February 15, 2010 progress report

After a successful trial operating session on December 19, 2009, CR&E roadway and maintenance forces again curtailed operations to continue progress on the railroad before the February 20 N Scale NC Rail Run.  On that day, five visitors and a host of regular crew members will be expecting to see a fully operating railroad.  Thanks to the continued hard work and dedication of my very supportive friends and family, we'll be ready.

The last two months have been dedicated mostly to building the lower level mainline between Lewisburg and the west end staging yard representing Charleston, WV, and other points to the west.   The lower level has been designed to have a limited amount of mainline focus, emphasizing operations on the Kessler & Northern District coal branches.  As of this writing, only a very short distance of the K&N District trackage has been laid, although subroadbed and roadbed is in place for about 20 feet of it.  Depending on the progress made on necessary preparations for the NC Rail Run, the K&N may or not be partially operational by that event.

Additional layout progress was made.  The industrial tracks on the new side were installed and all of the necessary slide switch linkages were connected for those industries, for the lower level, and for Lewisburg Yard.  All secondary tracks have been powered and the staging yard at Charleston finally got built.  Larry Keller continues to be a big help with wiring projects.

Room finishing continues in the new room as well.  Joining the work crew has been David Ward, who helped install the suspended ceiling grid in the new room.   My Dad and I put in four fluorescent light fixtures in the new room, with two more to be added later.  

I have begun staging for the N Scale NC Rail Run session on February 20.  The rest of the week ahead will focus on getting trains blocked, more cars on the railroad, motive power consisted and ready, and finishing up with some room cleaning projects.   I'm looking forward to hosting the folks from NC Rail Run, and I hope they will enjoy the layout as a "work in progress." 


The first trains to operate on the lower level west of Lewisburg were staging moves to clear out Lewisburg Yard.  Here, a 40 car westbound M37 eases by the Hopper Yard at Meadow Bluff, WV.  Three SD40-2's are handling the cars that will become trains 132 and 136 out of Charleston during the NC Rail Run session.



Here is the future scale track at Meadow Bluff, WV.  Coal trains moving east from either Charleston or the K&N District will eventually weigh here using a weigh-in-motion scale.  The mainline passes through the wall and over to Lewisburg just out of view at the top of the picture.  There's also a little free advertising for Porky's BBQ, official restaurant of the CR&E.  :-)



Continuing westward, we see the Hopper Yard at Meadow Bluff, WV.  This yard will be used to marshall coal and empties moving in non-unit trains on the K&N District branches.  Mine runs will work here and sort loads and empties for forwarding either east or west by mainline trains.  K&N Junction is at the top of the picture.  The spur in the foreground will be the Spring Branch loadout utilizing a truck dump to load coal.



Here is a view of the K&N Junction area at Meadow Bluff, where the Kessler & Northern District branches will diverge from the mainline.  KN Tower will stand at the junction and the operator there will deliver train orders for operations on the branches.  The mainline descends at about 2% toward the Charleston staging yard while the K&N climbs slightly.  An older tipple, still hanging on, will load raw coal in the corner.



The mainline makes a very uninteresting straight run as it descends toward the Charleston staging yard.  Although it will not be fully hidden, the presence of the mainline will be downplayed here so that the K&N territory above it becomes more prominent.  The wide plywood shelf in the background will be home to a medium-sized loadout at Crawley, which will load 10-12 cars at a time.   In the upper left corner of the photo, the mainline ducks under the K&N.  Above the mainline at that location will be the K&N crossing and interchange with the NF&G (Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier) Raders Run Industrial Track.  The CSX/NF&G H804 "Second Rupert Shifter" from Rainelle will pull loads and spot empties at the Raders Run loadout, which will be represented by a narrow staging shelf just above the Charleston staging yard.  Loads and empties will be interchanged with the NS/CR&E at Meadow Bluff.  The K&N Branch itself will eventually continue on a narrow shelf in front of the Charleston staging yard and will wind along a peninsula in the middle of the room.



Pictured above is the lower level staging yard representing Charleston, WV, and points to the west.  Both Charleston and the Roanoke staging yard directly above it have nine tracks.  Code 80 track is used here instead of Code 55.



Directly above Charleston is the Roanoke staging yard.  This yard is currently located just east of New Castle, VA. 



Heading west from Roanoke on the upper level, the first modeled location is New Castle, VA.  New Castle will be a busy place with several locals working there during an operating session.  The tracks shown from left to right are the Appalachian Electric Power plant spur, the Fieldcrest-Cannon textile mill spur, the passing siding, the middle storage track (with inbound Train C54 from the last session tied down on it), the mainline, and another storage track currently occupied by coal loads for AEP.



Continuing west from New Castle on the upper level, we see the CSX crossing and connection track at Shenandoah Junction.  The CSX staging tracks are located along the wall and will be hidden from view in the future.  McFalls Lumber is located just west of the junction.  The spur is seen at right.  This area is directly above Meadow Bluff.

Flashback -- 2/15/09

While preparing this report, I found pictures that I took exactly one year ago tonight, February 15, 2009.  Nevermind the date stamp, it really was 2/15/09 (not 2/15/08).  Subroadbed was just reaching Paint Bank on the upper level in the first room.  Track had not been laid that far yet, and nothing at all had been done in the new room.  Trains were being test run using a DC power pack, and the Digitrax system had not been hooked up yet.  What a difference a year makes!


The subroadbed was in place for Paint Bank on 2/15/09, but rails hadn't reached there yet.



Only the main track was in place , it looks like as far as Forester on the right side of the windows.  The shelf connecting Forester and Paint Bank across the windows had not been installed.  Date was 2/15/09, despite the 2008 date on the image.  The upper level trackage in the foreground is the siding location between Ridge and Coleman, although the siding had not been installed yet.

Many thanks go to the dedicated group of friends and family who have helped get the CR&E this far this fast.  Without their help, we wouldn't be where we are today.  Layout building is often a team effort, and I want everyone to know how much I appreciate the help!

Marcus