Mattawa Yard Progress!

It is impressive how much progress you can make on a model railroad once you get past room and shelf construction! Even more impressive is how much can get done in a few 15-20 minute work periods over days or weeks!

 

All track work for the Mattawa yard is now complete and secured to the foam. The short stub track on the right (closest to the wall) will be extended out and represent the Temiscaming sub. It will get used for a yard lead or extra car storage.

 

As for the main, leading East out of the yard, I'm happy with my transition to HO roadbed. Glued it all down, then just took my time with the palm sander for a nice, even transition.

 



And with functioning track, of course we have to test it out! In the first pic, CP 3039 rolls in with a mix of 40ft and 50ft box cars. In the second pic, CP 3039 idles by the station as the crew takes a break after shoving their tonnage into the yard tracks.

With the relatively small amount of time I find to work on the layout, I find even less to update this blog! However, I've reached the point where I can actually start doing some work with model railroad stuff instead of shelf construction!

With 1" foam glued down and 1"x4" white pine fascia boards in place, I actually start work on the track layout. I've mostly given up on trying to use track planning software, I'm just laying it out and seeing what will work.

 

Here we have the Mattawa Yard. The section of track to the left of the station is the main, the turn-out and incomplete track further to the left will be the run-around. I grabbed this shot while run-testing and capacity-testing the yard.

The First Shelf...

I have not posted any progress pictures on here in a very long time... Aside from some flooring and baseboard trim, the basement is finished! All paint, electrical, and lighting are done (wiring is in place for some eventual track lighting)

Tonight, I installed the first set of shelf brackets on the "Mattawa" side of the room. Shelf height is currently 40" and I need to confirm this is an appropriate viewing height for my girls! Yes, they will get taller but I might as well start out at a height they can see without using a stool.

There will be a third bracket installed in the middle, and a support bracket installed in the corner as well. I have enough shelf brackets and 12" hollow core doors to do about 2/3 of the layout. The other 1/3 is going to be somewhere between 12" and 20" deep with storage underneath, so it will be constructed differently.

1" foam will top the shelves before laying down roadbed and track.

Preserving the North Bay Sub

While the M&CR may be fictional,  the approx. 75 miles of the CP North Bay Subdivision were real and are now long gone.  My hope is to preserve and recreate some of the locations I am familiar with between Chalk River at Mattawa.

The track plan in my head continues to get simpler and more reflective of what used to run through here. That will keep costs down, maintenance easier, and facilitate keeping the North Bay Sub "as it was".

Here are the key locations I hope to model:

1. Chalk River Yard
2. Wylie Road crossing (MP5.0) and nearby defect detector
3. Moore Lake passing siding and spur
4. Adelard (Bissett Creek) spur and Highway 17
5. Mattawa Yard