My son, Drew, was the engineer for the first mine run on the layout, a “Black Mountain Local” working Mayflower and Baker
Saturday was a big day–the first operational train worked the first loaders on the layout. It was a “Black Mountain Local” with me as conductor and my son, Drew, as engineer. Things overall went pretty smoothly with only a single derailment in the entire session (not bad for the first time operating on hand-laid track). Our power was GP38 2877 and GP30 2534. We picked up our train of 13 empty hoppers and a single loaded ACL covered hopper (AN for the mines). Awaiting us in Baker were 4 “yellow ball” loads for the transloader in Appalachia followed by 8 loads at Mayflower and an empty covered hopper.
The tracks at both Baker and Mayflower are stub tracks (prototypical), so most of our time was spent pulling loads to clear tracks and running around empties 5-at-a-time in the single run-around track. It was a great time to teach my son about run-arounds, delayed couplers, and how to think through switching moves. Despite the lack of scenery or even operational throws for the switches (I had to reach under and throw the mechanisms directly), it was 30 minutes of pure joy more than 3 years in the making (since we moved in). We finished the shift with the entry of this “milestone” marker on the benchwork to commemorate the event.
“Milestone” entry for the first mine run worked on the layout
View of the finished load tracks from the top of the tipple–note the track that’s been removed on the left side (thought it would make a cool detail)
I’ve completed laying rails on the Mayflower section of the railroad, and I’m just about ready to run the first mine run–exciting times! Everything is hand-laid, and I’ll share a little about my technique. I lay everything in place instead of using a jig because I find the track flows better. I use code 83 for the main and code 70 for sidings, and I spike everything with small spikes, about every 5th tie except for switches. I like to work outside-in as you’ll see in the pictures of the load yard ladder. This means the first few switches take a while because you’re notching for the points of ALL the switches on that piece of rail, but it speeds up as you go because you’ve already filed pieces up-front. I don’t pay much attention to frog numbers or curves–I just lay them as the ties dictate (and remember, the ties were laid down based on outlines traced around flex track, so that’s where I check radii and things).
You also might notice that I’m not putting in guard rails alongside the frogs for some switches which is prototypical for sidings in some areas of the country. I use them on both sides of every mainline switch, and I use them on the tightest curve side of every curved switch. For the rest, I test cars and put them in as needed. If your frog is straight, you probably wont need them. If your frog is curved at all, you probably will. I like the look of the switches with no guard rails because it emphasizes “siding.” I also use the track to tell part of the story, so you’ll notice that I laid an extra switch’s worth of ties for a 5th track under the tipple that has been removed (try doing THAT with commercial track)–Mayflower had a spot to load on a 5th track, but track diagrams in my era only show 4 tracks. I’ve modeled it as if they just pulled up the rails and laid through the switch instead of pulling up all the ties.
All the feeders (a gazillion) got dropped and attached yesterday, so I just need to set out some cars and recruit my engineer for the first-ever mine run on the layout. Woohoo!
This is the siding for a small truck dump at Baker–I used cookie cutter benchwork to get some good elevation difference, and I laid the rails for the siding very sloppily from side-to-side to show kinks of a well-used and minimally maintained siding
Overview of the ladder in Mayflower with the first couple rails in–I work “outside-in”
A little further along showing some of the “inside” rails being laid
Nearly finished yard ladder. The point rails haven’t been bent yet to put inward tension on the throw bar (which will be inserted soon)
Filing one of the notches in the stock rail–I just use a triangle file and bench vise with the rail sitting in the seam
I file points with a triangle file on top of a small bench vise–the seam holds the rail in place well enough without clamping
I’m not too impressed with the “new and improved” Micro Engineering small spikes–they bend a WHOLE lot easier than the original
Looking “north” at the finished tracks of the load yard at Mayflower with the tipple mock-up in the background
View of the finished load tracks from the top of the tipple–note the track that’s been removed on the left side (thought it would make a cool detail)
