Last report, our home improvement stores are still open but may have modified hours and they may limit the number of people allowed in the store. I'm not sure what the delivery fee would be on $20 worth of lumber, but delivery is also an option.
Got an e-mail from Home Depot saying they are now closing at 6 pm. I'm not sure if this is national wide but nothing in the e-mail leads me to believe that it's a local, targeted e-mail.
Things must be expected to get worse. Our local Walmart posted a sign that said that they would no longer be open 24 hours but only from 7:30am to 8:30pm. There goes my plans to get there at 4:00 am to beat the crowds.
Same down here in coastal Mississippi. Ours opens 6-8PM ish with full cases at 6. They are also apparently doing deep cleaning and disinfecting overnight. The meat/dairy manager said he's been selling out of both sections by 8:30AM or so.
Our walmart is at least having 'senior hours' on tuesday morning first thing. Glad I am in the 60+ group for a change. .
My main complaint about operating the Playa Desnuda branch is that there is no way to have the train roll in, switch the industries, then leave town. I am looking at at adding the fictitious Washington Blvd. Yard. Linda Sand drew up this yard for the 1999 Model Railroad Planning magazine and it will be the basis of my yard I am still open for recommendations...
Has everything you need, except maybe adequate tail track length on the runaround track? On my switching layout, which does have a yard, whenever I open the layout room door, the mainline roads have "just delivered a cut of cars to my yard and left." So, no mainline action. Advantages are not constructing a big staging yard, helix, etc. just for the joy of seeing a train pull in the yard. I like it, but frankly, don't miss it. Actually, I have had two layouts with about 2/3 of construction and complexity dedicated to unseen storage tracks, and on most nights, I would still come home and just re-switch cars that were already in the yard, like taking a cut from the class tracks to the corn syrup tracks, and back. It was just as much fun. I didn't even notice I was switching the same cars back and forth most nights, LOL>
If you are just looking for an interchange yard, I'd discard the spur tracks at the bottom of the track plan. You may also want to slim the actual yard down to three yard tracks. My interchange yard known as the Midland Interchange Yard, is as simple as it gets; The tunnel in the back ground is the track that leads to the rest of the world. There is clearance inside the tunnel for the two MP15DC's to clear the East yard track switch. The track in the foreground is the main track to the small town of Long Valley.
Went through the switch inventory...there's a few off of T.H.E.R.R. in there, also have 4 RH #4's that can work with a little bit of help
IF…I rotate the layout 180°, with minimal changes, I can add a staging track and make a functional junction. Washington Blvd would need to be relocated, and Playa Desnuda Shell would be the closest industry to the yard, and the freight station would be the furthest away. Above is the basic track plan, the spur on the right is actually a straight line out of a #6 switch, and that is the Shell depot, and that is at the back of the layout. By adding the staging track, the Southern Pacific can pull a train into the yard, and pull another out, enhancing operations and allowing the layout to grow at the same time…..the extension would possibly be a mirror image of the plan above.
So…I have rotated the layout 180°, this will allow me to add a staging track and build a functional junction, making an interchange yard…. this is placing Playa Desnuda Shell on the front of the layout, and on the other side! I also built the benchwork for the extension, and with COVID19 having us on lockdown, it was built out of recycled MDF and a mini pallet.
Well, the new extension is assembled and mounted Now the fun begins, expect to see Southern Pacific MOW equipment pictures. I am going to change the crossing from 90° to a 15° crossing, a #4 switch will lead into the yard, and I wii have a staging track in the rear.
I really enjoy seeing your layout and look forward to the progress on this. Your layout really shows what can be done with a small space, and I think the extension will add a lot of possibilities to it. It's a really interesting theme/era as well!
