Revised Track Plan
October 10,2023
Several changes have been made to the original plan. The first was the addition of Wilson, between Placerville and Vanadium, which was covered in a previous post. The second change involved the addition of Mattahorn between Ophir and Lizard Head. While the change reduced the mileage between Vance Jct and Ophir, it allowed for two additional spurs; the Bernardo Mine spur and the Montezuma Lumber spur. Both spurs will add operating interest to the layout.
The next change involved the track layout at Lizard Head. The wye was moved to the opposite side (correct side) of the mainline and the stock pens were added to the tail of the wye. As a result of this change, the Rico staging tracks were moved to a second level shelf above the Placerville wye.
Finally, the Telluride reverse loop/staging (not shown on plan) will now be located beneath Matterhorn. While the new plan sacrifices a little aisle width at a couple of locations, I think the changes are worth a little congestion at a couple of choke points.
The Death of a Mushroom
October 14, 2023
It took 4 days, about 6-8 hours a day, but the "mushroom" is finally gone. About the only good thing that came out of the removal is an abundance of good material that can be used for building the new bench work. The bench work on the right, the only part that remains, will be used under Vance Junction.
October 15, 2023
New bench work starting to go in. Most of the cabinets have been moved to their final locations. About 95% of the old bench work was salvaged and being reused. Given the cost of materials I'm glad, with the exception of the L-Girders, not much glue was used when building the old bench work. I have purchased about 250 feet of high quality 1x4 to build the new modules.
October 22 ,2023
After a week, a lot of progress has been made. The bench bench work, sub roadbed and cork roadbed is in from Placerville through Wilson, Vanadium and Vance Junction to Bridge 45A. Beyond Bridge 45A the bench work stands at about 85% complete through Ophir and Trout Lake. What follows is a recap in pictures of progress to date.
Placerville
Placerville is located along the 22' along north wall. Most of the required structures are temporarily set in place to include a ore dump and several warehouses. The module with the sub roadbed for the wye is also in place (Not shown).
Looking South
Looking North
Looking south along the San Miguel River between Placerville and Wilson. The radius here is 36". The minimum radius on the mainline is 30". The minimum radius on the Telluride Branch is 26" All those trees were salvaged off the old layout.
Wilson
Wilson takes up about 12' along the east wall. A siding, section house, speeder shed and water tank will be located at Wilson. I have not been able to find a picture of Wilson so what you see at Wilson is kind of proto-freelanced.
Looking South
Looking North
Vanadium
Vanadium takes up another 12' along the east wall. There will be a long spur here for servicing the mill. Based upon my research, the mill received coal and limestone in gondolas, tank cars(?), and box cars. The ore was shipped out in box cars. The mill here was large so it will have to compressed to fit the space.
Looking South
Looking North
Right of Way between Vanadium and Vance Jct.
There is a 1.5% grade south of Vanadium. The construction here is conventional L-Girder with risers and plywood sub roadbed. A section of the old layout lives on in the corner.
Vance Junction
Vance Jct is laid out on one side of the long peninsula. I have all of the Banta kits to replicate the section house and various out buildings. I also have the Cristal River kit for the coal pockets. The ramp on the far right will lead to the coal pockets
Looking South
Looking North
Looking North - The Vance Jct Section House, Depot (Old Coach) and the outbuildings will be to the right along the single track between the turnouts. The layout is set up so the depot will be visible from both sides. The turnout in lower section of the photo leads to the Telluride Branch (Staging),
Bridges 44A and 45A
Bridge 44A is located along the curve on the end of the long peninsula. The length will have to be reduced the by about 60% and the height by about 30% to fit my space. Bridge 45A will have to be reduced in length by about 25% to fit the space; the height will be OK since the bench work has been lowered to accommodate the bridge. The grade here is 2%.
Looking North. Bridge 44A will be just to the right out of the photo
Looking North - The future location of Bridge 45A
I've been putting in 8 to 10 hours day on the layout for the last week while Pam was away in Kansas City. She's just got back so I probably won't have quite as much time during the coming week. But, I plan to get the rest of the bench work, sub roadbed and cork installed between Bridge 44A and Trout Lake during the next week or so... We'll see how it goes!
As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome
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