The Little Rock Line

[Bendtracker1]

Heck, I thought that was YOU. Jon's a fine gentleman I'm sure.

Nope, here's a rare shot of me
 http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SEf2kll38A4/UhLmNE_MrYI/AAAAAAAADwM/ztPF6crWGDg/s1600/IMG_0378.JPG

Oh sure! Jon's a great guy..(cough cough) 

Wasn't some guy recently murdered by his wife with a coupler pic? 

I'll never tell.....

[jmarley76]

He's holding one of the mini flashlight coupler pics I made awhile back. 

In other circles, those are known as shanks... 

[Bendtracker1]

Over the last few nights working on getting the PSX's installed, I was finally able scratch that itch that's been itching since last November when I started on the kitchen.......Trackwork!

I started with the junction at Ruston
Before



After




Then finished with the sidings in DuBach.

Before



After



I ripped out both sidings at Ruston and relaid the junction with one track.
In Dubach I lengthened both of the sidings on the south end and added a new spur for a feedmill.

The rest of the story is on the blog.

[soo]

Looks like your railroad needs a quality survey crew..but really...looks great.

And now for page two....good day.

Cya Y-it

[Bendtracker1]

What Wyatt, you don't recognize prototype deferred maintenance modeling?   

I still need to go back through the areas and solder the joints, re attach the feeder wires and adjust the details.
When I get ready to ballast this area I'll get things prepped properly.

[Bendtracker1]

Well I made a change......again.

SOO (Wyatt) told me that I needed to install a large RH turnout at Ruston where the Jct track peels off to the ICG.
Saying I should use the curved leg of the turnout for the main. He also stated this isn't the most widely used method of a turnout, but it has been done. He also argued that it would help the track flow through the scene. I agreed but wasn't sure if I'd like the "Kink" in the mainline as it went the curved leg? But I seen his point.

However I opted to use a large LH turnout, as that is what I had on hand and I thought it would work.
After getting installed, my thought was "Meh, it's OK it'll work".

Earlier today Quin stopped by and agreed with SOO's suggestion, so we laid it out and thought it would work?
After lunch we picked up a LH RH turnout and I got it installed this evening.

It did give me a broader curve between DuBach and Ruston, It did help the track flow through the scene better, but as another buddy of mine pointed out: "But now the main looks like it goes right onto the ICG"

I have to agree with both. So not sure which I like better?

The second Version




The third and current version



Here's the blog post

[soo]

Wow, my name in print...lol...great, there went my 15 minutes of fame. Gone, forever lost, never to be heard from or seen again. Thanks Allen...alot...lmao

With that being said..does it "flow" better? Yes.
Would it win an awards at a RPM meet...nope.
This is the rock island we are talking about...no one ever accused the rock of making sense or quality work
 Maybe the track gang said..." just this once we are going to do what we think is right. Or maybe they just had to use what they had on hand.

But I still like it. Progress is progress. That is one thing about op sessions...they always make you " reinvent the wheel"

I got some work done on my choo choo's also...more later.

C-ya , Y-it

[Specter3]

You swung the main further back from the front edge and by doing so you could have kept the left  hand turnout and had it look right. I think the right hand turnout may have looked ok with the prior main alignment but with the new one I would stick with the LH turnout.

[Bendtracker1]

You swung the main further back from the front edge and by doing so you could have kept the left  hand turnout and had it look right. I think the right hand turnout may have looked ok with the prior main alignment but with the new one I would stick with the LH turnout.

I think you're right?
I may have to go back and give the LH a try with this version?
Thanks

[Bendtracker1]

Ever had one of those times where the harder you try, it just gets harder?

I took another look at Ruston again tonight and just decided to try a LH instead of the RH turnout. Well it snapped into place (I had to snip a bit off the rails) and then I just drug the three tracks closer to the fascia and viola! everything lined up.





The tangent behind the turnout is straight enough to uncouple easily.

Time to move onto the next project...

[railnerd]

4th try is the charm.. looks great!

[Bendtracker1]

4th try is the charm.. looks great!

Thanks
So much for the third time....

[basementcalling]

Thanks
So much for the third time....

Something still looks off to me. I see potential "s" curve issues before the turnout and on the branch, though the latest alignment looks better there than the other 3. What bugs me most though is how close to the front edge the crossing is.  I think you might need more space between the front edge of the layout and that point for better scenic effect.

But keep nmind I tought you were John, so my vision of suspect.

[Bendtracker1]

Something still looks off to me. I see potential "s" curve issues before the turnout and on the branch, though the latest alignment looks better there than the other 3.

It looks a lot sharper than it really is due to the angle of the camera.  That's a large PECO turnout so it's pretty shallow as is the radius behind the turnout. 
When we switch the Jct. it'll be at reduced speeds and the cars are no longer than 50'. The original design was much tighter and we never had any issues.
 

What bugs me most though is how close to the front edge the crossing is.  I think you might need more space between the front edge of the layout and that point for better scenic effect.

Here's another shot of the overall area which might explain the closeness of the crossing.

But keep nmind I tought you were John, so my vision of suspect.

LOL, yes and your spelling isn't much better!  

[Bendtracker1]

After staring at the trackage in Dubach, something just wasn't rubbing me right.
The rule of thumb is to keep as many turnouts off the main as possible, right?  With this plan I had two RH turnouts coming off the main.




I drew up several plans the other night and tried to make something look and sound plausible.

The back story so far......The feed mill originally had two tracks in it's heyday.  As business dwindled, the second track never got used.  Several years ago ARKLA came to town and set up shop just outside of town. Instead of adding a new turnout for ARKLA from the main, the RR decided to refurbish and extend the second siding at the mill.

So I set to work tonight to see what I could come up with?

Above is what I started with and here's what I ended up with.... looking North.



And looking South.





Now to get it wired and I'll be off to work on the river scene between Calion and El Dorado next.