If you have been following along you will notice I changed my staging once again. I wasn't satisfied with the swing bridge I built a few pages back, it was cumbersome and inconvenient. So back to back to the idea of using part of the hallway for a narrow staging shelf.
Instead of some arbitrary yard ladder for staging I decided to use the double track main line as it was laid out in the mid 50's. Closest to the hallway is the East bound main, in the middle is the West Bound main, and finally closets to the wall is the west bound siding.
Trains originating from Eckington Yard in Washington D.C. will be staged on the west bound main or the west bound siding. They will proceed up the west bound main as if they were coming from Eckington. Once past the cross over the train will back through the crossover onto the east bound main until it clears the branch siding switch. At this point the train will proceed west down the Georgetown Branch.
Only one train originated from the east. An early form of a unit train would arrive from Baltimore with a string of tank cars bound for the oil distributor near River Road. The train was an F unit and it would return light to Baltimore once the string of cars where delivered. This train will be staged on the east bound main next to the branch siding.
Since the main line is almost at eye level I decided to go with ME code 83 and I raised it approx. 3/16" higher then the code 70 on the branch tracks. The far end of the main line will be hidden behind a small hill at the end of the branch interchange tracks.
As you can see all the tracks are in place and wired. I ran out of of Masonite so I could not finish the upper and lower valance, that is on the todo list. I also need to paint the wall behind the staging track and add turnout controls.
Well that's it for now, feel free to post your thoughts.
Looks great. I like how you've extended the junction to allow plenty of room for staging and making up trains, doing switching, etc. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say that by doing this I have moved the Keys siding back down the line and will not do the Rock Creek trestle or Chevy Chase.
I could do loop back blob in the center of the room an have the trestle on one side an Chevy Chase on the other way down the road if I ever finish what I have now.!