The Rubber & Rawhide Railroad

Progress Report for 30th November 2010

The New Twin Curves!

The new Twin Curves worked just like Engineering said they would. Notice that Wye switch just at the beginning of the Main Line curve? We'll be talking about that in the next Progress Report.

Looking around the camphor tree, you can just make out the first switch in the yard.

The New Yard Crossover

Our track laying crew soon got into the tedious but necessary task of rebuilding the East Garage Yard. All they had been able to salvage from the old Yard were the switch subassemblies. They had all been cleaned and reassembled while the grunts were installing drains and dumping gravel.

Before the Yard Sidings work could begin, a new yard feature had to be installed. Operations had insisted that the RoundHouse track couldn't directly dump into the Main Line. It made sense, all of our other rolling stock could easily navigate the ten-foot switches. But the new Big Boy definitely could NOT!

A single crossover was worked in between the foot of the RoundHouse curve and the new Twin Curves. The two Number Six turnouts are separated by only eight inches of track, but that's enough to match the roadbeds of the Yard Lead and the Main Line.

The track laying crew has elected to use recently obtained sectional straight track for the sidings. They figured that the time spent in rehabilitating those shabby old track connectors was adeequately offset by the more rugged design of the sectional track.

Lower Yard and Main Line Alignments get Stable

With the new Crossover in place, and the RoundHouse curve just about at the right grade, it was time to start work on the North (lower) end of the Yard.

Here the Lower Yard track takes almost a straight run through the RoundHouse viaduct while the Main line makes a graceful curve towards the North Green.

Northern View

Here's what the new trackage looks like from the North end of the East Garage Yard. The RoundHouse curve crosses the Lower Yard lead at such an oblique angle that the manufactured Viaduct was the only solution our roadbed folks could design that would fill both alignment and strength needs.

Main and Return Merge Gently!

Many will remember the truly ugly junction of the Lot Circumnavigation Main and Yard Return tracks. The Wye might have seemed a neat idea to the track people, but most just marvelled at all the extra curving it seemed to cause, as the two tracks finally merged.

That call for a Wye at the SouthEast Garage corner (to be discussed later) forced the Track and Turnout Department to search for a replacement. It seemed they did have a brand new Right-Hand Number Six switch. Would that work?

Here, the merge has been completed, and with pronounced simplicity. The low to the ground angle does emphasize grade problems. Shortly after our track crew saw this photo, they "adjusted" that funny humple in the Mainline just as it passes the sprinkler head.

Our Right of Way Improvement Team also had a part in this operation. The brick pavers near the switch are just hinting at their plan to "Line Out" all on-grade trackage where it forms a natural division between sections of the yard.