- October 7
More ties were cut, installed, sanded, stained, and ballasted. Rail
installation on the new P-yard loop began.
- October 14
James Knight and John McNamara re-installed the buildings that used to
surround the Gifford City trolley loop. They have been installed in a
fashion that will be convenient for removal during wire work. It's great to
see buildings appearing in Gifford City again!
Bill Onorato and Joe Onorato resolved some issues about future routing of
the trolley line. Bill installed a plywood base and lattice stock for
extending P-yard track 3 as an additional through track rather than the
stub it used to be. Joe Onorato and John Purbrick installed additional rail
and the beginnings of a switch on the new track at the East end of P-yard.
James Knight created some additional ties for this area.
Alvar Saenz-Otero did additional ballasting on the gap created by the
18-inch expansion in the center of P-yard. About half the P-yard through
tracks are complete and the rest are now ready for rail. Jon Reed and John
McNamara constructed lattice stock roadbed for some of the tracks at the
West end of P-yard.
- October 21
John Purbrick worked on some new switches on the "East End" of P-yard
where it formerly connected with F-yard. Trackage is being re-arranged
there to provide a slightly different "freight bypass" track to go around
P-yard. James Knight and John McNamara laid additional ties. As our new
Treasurer, James also serviced the Coke machine, which seems to be gaining
customers in its location just outside the clubroom door. Many thanks to
Alvar Saenz-Otero for securing the permissions necessary to re-establish
this important source of revenue.
- October 22
This picture is similar to
the picture taken August 19, 1997,
except that
- the Gifford City buildings have returned to their position within the trolley loop
- ties, ballast, and some rail have appeared in the foreground
- plywood has been added at the far end of the picture.
- October 28
Last Saturday, a J-shaped piece of 3/4 inch plywood was added to the West
end of the layout and supported by saw horses. This piece will carry the
mainline across a canal and into a tunnel which will run under the
roundhouse. At tonight's work session, work began on a permanent support
structure for this portion. A 48-inch long, 32-inch high wodden panel of
2x4 and 3/8-inch plywood construction was bolted to the floor underneath
the J-shaped section. As with other parts of the layout, this will support
a 1x4 construction above which small 1x2 uprights of adjustable height will
support the layout.
The section of old F-yard that contained the turntable and roundhouse was
severed to retain only the portion containing the turntable and roundhouse.
This section was mounted on temporary stilts at placed at approxiamately
its new location in accordance with the Onorato/Onorato/Miller plan.
John Purbrick continued work on a new switch at the East end of the
passenger yard. Alvar and Jon worked on a new change box.