An Afterthought

I have this inability to see the simplest things. What is immediately obvious to everyone in the room will not occur to me for several minutes, sometimes several months. I'm not exactly sure what causes it. I only know that until my mind focuses on a thing it is not readily apparent. Once I have turned my attention to it, so to speak the thing is crystal clear. I know I've mentioned this before, but this is the first time I've had a documented example.

Over the weeks of "operation" it has become painfully obvious that it is physically impossible to access the tracks (or anything else for that matter) behind Tunnel Hill. Mind you, the hill is not there, it's just that the area in general is beyond reach. I thought of creating an access hatch so I could get to it, but that has it's shortcomings...

The Problem

The idea has bounced around in my head for weeks, maybe months. It occurred to me that I might have to reconstruct ANTIS to create a salient in the benchwork. This would be a big job and change a lot of things including East Altoona and Juniata. Rather than start tearing out benchwork, I loaded the track plan software and started making changes in the ANTIS area...

ANTIS Salient

You can see how major a change this requires. I lose a lot of real estate. With Horseshoe and Tunnel Hill so close to East Altoona it would be impossible to realistically model Kittanning Point and the other mountains. I don't even want to think about the changes required to the yards. I stared at it for a while, waiting for my brain to "come back around" and take it in.

Click. The answer is extremely simple, requiring no work other than removing some screws.

Tunnel Hill lies at the end of an aisle. The benchwork here is about four feet deep. There is no specific reason it is that wide, it's just the way things came out. This section in particular is actually a "bridge" between two of the main assemblies and bolted in place. Because of the way the bridge was put together it's possible to take a piece of 2" x 4" out by undoing four screws. 

Tunnel Hill Area

With the piece out of the way, the aisle gains additional acreage. This allows me to reach further into the area and access the westbound tracks at SF...

Salpino Salient

Now I can work on the tracks or retrieve derailed trains (if they haven't plummeted to the floor). More importantly, I don't have to change any of the existing trackwork.

Other than this small change, progress on the Allegheny Eastern is negligible. Christmas is taking priority. I can still run a train for the grandkids and that's good enough for now.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Allegheny Eastern Railroad