Turnouts 47 and 48 (out of 108 total)

Well, I'm closing in on the halfway point in building turnouts for the Geneva Subdivision. I finished two more for 47 & 48 and now only have 60 left to do. Six more and I will have officially hit the halfway point. I have to admit that building the mainline and staging yard turnouts was a little more rewarding since each time I got a couple done, it meant that I could extend the mainline that much further or add more trains to the layout. Now, with the mainline and staging yards complete, I am focusing my attention on the yards. There are so many yard turnouts one right next to the other. If you get two done, it just means you got two more to do right next to the two you just finished. As you can probably tell, I've fallen into the habit of building and installing two turnouts at a time. I think it was doing all the crossovers on the mainline that got me into that pattern. Anyway, I am forging ahead with Proviso/Clinton turnouts. My immediate goal is to get enough installed so that there can be some semblance of operations. This would require complete arrival and departure tracks, at least 4 or 5 yard tracks and 1 or 2 engine engine tracks. To get to this point, 15 to 20 more turnouts need to be constructed. At the rate of 2 turnouts a week, I should be at this point by Thanksgiving. Well enough bloviating. Back to constructing turnouts.

East Staging at Nelson Completed

Got the east staging yard at Nelson completed over the weekend. The east staging yard contains 5 tracks as opposed to only 4 for the west staging yard at Proviso/Clinton. As with the west yard, control of the turnouts is through a push button for each of the tracks that, when pushed, has all the turnouts properly set for a train to enter or leave that track. So far I'm at 44 turnouts installed. Six more and I'll be at the half way point. I only have three tortoises left from the Rochelle Sub layout. I'll have to order a 12 pack from MB Klien real soon. I think I will now focus my attention on the Proviso/Clinton Yard.

Fox Valley Models Wheel Sets Going through Fast Tracks Crossover

This video shows just how smooth N scale trains can go through turnouts when you have high quality wheel sets and precision made Fast Tracks #10 turnouts. Two trains go though a crossover without the slightest bump, almost as if the turnouts weren't even there. The first train is a faster moving intermodal train. Not all the cars have Fox Valley Models wheel sets. The the second set (red) has Atlas medal wheel sets and the first truck bumps a bit going through. If I re-gauge the wheels in that truck, it will do better. That's now on my "to do" list. The second train is a slower moving manifest with 100% Fox Valley wheel sets. Completely smooth.

West Staging Track Installed

I've got the tracks down for the west staging tracks and was able to put some more trains on the layout. The west staging yard is partial in the open in Proviso/Clinton and partially in the staging room separating Proviso from Rochelle. The yard will hold eastbound trains heading out of Clinton and will receive westbound trains. The yard will also serve as interchange tracks for coal trains coming into and departing Proviso. The visible tracks from left to right are

3 Clinton staging tracks
1 Proviso Coal Train interchange track
2 Mainline Tracks
1 Yard drill track

The engines on the plywood are where the east side of the Proviso Engine servicing facilities will be.

Daryl

Geneva Sub Trackplan

I don't really have a trackplan that I can post at this time. I do, however, have a schematic of the layout that I use on RR&Co software for signals and dispatcher use. Hope its helpful in seeing how the Geneva Sub is laid out and how things will be operated.

Train Watching on the Geneva Subdivision

Golden Spike on Geneva Sub Mainline

The final spike was set on the double track mainline of the UPRR Rochelle Subdivision. To commemorate the event a short ceremony was held with a few Union Pacific employees and executives in attendance. Once the final spike was set, waiting trains were able to roll. The action was captured on video and can viewed on youtube at the urls below.





Next up on the UPRR Geneva Sub to do list:

Wire 16 Tortoise turnout motors from Nelson through Rochelle
Connect the above turnouts to the computer system
Install and paint backdrop from Franklin Grove through Rochelle (60 feet)
Complete BNSF mainline
Build lots of turnouts (67) for staging yards, Global III yard, and Proviso/Clinton yard.