The ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 12.04.13

This evening, I moved my attention to the Belrose Silica area.  I had looked at this the other day, but wasn't pleased with what I was seeing.  My original plan called for two double ended tracks for loading sand.  The tracks were both short and appeared as overkill for the industry.  Tonight, I played around with some other track arrangements until I found one I liked.  Now, there will be a single double ended track that will connect to the mainline like a siding.  The track will also continue back into the corner of the layout.  This will be covered with trees and overgrowth.  It will server as overflow for the loading tracks as well as storage for unneeded sand hoppers during the session freeing up some valuable real estate in the yard.  The plus side of this change is one less turnout required which saves me money.

With a new configuration hammered out, I went to work on cutting and shaping the track.  The other night when reviewing this area, I noticed my ramps from the mainline down to the industrial spur were too high.  Basically, the track went up before going down from the mainline.  I could have left it alone, but it would have bothered me for years to come.  So, I got out my tool and carved out one layer of the cardboard strips that I use to step down from the mainline.  I reapplied plaster and will let it dry.

While I had the plaster out, I worked on adding some more for the parking lot of the Utica train station.  I also worked on creating the gravel driveway that will be ensconced by trees that leads up to the Belrose Silica mine.  It's located halfway up the hill between the mainline and houses further up.

Here's the map again as a reference.  I'm working on Belrose Silica in the upper left hand corner.