Videos of the new loop

Well okay...technically, its videos of all three loops. But these are the first videos out showing trains running on all three tracks. The C&O diesel switcher pulling the mixed freight is on the new inner loop. The Burlington Northern U33C diesel hauling the string of Gunderson container cars is on the middle loop and the American Flyer 4-4-2 Atlantic is on the outer loop.

The inner loop is done...YAY!

Laid the last of the inner mainline track today. Following that I ran temporary power leads to the bridge and successfully ran locomotives around the track. There is one turnout that the Gunderson well stack cars don't like - the cars hit the turnout throw - but otherwise the look works well. I kinda suspected the Gunderson cars would not work on the inner loop with the tighter radius curves. Fortunately, I can still run the cars, it'll just be more of a challenge to get them in and out of the main yard.

No pictures today, but both the SW-9 and an 4-4-2 Atlantic traversed the track.

The only fault...I forgot to install the automatic uncouplers on two sidings. Fortunately, its a relatively easy process to backtrack and fit them to the track.

Landscaping the layout

I'm starting to work on some of the landscaping forms on the layout. I needed a little background on creating hills. Fortunately, I found this nifty video on Youtube from Woodland Scenic on creating detailed hills with rock formations. Well worth 10 minutes of your time.

More progress with the inner loop!

I've been busy installing roadbed and track on the inner loop. Its almost ready to run a train on.

 

Its actually working out pretty well. The 'east yard' has a main line and two passing sidings. One will serve the passenger station while the other will be a place to stash extra cars not currently in use, or serve as a passing siding if the passenger station track is full. The interlocking tower is positioned to observe all the activity on the east side including both the middle and outer loops. I may install a floodlight tower near here to through some light into the yard area.

Pardon the mess - its a work in progress.

Another challenge was the northwest corner. I ultimately decided to install a tight inner turnout to service the west yard (and  to use the original bridge layout). Problem was that the curve of the tracks actually crossed the inner corner of the layout and would be hanging in space.  Soooo...I added a bit of table to fill the corner.

You can see the proposed track line done in red.

The corner is a piece of board with a 1x4 frame under it. On top of the is a piece of styrofoam. It was too tall for the surrounding terrain, but the foam cutter knocked down  the edges to a reasonable slope. I used Woodland Scenics foam putty to smooth out the irregularities and fill the seams along the edges. A little sanding and it is good to go! 

Shot from the perspective of the turnout.