Progress Report 11.07.11

Finished sanding and painting the driveway for Peoria Journal Star.

 

Otis Elevator has rose from the ashes of Davenport Yard.   The structure is the second largest on the layout outsized only by the Midwest Paper Stock Company.

 

Spools of cable are being unloaded at the plant.

Finished cleaning the track and worked on testing the locomotives.  I made it through half the fleet this morning.  It seems to help the locomotives run better if I stretch their legs a little before the op session.

Progress Report 11.06.11

Worked on the layout some today.  Majority of the time was spent cleaning the track.  That's a pretty big project to complete, but its done.  Consisted locomotives and wrote down the train assignments.  I will test run all the loco sets throughout the week to get them warmed up and lubed for the op session.

Constructed the Peoria Journal Star basic structure.  Extended the paved driveway for truck loading.

Worked on one of the newly painted GP7s.  Peconic Shops reported that it was running erratically.  I went to test it to find the decoder seemingly dead.  Fought to get the shell off and tested.  I found that it did have power, but had a connectivity issue with the decoder board.  Taped down the board to ensure a good connection, tested, replaced the shell and tested again.  All good now!



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The Prosperity Red Special II arrives from Warwick, NY

CRI&P Management was pleased with the arrival of the Prosperity Red Special II from Peconic Shops in Warwick, NY.  The newly painted locomotives look awesome! 

 

No progress to report over the last two days as I have been busy taking care of things around the house.  I need to start cleaning the track in final preparation for the op session Saturday.

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Progress Report 11.03.11

Crews removed the temporary wood supports for the Mississippi River bridge and replaced with stone supports. 

 

I used the Chooch flexible wall material which can be wrapped around a block of wood.  The glue is still drying which explains the rubberbands holding the material secure.

A second ballast train was ordered of Smith & Sons #50 dark gray ballast for the yards and industrial tracks.  Both ballast trains are expected to arrive sometime in December.

 

I finished the driveway for the American Can Company.  I think the project is coming along well.

Progress Report 11.02.11

Worked on the basic cardboard stripping around the tunnel portal being add down by the Mississippi River.

New bridge piers were added at Joliet.

I haven't officially made my mind up, but I believe I will be going with the dark gray (left) ballast for the yard and industrial trackage.  The mainline and sidings will have the #50 Penn-Ohio blend (right).

Progress Report 11.01.11

I haven't done too much over the past few days other than work on cleaning up the layout room for the upcoming op session. 

This morning, I did start on the American Can Co. building in Joliet.  I kitbashed two DPM Goodnight Mattress Co. kits to create the structure.  I have to fill the gaps with putty, paint and add a roof, but the building is in place.  I also went back after the photos were taken and started making the driveway for the truck unloading area with wall putty.

Progress Report 10.28.11

I have been fairly quiet this week, but some progress is being made. I managed to weather an additional 17 cars.  The fleet is looking really good!

I received notice that the Atlas GP7 is on its return trip from New Jersey from warranty repair.

Ballast update:  I had a conversation with Harley Smith at Smith & Sons Ballast last night regarding my order.  It was discussed to use a different color ballast for sidings and industrial tracks.  After conferring with my friends Marcus and Larry, it was decided to keep the same color for main and sidings, but use a darker color for the yards and industrial tracks.  I will most likely mix in a small of amount of the darker ballast on the sidings.  From this conversation, I needed to measure the track on my layout.  Doing so this morning, I have 227 feet of mainline/sidings and roughly 230 feet of industrial/yard tracks.

The road and sidewalk project on SW Washington Street in Peoria is completed.

Traffic has begun using the new road.  

I added some dirt to the Peoria Cordage lot.  Additional scenery will be added very soon.