I don’t think I posted a layout progress report in 2024, though a small amount of work on the layout did occur. The train building itself is fully restored and back in operation. As a reminder, the primary reason for this blog was to post updates on my model railroad layout progress. Well, that fell to the wayside primarily after the Great Flood of 2016. But 2025 has seen some meaningful progress, and especially during the latter part of the year. My most recent project was laying the trackwork for the freight yard in the city of Willis, Mississippi. This represents the end of the modeled portion of the railroad, with the eastbound trackage beyond Willis ending in Bude, Mississippi (a staging yard). Here are a few photos of that endeavor.
Here’s a birds eye view taken of the Willis yard. The disk in the foreground is the turntable pit (turned upside down), shown here to show its future location. The track approaching the center is the locomotive service track. The track at right ending at the pit is the ready track. Naturally it will curve into the turntable once it is installed. The stub-ended track at far left will be for service (coal, sand, ashes, water and fuel oil). The track at the right (next to the T/T) is for caboose servicing and RIP work. The next photo identifies the yard trackage coming off of the ladder.
All photos of the yard are taken while standing on a stool so that the yard layout is easier to see. The actual yard height is 52″ above the floor. The length of the yard is 14′-2″ measured from the points of the switch in the right foreground to the end of the furthest yard track in the distance.Moving a bit to the right, another bird’s eye view of the Willis yard. In the prior photo, we saw the service tracks. Here, the mainline is the track at far right. The tracks coming off the ladder are (right to left) the passing siding, the yard tracks 1-4, and the house track. The cross-over at the far end of the passing siding will allow a run-around of the longest planned train. The extension of the passing track beyond the cross-over is the interchange track to the I.C.R.R. (the cars in the distance are on the I.C. main). Moving down, the next cross-over is to give easy access to the industrial track at the upper far right (only stubbed out for now, but will eventually serve an industrial complex to the right of this view). The short cross-over near the upper end of the ladder is to facilitate running around cabooses to get them back and forth from the caboose service track to the yard.And moving to the right even further, this view yields a slightly less compressed view of the yard. The yard control panel will go where the paper mock-up is hanging. The Louisiana Central mainline is heading east and is seen curving just before those boxcars where it crosses the Illinois Central. It then continues down grade curving into hidden staging trackage behind a row of city buildings (yet to come).Here’s a birds eye view taken from the other end of the yard. The track at bottom left is the lead to the industrial area on the left wall (out of this view). It will curve around behind the photographer, then branch out to several businesses and industries.
There’s still much to do to get the yard operational. All track switches will be powered by Tortoise motors, and those need to be installed. While every length of track and all the switches have power feeds soldered to the rail bottoms, those feeders need to be connected to the power bus. And finally, the control panel needs to be constructed and installed. Lots to do, but it will happen!
Well, that’s it for now. I’ll post more updates next year as the work takes place. In the meantime, I’ll keep posting images of real railroading that I’ve taken a fancy to. 🙂
I hope all of you have a Blessed Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
-Jack
4 thoughts on “LCRR Progress Report – End of 2025”
Damn, That track looks ready for a large amount of rolling stock.
Got a feeling it’s going to be a HOOT when you run the First consist.
Thanks for the update, Just last week working on my layout got me wondering about your progress.
Thanks for the update, Jack. Glad to see some progress beginning to resume and look forward to a visit sometime soon.
Meanwhile, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Matt
Times are rough this Season so all I can afford is a FREE Christmas goose!
Have a warm and sunny Holidays.
Keep us posted.
With all the holiday commotion starting, I’m not going to have much time left for layout construction. But I can use a little break, and it’ll be good to visit with family and friends over these next several weeks. With the rest and some energizing, I’ll be jumping back into construction with great vigor! 🙂
Damn, That track looks ready for a large amount of rolling stock.
Got a feeling it’s going to be a HOOT when you run the First consist.
Thanks for the update, Just last week working on my layout got me wondering about your progress.
Thanks for the update, Jack. Glad to see some progress beginning to resume and look forward to a visit sometime soon.
Meanwhile, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Matt
Times are rough this Season so all I can afford is a FREE Christmas goose!
Have a warm and sunny Holidays.
Keep us posted.
With all the holiday commotion starting, I’m not going to have much time left for layout construction. But I can use a little break, and it’ll be good to visit with family and friends over these next several weeks. With the rest and some energizing, I’ll be jumping back into construction with great vigor! 🙂
Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year.
-Jack