The Spencer Lumber Company will play a significant role on the layout. Spencer will have a sawmill at Oneida (on the peninsula closest to the top of the track plan), and will have a railroad mainline running from the mill up to Camp 6 (a re-load point) in the woods east of Whitcomb. Camp 6 is physically located along the wall at the top of the track plan. The Louisiana Central mainline between Maynard and Whitcomb will also run along this section of benchwork, near the aisle. My construction protocol is to work from the wall out toward the aisle (a lesson learned the hard way). Therefore, I needed to build and install the Camp 6 roadbed and trackage before advancing the LC mainline from Maynard (where it presently ends) to Whitcomb.
The sub-roadbed for Camp 6 has been in place since last September. However trackwork was never started only because I’d not tackled the task of modifying the Shinohara code 70 switches required for this area. As I mentioned in a recent post, the switch modification program has finally gotten under way, and work up at Camp 6 has resumed. The high line was designed to be removable for construction work. Two weekends ago I removed the right half and started laying track. This past weekend, the track was completed on this section, the Tortoise switch motors were installed, and all wiring was completed. I sprayed all the track with a coat of Rust-Oleum Camouflage Brown paint (first time I’ve done this), then re-installed the entire section of benchwork atop the risers. The left side benchwork has been removed and next weekend, similar work will ensue. As the final step, the double switchback will be constructed which will bring the trackage down to roughly the level of the (future) LC mainline.
Once all this happens, both the Spencer and Louisiana Central trackage can advance to Whitcomb, and then on to Oneida. This will be a major milestone for the layout. I am anxious to achieve this progress, and have an excellent start to making it happen.
The trackage along the wall and the peninsula written about above will be powered by the 3rd of the three DCC booster districts. Booster districts 1 and 2 have already been completed. This past weekend I set about installing this final district. The Lenz booster feeds two DCC Specialties PSX circuit breakers, one each for the LC and the Spencer operation. All components have been installed and wired, and some of the Spencer track bus wiring has been strung. The only work remaining will be the LC track bus and the Spencer track bus onto the peninsula.
This summer is turning into a fairly productive one. I’m pleased with the progress being made on the layout thus far.
-Jack