic for a later post.) It turned out to be a much bigger job than I had envisioned, and certainly more than a one-man job, so after 8 feet, I gave up. (I will go back to it as some point, but I’ll probably scrap what I have currently. I’m just not happy with it.) At that point I focused on trying to ensure that things ran well.
The Goals
And they did run well. I had more than a few people down to see the layout, and all seemed impressed, even the very young kids. This last point was especially good considering there is no loop on the layout, meaning there was not even a glimmer of the possibility of the roundy-round running kids usually love. (Although I will say the sound-equipped Conrail B23-7 didn’t hurt in keeping their attention.) I was able to deliver and pick up cars. The runaround worked well, and the lone code 83 spur caused no issues.As these things tend to do, the running raised some points. First, it became obvious that I needed some sort of off-layout storage yard, which turned out to be as simple (at least for now) as extending the track the joins the layout. Second it was obvious that I needed to get the wye in. Both of those have been completed, making ops a bit easier.
One major drawback of the unfinished basement is that it’s really (REALLY) cold in the basement in the winter months. So, my progress has been slow this winter (plus I’ve still been working on my portion of the the WMRR club layout as mentioned here). With warmer spring temperatures around the corner, I’m hoping to get moving again. More on the slow progress I’ve made in the next post.
Until then!
