I am posting this a couple of days early. The benchwork is almost completed. Roadbed is being laid for the staging tracks and the buss wire for it has also been run. Hardboard for the backdrop has been installed on the east side of the layout. I had to install the right half in two parts to get it to curve around the part of the wall that sticks out two inches. The picture of the west side of the layout was taken mid-May. All the lumber and other items on top of the benchwork are being stored there temporarily.
Goals for June are to first get the staging tracks wired and operating. Then place the sub-roadbed on the west half of the layout for the staging loop and interchange area. This will be followed by roadbed, track and wiring for the complete staging loop including the two lift-outs at each end. If all goes well, I hope to have the staging loop in operation by the end of June.
I have also made some minor alterations to the track plan after learning a new trick using cornu curves in place of flex track in XTrackCAD. XTrackCAD has a function button that allows you to add cars and locomotives and run trains around the layout. The red lines in the picture below indicate the direction the turnouts are set to. I put some cars and a pair of locomotives on the tracks and ran them around to check siding lengths.
The program also measures the distance a train moves and I used that to find the distance from the start of the siding at the top left to the end of the track on the bottom half of the layout and then to the starting point. Running point-to-point the mainline is 91.5 feet. Including the continuous run section increases the total length to just over 100 feet. Operations will be point-to-point with a turntable at the right end of the final town and a wye at the junction for turning locomotives. The continuous run is there if I feel like just running some of the larger locomotives over the entire layout.
Motive power for the Modoc and Lassen will be a pair of 2-6-6-2T's and a 2-10-2T for the 1950's and three RSD-15's for the 1960's. Actual start and end dates are 1953 when the Southern Pacific transferred the AC-9's to the Modoc Line and 1969 when ALCO stopped building diesel locomotives in the US.
I was also able to purchase a couple of locomotives on EBay this month. The one on the left is a Mantua 2-6-6--2T full saddle tank logger. It was listed as broken with a buy price of several dollars over $100. The seller mentioned that it might be DCC equipped as it only hummed when he tried it on his DC track. When it arrived, I put it on the test track and found it is DCC equipped with sound, etc. The decoder is a TCS WOW sound unit. I have to find out how to add a keep alive to it.
The locomotive on the right is a NWSL full saddle tank logger that was listed on EBay shortly after the Mantua engine arrived. It is in very good condition with added lights and crew. I almost got it for a very low price but ended up paying almost the minimum price on the BrassTrains site due to a last second bid. Fortunately, I had posted a higher total for my bid and did not lose out.
The Mantua locomotive was undecorated while the NWSL was decaled for a fictional road. I removed the decals using MicroSet and MicroSol and rubbing them with a cotton swab. They came off after several minutes of rubbing. I then decaled both for the Modoc and Lassen. The NWSL already had the number 8 and I numbered the Mantua as 6.
Both are supposed to represent the same engine. As can be seen the Mantua is much larger and has several inaccuracies such as both air reservoirs at the front of the saddle tank. On the prototype locomotive one is toward the rear. The drivers are 55 inches in diameter compared the 44 inches of the prototype. Since it is only intended as a spare engine for running at the club and to use while a decoder, keep alive, and speaker to the other , that is okay.
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