There was another motive. Just below his nose is some sheet cork rolled up. Attention distracted for a moment cork is missing so is Blackie the Punk. Supervision now absent managed to get some work done. Completely reinstalled the top of the incline at the mine turnout all the way back to the upper main line turnout. I will now need to come up with a neat little retaining wall that is curved and about six inches long. Still have to relay the mine spur and reconnect the incline track but I took the time out to test again with one of my problem locos and I solved the problem. I can now get my Black satchels to the top of the incline and around the curvature to the upper main. So I now have five locos that can take on this incline without any issues. I get the line completely reconnected I am going to test out my passenger power on the line next.
John, is there any way to modify the start of the grade and create a smoother and longer easement, so the 4-4-0 pilots might not touch the rails?
The 4-4-0s came out of the padded storage box with the droopy pilot syndrome. In fact would not run worth a dang on the level. Soon as I bent the pilot up, at the risk of breaking it, they climbed the grade fine. And I have reworked both the entry point and the exit point on the incline plus increased the radius slightly at the top where I had gotten it a little too tight. The reason why I will have to construct at least two short retaining walls. Going with the plan that I had originally seen and the dimensions one is going to have a 4 to 6 percent grade in that space which is only at 4 foot 6 inches long by 30 inches deep. One thing about the Atlas Shays is that they seem to be able to navigate almost anything and now that I can get the Class As up that grade and around that curve I have the power that I need for the layout. Everything else will stay down on the lower level. I'm happy with it now.
I tried my Concor Galloping Goose on the grade and boy does it need some work. So back in the box until later. Pulled out my homemade railbus using a 34 foot Overton body and an SW mechanism. Once the cobwebs cleared out of the mechanism after sitting for a long while it has been running up and down the grade like a champ. I also found a couple of low spots in my roadbed and used the opportunity to level it up in about three places and it ran even better. I should be able to tack a trailer car on this so it will be the main passenger power to the highlands until I get the Goose running better. I will continue to tweak the upper rails this weekend and finish reinstalling the mine track lead. In no big hurry to finish the lower main yet since I want to get this trackage right before I bite off another chunk.
Yup, the NP had them three Shays and Heisler, but they were clear out in WA on the Yacolt branch. I think they only kept them a year or two and then sold them off to logging outfits. But maybe I may find an excuse when Atlas comes out with the next run..... The wifey likes seeing all of your management team photos! Dang work inhibitors that they are! Tweaking tracks is always a challenge, but you seem to be winning. Enjoy!
Dug out another critter from storage to try. Another railbus with trailer car. This is one I did back a short while ago that used a bus chassis kit and has one of Kato's 2 axle little mechanisms under it. The trailer car has a pick-up wheel set under it for additional pick-up. Has a rear red light that works on the trailer. And it is full of mad monks from the N scale Zendo heading for town. Little critter races up the grade until almost the top where it loses traction. I will need to either bullfrog the one wheel or add some Tungsten to the bus. My helpers can hear the motor whine from downstairs and race to the room to watch them run.
At the time there were but since have almost all been deleted. Have this photo in the sub album. Another case of my taking another scale, this time HO, and cutting it down to make a N scale model. The little Kato trolley mech. under it and the first truck of the of the trailer car is also electrical pick-up allowing a larger electrical foot print for pick-up. The bus and trailer are filled with Zen Buddhist Monks on their way to the annual yearly trip to town from up in the high hills.
Was trying to get the last section of the re-aligned track laid this AM. But the track gang reported that there was a very large immovable object in the roadbed. Management is in route to survey the situation.
Just a reminder that only dogs have owners. Cats have staff who occasionally must be reminded of that fact.
In our case we are the royal wait staff to the King, AKA the Big Guy, the Queen, Duchess Deekus, and the Commander of the Guard, Colonel John S. Mosby, and of course the Royal Witch Samantha. Large object finally removed I finished relaying the track. I am stopping work on the layout while I go to the workbench and come up with suitable cribbing and fill for two areas of the relocated track. Beats trying to fill in with plaster and will add another little scenic twist. I may take one of the timber retaining walls for the tunnels that I have left over and section it into several pieces. In a quick postscript I found and cut up the left over timber retaining wall and have new caps being ACC'd to the tops. Have a number of smaller rock castings so I will extend the rockwork taller over the tunnel portal and use some of those rocks along the mine spur to build out there also since I have the space between the tracks. Beats the heck out of tearing things out and redoing.
Well the correct term is Pride not herd. And I forgot Callie and Blackie the Punk. Sat down with my bags of smaller rocks and started placing them in the area of the track relocation. Along with the retaining wall sections should do the trick. So tomorrow I will plaster the rocks in place and hopefully also set the retaining walls which are also plaster. Should be applying rock paint by tomorrow afternoon. Simple cure for what might have been a big issue. Now I need to number the rocks and put them away lest my Felines decide during the night to build their own rock garden. Deekus taught me well to put my stuff away before retiring for the night.
Cured the track hanging over the side or too close to the edge with the rock and retaining wall installation. Snapped a photo in all it glaring white so folks can see the extent of the work. Ended up installing a few more rocks than initially planned. And yes there is plenty of clearance in a few spots where it looks like the rocks are close to the track. And with the first base coat of paint. I will wait for an hours or more before I start blending colors in. A PIA to have to go back but I eliminated an operational problem before I got too far along. While the first coat of paint cures I will pull a loco out of storage and do some running to make sure things are right. I ended up re-adjusting almost 3.5 feet of track.
