The East Side

Well, almost finished. I was able to assemble the roadbed for the entire "east" end of the layout. It took about two or three hours to glue up the strips and clamp them with drywall screws. I must have used a lot of  1" screws, because I emptied a pound box. Thank God it's only six bucks a box. I also fastened the raodbed to the benchwork using 3" drywall screws driven right through the foam. I buried the screw heads into the roadbed...

Fastening the Roadbed to the Benchwork

Anyway, I learned more about making this whole idea work. I removed all the hard strips so I could get more flexibility out of the splines during assembly. The foam really is easy to work with. I was able to do all kinds of things that would have taken a lot longer in wood. The hard strips will be installed as the last step in the building process.

The mainline crosses over itself on its way into East Keystone, just as the Pennsy does in East Altoona. The flyover at EF tower allows Track 1, the eastbound freight main, to pass over Tracks 2 and 3. These tracks allow passenger trains to bypass Llyswen Yards, just as the real PRR tracks served as a bypass for the yards at Juniata. Track 4 runs directly out from the east end of the yards, passing the East Keystone locomotive facilities as it does. Track 3, having "flown" over at EF tower, joins Track 4 at DI tower in East Keystone.

Looking "East"

The real situation on the PRR was more complex (how's that for understatement). There was a receiving yard for westbound freight east of the flyover which was actually the "hump" for the westbound classification yards to the west. Westbound thru freights bypassed the hump. They went directly into the midst of Juniata yards. While I couldn't model the actual yards on either side of the flyover, I did want to capture some of the feel, including the "castle" like tower known as HOMER. The track arrangement on the layout also does away with a number of crossovers in a pretty dramatic way.

PRR at East Altoona

Farther east, the roadbed at Harrowgate is virtually complete. There is a bit of work transitioning into the helix, which is now back where it belongs on new "adjusted" base. Harrowgate is modeled after the bridges on the east side of Spruce Creek tunnel. It's the reverse of the actual Spruce Creek, but I wanted to model the bridges  that span the Juniata...

Looking "West"

I planned to use a slew of Atlas stone arch bridges here, in the "normal" way they get used. The introduction of the spline changed all that. I "modified" the bridge kits by sawing off the sides. I then temporarily glued them directly to the side of the spline...

"Modifying" Atlas Arch Bridge

 I had to think on this awhile, because I was considering gluing them to the sides of the hard strip. This would have required cutting the laminate strips in this area with a hole saw that matched the bridge arches. It occurred to me that the Atlas sides could replace the laminate in this area. Because of the opening, the laminate would have been weakened quite a bit. Structurally there would be no difference between the two so I decided to glue the bridge side directly to the foam. The spline itself will be weakened, but the same situation would exist on any other form of roadbed construction. I wanted to try to keep the roadbed continuous across the bridges rather than piece it together at the base of the helix...

Bridge #213.50

Bridge #213.50 is curved just as the roadbed, one advantage of gluing the sides directly to the roadbed. Bridge #213.10 is straight and runs directly from the east portal of the eastbound tunnel...

Bridge #213.10

 In the photos the bridges hang in space. This will change. The eastbound tracks ride right along the edge of the layout. With the previous roadbed I had to cut the benchwork to create scenery below the track. To compensate for the missing pieces I had to install an additional leg. With the new roadbed in place I intend to run new sections of 2x4 in this area. It's not just to strengthen the benchwork though, I'm adding a 3" to the layout...

Harrowgate Extension

One other addition has entered my mind, but it's more of a wish than reality. I've always liked the idea of a full circle roundhouse, like the Pennsy had at East Altoona. One of the earliest track plans included this. I gave it up because it used too much space. Something got me thinking about it again. There is some room at on the "east" side for a bit of expansion, something I call the East Keystone Salient...

Full Circle Roundhouse?

That's enough for today, time for bed.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

Allegheny Eastern Railroad