Show Season Begins...

Winter is fast approaching, and in New England, an early indicator is the start of the train show season.  As usual, the first show of the year is hosted by the Concord Model Railroad Club, in Concord, NH.  This show is a favorite of mine.  The CMRC has a great portable layout, and there's usually a great selection.  As typical of late, I got a table to sell some surplus equipment.  Sales were a little slow for me this year, but the show was plenty busy and it was great to see everyone to start the season off right!

Table set and ready for customers

A Slight Step Backwards...

My modeling efforts have ground to halt over the past couple weeks due to dealing with a minor wrist injury.  It is on the mend so I expect to be back at it soon.  Last weekend I did manage to take in a train show, which I will document in another post.  I also did manage to get a little railfanning in last week while off for the day celebrating with my family my daughter's fourth birthday.  The results are below.

Moosehead Siding - Progress

Last night, I finished roughing in the buss wire, and soldered the feeders.  For the buss I am using 12 AWG wire, and for the feeders I opted for 22 AWG wire.  For good continuity, I soldered a feeder to every rail. 

After the last connections were made, I hooked the power pack up, placed a loco on the track, cranked up the power and....... Nothing happened.  Uh oh.  I checked all the connections, everything good.  Check the power pack output, no issues there.  After a bit of head scratching, I noticed I failed to cut a gap in the rails adjacent to the #7 switch.



Notice to the right of the frog, the rails butt together.  I need to change that.

So tonight, I will need to cut a gap, and add a feeder to power the frog.  I'll have an update soon, and maybe even some video!

Moosehead Modules - Tracklaying Finale?

Well, almost.  I've finished laying the majority of the trackwork.  All that remains is some rail is needed at the ends of the modules, but all the complicated work is complete.  I had some time last night to work on the modules, and had intended to solder some feeders.  One thing led to another and I got the rough work finished on the Central Valley switch kit completed instead.  But enough words, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Feeders ready to solder to the #10 switch. 

 

 Outer rails laid.

 Rails fully installed

 Point details

Frog details

Main to the left, passing siding middle, and spur to the right.

Moosehead Tracklaying Continues

Tracklaying continues on the Moosehead Sub. It's been years since I've laid track, and I forgot how slow handlaying is. This is not a complaint by any stretch, I'm just not as far a long as I expected to be. Here's a few progress photos.

 Starting to build the CV switch

Main laid, passing siding and spur started. Progressing forward. 

A westbound freight pulls past the markers on an eastbound and enters the single main.