"Milepost 15": Carbon Point Resurrected

As I've mentioned before, sometimes the obvious escapes me. While it was necessary to eliminate the Q Co trackage from the layout it never ocurred to me to keep the colliery. The idea must have bubbled around in my subconscious because it came to me while I was roughing in the mountain at East End. Daugherty's foundry probably wouldn't generate as much traffic as a coal mine. So I sat down at the computer and worked out how to add Colliery #10 back into the scheme of things.

The first idea was to invert the town. I ran the road down the center of town. Then I flipped the gas station and diner so they faced said road. I added homes acoss the main road. The colliery ended up on the Hollow Mountain end of town while I left the quarry pretty much where it was...

Carbon Point "Reimagined"

Of course being who I am I had to change the design. I flipped the colliery and the quarry to opposite ends. I liked everything else so I left it alone...

Carbon Point Flipped

Even though I laid out design number two the first idea won out. The scenery dictated the actual locations of the industries. The shape of Hollow Mountain dictated the quarry be located at the east end of town...

Carbon Point

Of course with the coal mine added back and the foundry gone I had to restore the former name. I named the new mountain to reflect this...

Carbon Ridge

Just as Hollow Mountain separates Average from the rest of the layout, so too does Carbon Ridge isolate East End. The interchange is crowded into the space between the two track main and the ridge...

East End

A simple revision at East End will affect operations on the AE. I simplified the engine facilities. While locomotives can still top off their fuel and water, they are no longer turned for the trip west. This saved a bit of space and made it easier to make the area work. There are quite a few small railroads like the AE that run their engines backwards (Strasburg, Buffalo Creek & Gauley, etc)...

Simplified East End

The turntable at Average may or may not be eliminated. A number of switches would be required instead. A three way switch might work in the same space. Have to think on it awhile.

With most of the scenery in I started laying new ballast strip. The old strips are now under the shell, creating a new roadbed. The new ballast strip is narrow, about the same dimension as the tie length. It makes for better looking track. I laid the new track, gluing it in place. The track nails hold it in palce until the glue sets. I used tacky glue to fasten the track to the roadbed. The glue will hold the track firmly while it's tacky property gives me plenty of time to make sure the track is exactly where I want it...

First Permament Track At Average

The power leads were left in place from the preliminary layout so the new track could be powered as soon as it was layed. This way I'm able to run test trains and check things out as I go. Gives me a chance to break in the new Erie unit...