Spent a chunk of the afternoon installing this bit of benchwork -- finding the right height for it, leveling it off, screwing all the bits in place. It turned out to be a lot more fiddling than I thought it would. It always does.

I wanted to keep it as low as possible without impeding the passage of dome liner cars on the tracks beneath. I found the ideal height through a little experimentation -- inching the posts up and down a quarter inch at a time, then pushing dome cars back and forth along the track.

With that settled, I had only to cut the lumber I needed, then screw it in place, easily the least enjoyable part of the job. I had to contort myself into all kinds of yoga poses I didn't know I could do to fit myself beneath the bench so I could drill out the needed holes, then drive screws into each of them.

About three hours later, with a short break for lunch, this 20 x 48 inch piece is in place. The passenger station will eventually be erected over five tracks on the near end of the plywood sheet. 

Laying the last length of track in the terminal yard. Books hold the track flat to the cork roadbed while the glue dries.

It works better if you use books about railroads.

View from the crossing tower

A look down the yard throat into the terminal yard. A trio of number six switches have been installed to replace the number four scissors switch that impeded traffic into the yard before. A single track leaves the yard where once there was a double track.

And the track gang was strongly encouraged by the chief engineer to clean up all the crap that had collected in the yard, after he promised to put a fifty-dollar tab on the bar at the Buffalo Nickel Tavern in exchange for a job well done.

I was hoping that a five-pack of Blue Point switch machines would arrive Saturday so I could install them before the weekend was out but, as it happens, UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays or Sundays, so no luck there. Not wanting to wait any longer I glued the switches down and a length of track leading away from the throat through a tight, twenty-four inch curve.

A new way out

The track gang's been at it again. After a long winter spent mostly in the dark, smoke-filled back rooms at the Lost Piranha Tavern, they managed to rouse their lazy butts from their bench seats and get some work done reopening the yard throat.

These #6 switches will make it possible for all the engines of the Lost Continent Railway to come and go, from the big steamers bringing in a big drag from a cross-country run, to the short yard goats, spotting passenger cars along the platforms. That's the dream, anyway.

The longest locos have had no trouble at all to date crawling through these Code 83 Atlas Super turnouts, when last we ran trains along the road. This time around I'm taking as long as necessary to prepare the roadbed, cutting holes for the switch machines, and fixing the track to the bench.

Plans to hand-lay track along this stretch were set aside in favor of getting the road up and running. Perhaps next summer we'll give the PCB method a try, but I'm hoping to have big steam pulling a string of streamliners around the bend before April's over.

The End's In Sight

The track gang has put in a good day laying rail in the terminal yard, and the gang's boss, Dominic, has hauled them all away in the back of the company flatbed for a round of drinks at The Thirsty Camel to show his appreciation for their hard work.

A rainy day, combined with a recent payday, gave me the time and resources to stay in the basement and lay roadbed in the terminal yard.

I'm spreading a bead of an inexpensive acrylic caulk that works well to glue down the roadbed. It starts out white but dries clear, an improvement over the brownish caulk I was using before.

After the roadbed was laid, I spread spackle between the cork to fill in the yard. I'd highly recommend it over laying a wide sheet of cork. The spackle's easy to spread, fills in completely and is easily repairable.