Good day yesterday. Got the article for No9 finished & published to the webpage. Also got all the updates done for the week.. Went out to The Shop and finished up No8's trailing truck, looks quite good, I was gonna test run it today , but the weekly monsson struck last night and I gotta clean track again. Got the two wooden hoppers riveted and the doors installed. Just the brass latches and levers, slopesheets, and detail castings left to do. Might try and get one rolled out today.
Tuesday, June 27, 2004 1100
Yet another evolution of Combine 02. I think I'm gonna add a cupola and repaint it in red. Blank out one window perhaps as well, shold only have to pull up one or two sections of roofing. End ladders and a roof walk will be appropriate as well, prolly will have to add some weight down low on the chasis cause its top heavy as is.
1400
Question is, where to put the cupola? Should I blank out some windows and put it in front of the baggage door? Or make the cupola rear wall an extention of the baggage compartments rear wall?
1800
Looks like it will be easiest to install the cupola between the baggage door and the rear end. This will only require removal of two sections of roofing which I might be able to recylcle onto the cupola. A much narrower cupola could be installed in front of the baggage door. Guess I need to make a mock up and see which one looks best. Need to do a few repairs on the existing carbody as well.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004, 1100
Rail arrived today! Two beautiful bundles!!! Also got the order from hobbylinc.com. YEA!!! Did a mockup for the cupola last night, put it both in front of the baggage door and behind it. Looks best all the way to the rear I think.
1330
Why assume that Western Consolidated refers strictly to a consolidation of narrow gauge railroads? How about Western Consolidated ia a holding company and the railroad exists to service its properties in the area? WC Coal, WC Oil, WC Lumber???
Came up with a better idea than a wood chemical plant for tank cars, a crude oil loading out facility. Found several prototypes online, Some that were even steam powered. It occured to me that that the Tuscorora Oil Co had a pumping station on the EBT that recieved coal for steam power.
Why not use the wood plant spur for a oil pumping station, and a coal dock for a boiler house? Put a couple of storage tanks next to it and mebbe an operating pump jack between the mainline and the logging spur. Done some online research and it turns out that was/is quite the oil industry in these parts. Funny how I had always just assumed this was strictly coal country.
Thursday, July 29, 2004, 1100
Got surprised by a ton and a half of crusher fines last night, got everything I need to start in on the New Yard, just as soon as I get some ties cut. Also guess I need to clean offthe back porch a little so I will have room to work. Mebbe I'll cut, bend and grind the rails in The Shop, then bring itout to the porch to spike it down.
While I'm at it , need to get that spur for the bulk loading plant done. Can use recyled rail for that though. I'm thinking for structures I can make a storage tank from the bottom half of a 5 gallon bucket and beer can material. The boiler house can be simulated with a corrugated clad building with a PVC stack. The actual tank car loadout will be a covered structure, corrugated of course, can't build that part until I get at least the rough dimensions of one of the tank cars.
Operationally, the boiler house will recieve coal for steam power, every 2nd or 3rd operating session and switch out a pair of tanks every session or so. I t also wouldn;t be a terrible stetch of the imagination for the tanks to go t Port Lavender to be loaded on barges as well.
Until I get a few more of the steel hoppers online, I'm gonna use the 30 series hoppers to service the online industries. They'd just get banged around the Anns Creek area,not in the through trains. I think 5 40 series cars plus Combine 02 will make a decent drag.
1500
Found out through a trick of mathmatics, you can fit FIVE tracks on a 36" wide board on 8" centers. Therefore the Storage/Ready Track doesn;t have to be off the board.
Friday, July 30, 2004 0800
Laid out the ladder for the New Yard last night. Really excited about it! Gonna have to build a pair of No3 wyes and fit a No4 RH in place. The wye's geometry works better coming off the 3 way as well. I won;t be sure until I get the other half of the yard laid out, but I think I'll be able to fit a longer train on the Arrival/Departure Tracks than at the passing siding at Anns Creek.
The reason being that at Anns Creek, the turnouts are on the boards as well effectively taking a carlength off each end of the siding. In this case , the three way starts off the board and the No6 at the other end might be off the board as well, I won;t know until I get the bloards in position and look things over. Having that cabin track at the end of the departure track will help things too. Think tht I'll put the passenger station somewhere between the Yardand the switch for Pot Lavender. Put the actual town of Cassville there, with the Main Yardand interchange on the outskirts.
Arriving coal trains an come into the yard, and have their cabin and roadeines removed then the Posrt Lavender Shifter can move the train over to . When a coal drag is called, the road engine can pick up the cabin from the cabin track and do a caboose hop over to Port Lavender and assemble the drag. It can stop at the station in Cassville for the Miners Accomodation and run on down the valley to Anns Creek. Theoretically its over the mountain and down the valley just the slope on the Cassville side isn;t representd on the layout.
Saturday, July 31, 2004. 1200
Finished cutting up all the ties I had avalible yesterday evening. Think I got enuogh to get this first section of the Yard underway. Have been thinking on the possibility of using Track 2 in the Yard aas the Interchange instead of doing another trak extending from its tail down at the end.
