Week 338

 Sun, Jan 17, 2021 thru Sat, Jan 23,2021

This Week's Goals

1. Continue work on California Ave. Coach Yard entrance off Sacramento Blvd. 

This Week: Finish utility poles, north side entrance, and land fill

Next week: 

2. More Weathering Locomotive Roster 

This Week: Keep going...

Next week: 

3. Coming soon: Work on streets/parking lots in Industrial Park

This week: Will try to cut the "asphalt" to start the base of the operation.

Next week: Same as this week.

4. Continue work on Clinton Ave. wall sections

This Week: Waiting until parts arrive to move this item up the priority list...

Sun, Jan 17, 2021

Put the water pond section back in place.

Changing my direction and working on PRB 
track layout instead.

Mon, Jan 18, 2021

Train Day!

with Rob Fair and Jordan Osborn

6-8pm 2 hrs.

Before Jordan came over, 
Rob & I worked on his home
layout drawings.

The crew has assembled.
Time to get started...

Rob Fair is back in the hole and working on the
utility poles that border the entrance at the 
California Avenue Coach Yard.

The Unit Coal Train has been unloaded and will
head back to the Powder River Basin tonight.

Rob puts down some ground cover along the 
right-of-way entrance.

Rob also put in these guard rails tonight.

Unit Coal Train arrived at Powder River Basin

Tue, Jan 19, 2021

I don't know what happened tonight, but

when I went downstairs I started laying track/switches

in Powder River Basin.

Here I'm trying to figure out how many cars I can
push back into the yard.
Answer: 6

Moving the cars out of the way
so I can lay track.

Oops!
Rob called and asked if he left his "head light"
on the layout.
Answer: Yes, here it is.

Laying the switches.
One on the left and three on the right.

More close-up view.

I had to extend the cork on the outside perimeter
so here are the weights as I wait overnight.

Wed, Jan 20, 2021

I stopped by B&G today.
The walls came in...
(see Goal #4)
...and I bought some more
ground throws...

Adding another goal this week:
Laying track and switches
to finish off the Powder River Basin

Another look further down 
the line.

Thu, Jan 21, 2021

I got up early this morning and cleaned the tracks.

Still a bit of a mess, but the tracks are clean.

Almost ready to put the train into the loading tracks.

Looking a bit better. Now it's time to park the
Unit Coal Train

Looking down the line into the Powder River Basin

After switching all the cars, here they are all in place
ready to be loaded with new coal from the PRB.

Another view with the C44-9Ws waiting for their
return trip.

Fri, Jan 22, 2021

I subbed today, but while I was supervising the kids, this is what I did...

Sat, Jan 23, 2021

And now to make those notes come alive!

That is what I will strive.

(Can you tell I just finished Scott Piner's new poetry book?)

So here are the signs I made up for the locations where cars will be parked around the layout...

If you look back at yesterday's "pink sheet" you'll
see the diagram of the signs I drew up.
Here's what they look like after printing and cutting.

I scored the card stock half way and folded to get
these "sandwich boards".

The next series of shots will be all the places where cars can be stored around the layout starting at the Powder River Basin going through the four power districts - South to West to North to East - our final destination.

This is the West Yard at Powder River Basin (PRBWY)
3 tracks

Going East...this is the East Yard at
Powder River Basin (PRBEY) 3 tracks

Next stop is the California Avenue Coach Yard
(CACY) 4 tracks

In the same section is the California Avenue
Maintenance Facility (CAMF) 6 tracks

Across the way is Global 1 (GLB1) 5 tracks

Next stop:
Chicago Terminal (CT)
8 tracks

Back tracking a bit we find the RIP

Here we have the Repair In Place tracks (RIP)
3 tracks

As we continue East we come to the
CNW Engine Shops (ESCNW)
6 tracks

Just across the mainline is the Union Pacific 
Engine Shops (ESUP)
6 tracks

Up next is Global 2 (GLB2) where there are 3 tracks.

As we continue East we come across the expansive
yards at Proviso (PYCNW) east bound 6 tracks
and (PYUP) west bound 6 tracks

As we enter the East Power District we find ourselves
in the midst of the Industrial Park (INPK) where
there are 6 tracks to park cars.
Track 1 is the lead track.

Tracks 2, 3, & 4 are the runaround and first 
drop off.

At the end of the Industrial Park are tracks 5 & 6.

And last, but by all means,
not least, is the Melrose Park
Power Plant (MPPP)
6 tracks

Before calling it a night, I decided to switch the
loaded coal cars into the West Yard to prepare for 
the journey back east to the Melrose Park Power Plant.

This Week's Goals Progress Report

1. Continue work on California Ave. Coach Yard entrance off Sacramento Blvd. 

This Week: Finished utility poles, north side entrance, and land fill

Next week: Maybe we'll try stringing up the wire cables on the utility poles?

2. More Weathering Locomotive Roster 

This Week: Keep going...not much progress

Next week: Let's try to get one more CNW locomotive done!

3. Coming soon: Work on streets/parking lots in Industrial Park

This week: Did not cut the "asphalt" to start the base of the operation.

Next week: Let's try to cut the "asphalt" layer.

4. Continue work on Clinton Ave. wall sections

This Week: Stopped by B&G (see Wed, Jan 20) and picked up the parts we need to finish up.

Next week: Paint and install the walls.

5. Lay track in both yards at Powder River Basin

This Week: This wasn't even on my radar this week, but we got it done anyway!

Next week: Finish securing the track - not quite finished and then finish wiring up the switch for the 2nd track for engine storage (west end).