Tracklaying in Johnson

I continued the track laying for Johnson over the past 2 weeks. After relaying the sub roadbed, I installed new track and took extra care to make sure it was level and with no kinks or other anomalies. The curved turnout was a source of many derailments and the main reason I re-laid the track in this area. So far testing of running cars and locos has been good. In retrospect, I think I could have built this section of the LVRC with a slightly wider radius and a lesser grade. I don't think the 28" radius is a real problem, but coupled with a steep grade problems do occur. But that is something I can add to the "if I was starting over" list (good subject for another post). Rebuilding that would be a major task and I really want to move forward with the layout. I think if you ask any layout builder they would have a list of things they would change, but have compromised to move forward towards a bigger goal. In any event the operations should be better now with the re-laid trackage.

With the curved turnout back in place, I laid out the sub roadbed for the talc mill in Johnson. At one time I thought maybe I would put 3 sidings in here (hence the 3 car card box), but in playing with flex track and looking at it, it just seemed like too much. I'm not really following the prototype here which was just a siding parallel to the main. So I have one nice long siding for the covered hoppers to be loaded and another track for other deliveries the mill might have still received by rail circa 1980.

New turnout and flex track on the LVRC main. Homa-bed laid with adhesive caulk, ready for a #5 turnout and sidings of Code 83 Micro Engineering track. The hoppers will be regular visitors to this scene, ready to be loaded with talc.

Here is how it looks with some hopper cars along the sub roadbed. The door is the entrance to the layout area. This scene is directly across from the Crawford Notch scene in posts from the past year. I'd like to get most of the scenery in this spot done before the open houses as this, along with the Crawford Notch scene are what visitors see first.

The mill will be behind the CN covered hopper with tall silos. I have only found one picture of the mill to work from, but I think I can also draw from an old RMC article on a mill further south in Vermont. It should be an interesting structure. Behind this will be VT Route 15 and a tree line to help hide the transition to the backdrop.

I also did a little track work over on the CP main line at Lyndonville. This is an area that has not really been touched in years. The track was somewhat temporarily laid down as I knew a turnout would be cut in later. It also transitions back to code 100 rail for the hidden track and into CP Newport staging. I simply pulled up the tacked in piece of flex track and put in a turnout leading to the Lyndonville industrial park. Then I put flex pieces back in and reconnected to the code 100 hidden track. The track to the right of the plywood will be mainly hidden by buildings in the industrial park and scenery transitioning up to the MEC mainline (above the CV staging, conspicuous with a CV boxcar!). Here you can see how useful having a large, flat area like Lyndonville has been. A real collector for "stuff" as you work.

The turnout and track are in place and adhesive caulk is drying as the tacks hold the track in place.

Next I will need to plan out the track arrangement for the industrial park. Again, this does not follow the prototype specifically. I'd like to get 3 or 4 spots in here, and maybe another non-railroad building. I have ideas on what will be here but getting it laid out will take some thought. 

As a side note, on the "things I would do differently" list, I think I might put the use of code 100 on there. Transitioning from code 83 to 100 has to be done carefully, and code 100 turnouts (at least Atlas ones) are not real great and not really cheaper than Atlas code 83 ones. It seems it would have been easier to just stick with code 83 in all hidden and staging areas, with Atlas code 83 #6 turnouts instead of the code 100 #6 ones.

With all this new track in, I got out the can of Rustoleum brown camo paint and hit all the track in Groveton, Gilman, East St. J, the CP main through Lyndonville and of course the LVRC track through Johnson. I then set up the fans and ventilated the area, door closed. So those pictures will come in the next update. This means all the remaining visible track is now base-coated with this pretty realistic dull track color. I can detail ties and rust up the rails as the mood strikes in these areas, and eventually add ballast (see MEC Crawford Notch updates in earlier posts to see how this looks).