January 21-24, 2009
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EXPANDING THE YARD TO SEVEN TRACKS January 21-24, 2009 |
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| "There's never enough tracks to hold all my trains" is a common theme among model railroaders. In my case, there was a nice 5-track yard, although the outer two tracks were main lines, so the yard itself was only 3 tracks. So I made a plan to expand the yard. 2 more tracks would take up 10.5 inches, so the table depth became 37.5 instead of 27 inches. The cost? 2 pieces of 1x8 pine and 7 2x4's. I already had plywood and paint, and there was still some code 250 track left over from the old railroad. So here goes! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Two more yard tracks means 80 car capacity instead of 48. There's still some more track work to be done, but the hard part is over. The yard will be full soon! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The freight cars have been moved, so this is a rare sight on this railroad - a yard without cars! The three center tracks can hold 48 40-foot cars or 60 32-foot cars. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Luaun plywood covers the framing, 1x4 pine on top for the track. Some old turnouts were modified an installed, and the mainline track started. In the far back is an area that holds engines and cabooses, and that has to be worked on next. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's the framing: a 2x2 against the old frame, a 2x4 along the front, and 2x4 spacers laid flat in between. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A view of the throat of the yard. In the future there will be a branch line coming off the curve on the far right, headed toward that pink chair and around the corner. This has been a cold winter and I might as well get these indoor projects done now. As soon as the weather clears, I'll be working on the outside railroads! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 PM Saturday and the main line is now finished. The Budd Car was the first train to traverse the new line. Everything checked out OK! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| After the yard was finished, I modified and installed turnouts and laid track for a 5-track engine/caboose terminal. No room for a turntable here! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It didn't take long to fill up the yard tracks. There's still more cars and locomotives on shelves and in boxes. Will we EVER have enough track? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||