March 2024
New Mill Lead - 2
30/03/24 08:43 Filed in: Roadbed/Track
Extending off old roadbed
Plywood for the new subroadbed is not quite as thick as the old subroadbed. Apparently I didn't notice that when I was installing it, so I had to come up with a shim to raise the Homasote roadbed up to match the height of the old roadbed. Or maybe the new Homasote is thinner than the old. At any rate an adjustment in height had to be made right under the location of a new turnout.
The new Homasote roadbed painted black and glued in position. The gap in the boilerhouse roadbed is space for coal to be unloaded from hopper cars.
A Fast Track turnout tacked in position so crossties can be cut and spaced.
Crossties cut and placed in postion. The turnout will be lifted off and the turnouts glued down. This area proved to be a problem in that the turnout spans across three sections of Homasote. The thickness and density of each of the three sections vary. To have a roadbed situation like this directly under a turnout is asking for problems.
New Mill Lead
02/03/24 08:53 Filed in: Roadbed/Track
Rearranging Yet Again
Continuing with track revisions, work focused on the new mill lead.
One of the turnouts for the locomotive service track had to be pulled up.
Two new turnouts had to be fabricated.
The rails for the locomotive service track turnout were lifted, the ties and ballast scraped off the Homasote roadbed.
The new Mill Lead turnout was positioned so the Tortoise switch machine for the old locomotive service track turnout did not have to be moved. Same hole in the roadbed, same actuator rod. Previously, the locomotive service track turnout had been positiioned to take advantage of a pre-existing Tortoise location. Therefore this Mill Lead turnout is the third turnout powered by the same Tortoise switch machine.