Tehachapi, BC

[Santa Fe Guy]

Once the trains get to run on those curves it sure will be something to see.
Very nice work.
Rod.

[GaryHinshaw]

Gary - along the Tunnel 2 to Bealville/Allard curves, do you have any transitions or are they just back to back reverse curves?

Thanks

Good question James.  There are easement transitions in the plan, drawn using the "normal easement" procedure in XTrakCAD.  Here is a segment of the plan/template I used:



You can probably make out the transition sections between the 18"/19.25" curved sections.  This treatment has worked well on the upper deck; hopefully it works well in the Allard segment.   

[Scottl]

Very curvaceous!

[Cajonpassfan]

Curvatious is a good thing
Otto

[GaryHinshaw]

A Wooden Spike

Another small milestone to report.  Benchwork construction for the lower deck main line is now about 80% complete, to the point that I could test fit the final piece of roadbed for the layout: the Caliente horshoe, which crosses the entry door in a (still-to-be-constructed) lift gate:



This piece of roadbed will mark the completion of the main line!  Here is another shot looking upgrade towards Tunnel 2 site and the Allard/Bealville ess curves:



Here is an overview shot, taken from the entry door showing an eyeful of construction clutter:



There will be a pause in the action as I am away for much of the next week, but I hope to get the mainline track in service a few weeks after I return, in time to get a few practice ops sessions in before the May meet.  Wish me luck!

[C855B]

Oh, my. That's a lot of track to put down.

One question... how well do you expect the boom box to take plaster? 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's great to see such "big step" progress!

[jagged ben]

Oh, my. That's a lot of track to put down.

One question... how well do you expect the boom box to take plaster? 

Most creative benchwork, ever. 

[ednadolski]

Oh, my. That's a lot of track to put down.

One question... how well do you expect the boom box to take plaster? 

Most creative benchwork, ever.

Disco Night in Tehachapi BC?   

Ed

[basementcalling]

That's some SOUND benchwork there.

Gary, what are the radii on your return loops? Is 18" your inside most track on 1 1/2 spacings or did you use something else?

[Cajonpassfan]

Must feel good to be making such great progress Gary!
I take it the upper entry door crossing is a duckunder, with backdrop? Clever.
Looking really good!
Otto

[GaryHinshaw]

   The presence of the boom box in the picture didn't even register with me.

Gary, what are the radii on your return loops? Is 18" your inside most track on 1 1/2 spacings or did you use something else?

Minimum radius is 18" and the spacing is 1.25".  This seems to work fine with all the rolling stock I run.  In actuality, the track spacing on the prototype varies quite a bit up and down the line, but I chose not to emulate that, for simplicity.

[Scottl]

That looks great Gary!  I'm hoping to see it in person and run a train on it all  in late May (can't come to the earlier meet...).

[GaryHinshaw]

I'm hoping to see it in person and run a train on it all  in late May (can't come to the earlier meet...).

Great!  Keep me posted on dates and, if you like, I can try to schedule a session.

[GaryHinshaw]

The Silver Spike

Dateline Caliente, BC,  4:00 AM, Saturday April 8, 2017 - The main line across the Tehachapi BC mountains is now in service.  Following an intense burst of track-laying, crews drove a silver spike into place at the base of the famous horseshoe curve that marks the beginning of the southbound climb over the mountains.  This spike took the form of a pair of temporary rail joiners that take the line across a lift gate at the entrance to the layout, seen here, replete with the tools of the trade:



[Still a few engineering details to work out here before I lay cork and track permanently across the gate.]  An overview of the layout, taken from high above the Loop Shelf gives one a pretty good sense of the geography:



The heart of the layout is the climb from Caliente (A) to Summit (B), which requires traversing the Loop in the foreground.

The first session with the full main line was held last night, less than 24 hours after the spike was driven.  It was very much a shake-out session that had some operational issues, but still very informative. 

With this critical construction step behind me, I can start to focus on using the layout now, rather than building it.  Thanks for looking.  Much more to come soon.

-gfh