Average Eastern Right Of Way

With the Class 1 loops in operation it was time to move on to the Average Eastern roadbed. I'm reusing the spline from the aborted Allegheny Eastern so it goes pretty fast. Rather than building roadbed I just have to join recycled sections with splices. These are just styrofoam strips glued to both sides of the joint. I'm only using splices on the elevated sections. Where the roadbed sits right on the deck I just fasten the sections in place with drywall screws. It's crude and looks kind of "Frankensteinesque" but it's effective.

I started at East End and worked "west"...

East End

The vertical supports are stacks of spline roadbed cut into short sections and glued together. The shorter columns are anchored to the top with screws, the tall ones are glued...

Looking Towards the Powerhouse and Carbon Point

I used the 2" thick sheets that were once Juniata at Quotidian. The 4' x 6' industrial area is one big styrofoam slab. The spline butts up to it on either side...

Quotidian

I used a combination of curved and straight sections. The spline is really flexible when split into single track roadbed (it was four and two).and can be easily adapted to the new track arrangement. Alpha is a prime example of tightening and straightening curves...

Alpha

Coming into Owertown I was able to use some long pieces of straight spline. Some of the sections are straightened curves...

Owertown

The roadbed for the mainline is almost complete. I made it to the east end of Average. I'm currently in the process of figuring out the yard. I have some sections of 2" slab left and I may use those. In the meantime I laid track between East End and Quotidian. After dinner I took a break and set up some staged shots. Since three levels are now "tracked" I decided the best place for the pictures would be at the triple crossing. The ABC Railroad d'jour is the Pennsy. The XYZ Railroad is represented by the E6 and the FM "Baby Trainmaster.(I'm looking to buy some Lackawana F Units). The top level is the Average Eastern. The Connie is still lettered for the NYC because I'm a bit skiddish about removing the lettering...

The rooadbed for the "fourth" level, the Q' Company, has yet to be constructed. I'm out of recycled spline and will have to lay up one for the mining operation. When I do I'll document how the spline is created.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad