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Early
August, 2004
As I stated on the previous page, I found myself getting impatient
with all the train engines and cars that were still boxed up.
After all, many of them had not seen the light of day for almost
a year. So months ahead of
what I considered my well-planned schedule of construction, I decided to
proceed by adding the additional tables and track for Loop #3 NOW(!).
Of course, about five evenings into the task, I realized that the
original track plan I had envisioned wasn’t as practical as I thought
it would be. A quick
“switcheroo” solved any misgivings, and I think what I have now
offers potential for some good train and town scenes.
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Here they are. I’ve been looking at some of these boxes WAY TOO
LONG! The stress was just TOO MUCH! After all, if “patience is a
virtue”, then impatience must be a . . . well, something else less
manageable, obviously! . . .
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In the week while my WONDERFUL WIFE WHOM I’VE MENTIONED BEFORE was
in Scotland, I set about to erect the tabletops I would need for the
third loop and design and lay the track. Obviously, from previous
pictorials, the additions were needed at the far ends of the layout.
First, at the bottom of the “J”, this table was constructed for the
future farm/agricultural business area . . |
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Among the “properties” planned here are two farms, a country church
and parsonage, a cattle loading dock, and a rural grain elevator and
store, all along a county highway. For “sceniking” purposes, this table is built on
2X4-inch “sliders” so that it can be pulled away from the hillside and
I can get around to the back of it to work when needed . . . |
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Lots of additional table was added at the top of the “J”. Originally the town was going to be where the train yard is and the
yard located where the town is . . . But I changed my mind. Remember,
it’s . . . among other things, the “I-BUILT-IT-AND-I-CAN-DO-WHATEVER-I-WANT-TO” HO Train Layout! . . . (I
just wanted to make that clarification for all those political-minded
railfolks who are concerned with my apparent “flip-flopping” design
record so far . . . ) |
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The business district was built on a 2 ft. by 4 ft. set-in, and easily fits into the new layout plan. All the other buildings are not
necessarily where they will end up. I just wanted to “plant” some
possibilities and see what developed . . . The section containing the
business district will also “slide” out to facilitate the scenic work. |
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Again, we are looking toward HIGHPORT Mountain, albeit from a little further away than in earlier pictures. Somehow, like my earlier
“Box Canyon” layout, I have again been unable to figure out how to construct track in a manner that would allow my passenger train to
actually PULL INTO the station, rather than enter in reverse. (Oh
sure, I COULD make the layout even WIDER and DEEPER, but my wonderful helpmate, THE WIFE WHOM I’VE MENTIONED BEFORE, has sweetly suggested
that I have already, ever-so-slightly, pushed the agreed upon boundaries concerning what actually constitutes “half the basement” .
. . so we’ll just back that puppy into the station, No-problem.) |
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There will be intersecting highways on this end of the layout. One
will run between the town and HIGHPORT Mountain and the other will run
the length of the rail yard. (By the way, those box cars, switchers
and various railroad towers sitting this side of the elevator? . . .
they’re just sitting there. I’m not designing some kind of pull- in
parking lot for trains or anything weird, in case you were wondering .
. . ) |
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You
are on Trains Page 9. Click the
numbers below to navigate to other Trains Pages.
Trains: Page 1,
2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14,
15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21,
22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31, 32,
33, 34
Page
1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH,
2007 –
A Break In The Action
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