FIXED...

...at this point, at least!  The leak was addressed in a two-man, 3-hour work session last night and so far, so good.  We will give a week or two, minimum, to ensure that it really is leak-free, and then it's time to connect the final benchwork section of the short line and to complete track laying there.

Lots of major progress, coming soon on the Onondaga Cutoff!

~RGDave

The Waiting

Progress on the water meter work has stalled, pending support from the local water department.  Due to a stuck valve at the curb, they will need to dig up the front yard and replace the valve before we can do the work inside - a major headache!  On the bright side, once this work is done, I will essentially have modern valves and plumbing over most of the system in the home.

In the mean time, I continue to wire locomotives for DCC, and I recently took delivery of the structure kit that will be the locomotive shop in the Onondaga Diesel Terminal.  Here is the Walthers promo shot of the assembled structure:

Of course, mine will have Conrail locomotives instead, but you get the idea!  Having this structure in hand allows me to finally lay all the tracks in the Locomotive facility, which to this point had been on hold since I need to match the ladder track with the spacing in the floor of the facility.

Coming soon is backdrop installation and painting.  Masonite seems to be a popular choice for backdrop material, and at this point, that is the direction I am leaning - aluminum flashing will be expensive and also will have less stability for painting.

I have found the trick with building a large model railroad and keeping progress going is to keep working on something, even when one job is interrupted by circumstance.  With shortline benchwork (and therefore trackwork) stalled awaiting the new water meter arrangement, I have kept working on other projects. 

Even the waiting keeps me busy!

~RGDave

Tehachapi & The Mojave Desert

All the images from the April 2011 California Trip are now online for your viewing pleasure.

Tehachapi Pass:  http://rgdave.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=66965

A few examples:

And, the Mojave Desert:   http://rgdave.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=66966

Enjoy!  More model railroading to come soon!

~RGDave