Alvar began to work on the new crossover switch out of the west end of P-yard. This new switch is a curved crossover which was previously deemed impossible due to the raddii, but which is being done with a little of magic (and by letting the radius be around 35" instead of 36" :-). Unfortunately this switch makes mainline virtually unoperable, therefore teh mainline is out for 2 or 3 weeks... But to help Alvar in his efforts Jeff quickly wired the new crossover in System 2, it is now switch #38.

Meanwhile Bill continued work on the vegetable oil facility. Andy worked more on the Gifford City station. He worked on the second street, which is the one that will have the stairs down to the platforms. Talking about stairs, Andy now has the handrails for the stairs down to the platforms. John Shriver was also here, and continued to expand the Bitco rail, almost reaching the carbarn!

John P. demonstrated a prototype model of the lift bridge he intends to build across the river at the entrance to the clubroom. The model is fully (manually) operational, and is a great proof of concept that shows that the bridge can truly be a reality! Later on JP worked on a sample facia for the layout (that holds the Lexan front to prevent little fingers from derailing the trains. He also added switch #38 to the layout description in the new S-board.

Both James and Alvar worked on the TMRC computers... the damage was all repaired by the end of the day!

Alvar continued the work on switch #38, the new crossover that allows more than two trains out of the west side of Gifford City at a time. One switch is complete, but the switch with a movable frog is not yet ready, that's for next week! Jeff wired the last part needed for the System 2 side of the switch.

Since JP's sample fascia of the layout was very well received by all the members, he built another piece, and is starting to device a 'mass production' system to make it easy to build these. Bill Onorato continued his work.

Alvar finished the trackwork on switch #38, including a moving point! Say hello to the infinite loop again :-)

John Shriver worked down the curve of Gifford City laying down trolley track. He has now reached the carbarn, next step: switch ladder! Working right next to John (and under him, and around him, and all over the place), Alvar finished switched 38, including all the electronics. The layout is fully operational again! Of course, Alvar did not do it alone. Jeff was great at finding all those silly mistakes that are made in any project. Justin searched for more TMRC equipment, and put the MIRTA equipment into operation. Bill O. continued his work.

James and Alvar attended the summer mailing 'stuffing party', and (mainly James) stuffed about 1000 fliers that will go to all the incomming freshmen. Afterward they met with Jonh P. in the clubroom. John P. checked a couple of small gage problems in crossover 38 (the new one), and subsequent switches in the same ladder, which were not quite to standards. We had several visitors that night, so we entretained them with trains that could run all around the layout again!