Shortly after the last ops session I went back into layout construction mode. Today I finished the last of the subroadbed! I completed the subroadbed from Turners Siding all the way to Monarch and Benedict. Sadly, in the process I lost one of my planned tipples due to research. In a 1969 aerial photo there’s what looks like a small truck-dump loader on the tail track for the Benedict switchback–this is the end-of-the-line for the St Charles Branch. While the track in the 1969 photo is fuzzy, the loader looks like it’s along the track if you look at the track’s location in later photos, so I included a siding for it since my tail track isn’t quite long enough to do both the switchback tail track and loader. Alas, when I looked at some photos from the ’90s, it’s clear that the tail track was extended, so the original tail track in my era didn’t quite reach the structure. I could still include it, but after the last ops session, I’ve decided I have MORE than enough work for the crews to do!
In addition to the subroadbed, I also built two movable platforms for accessing the upper deck. In the new section, some of the tracks reach 67″ high, which is at my eye level (and I’m over six feet tall). I took some lumber recycled from a friend’s old layout and built two platforms, a larger one that’s 14×20″ and a small one that’s 10.5×16″. Both are 4″ tall which is enough to see and reach all the tracks for someone a few inches shorter than me. Even though they sit pretty low, I added some angled sides to increase the stability and ensure they won’t tip when you step on them. Very simple design but plenty strong and most useful!
Next step is putting in the backdrops (I can finally hide the “I was here” artwork on the insulation…). Then it’s on to laying some ties and building some bridges–I’ve got two plate girder bridges and two trestles to build before I can finish the trackwork in this last section. Getting excited, though, because I’m almost to the point of being able to operate the entire layout as it was designed!
