Well, finally got the last blank spaces on the layout occupied. It has been an interesting process with many changes. Gluing track and roadbed is definitely a mixed bag -- makes for nice, solid connections but taking it up is a delicate process at best. I will keep using a thin layer of DAP transparent latex caulk for any long, curved sections but for general trackwork nails are much easier to work with. Now that a bunch of stuff has been changed my original plan for how to handle power districting is in shambles. So next act is to redraw my track plan, plot out the surviving power connections and identify all new ones required. There are still a few turnout motors to hook up (in the awkward hidden storage track and turnaround loop under the helix. And the manual levers under the yard are still waiting for me to finish them off -- a slow healing knee injury made crawling under the layout much less fun.

The Deseronto Yard has been stable. The upper deck has undergone a number of changes including adding a turntable in the back corner to facilitate operations. The coaling tower will go back in that corner after a small extension is added to the deck. One can just barely see the ash pit on the other approach to the turntable. All turnouts on this section of the upper deck use Altas undermount solenoids -- wired to a hidden distribution panel on the back corner. If senior management approves, a foldout yard extension to the passenger track and classification yard would go on the foregound. But for the short trains and small locos used by the BQR historically the space is not unreasonable -- their actual Deseronto yard was pretty jammed and tangled.

Here is the view from the end of the helix -- the center will have a high drumlin running across it from the blue foam to the right. This is visualized to block the view of the mining operation on the far side from the lumber and dairy operations (oblong outlines on the panel) serviced by the two sidings. The entire layout sits on legs with teflon skids -- and can be pulled out from the wall for servicing or cleaning with minimal effort. When work is complete on the RoRo enhanced controls, sectional table clamps and alignment pins will ensure that everything stays tightly coupled together.

Closeup of the Yarker station runaround and side branch into the helix center. The center turnout track kink will probably need to be soldered as the curve down from the center is not as stable as I might like. More fun. The turnout in the foreground heads down around the outside of the helix and over to the elevator (background).

Overview of the layout control panel (a future feature) and the Yarker Wye. The blue foam blocks out the area for the Napanee river gorge and falls that will pass under the bridges and curve around to the right. Notionally I am thinking of a pond in the center of the helix as the source but that is still down the road. Above the Zephyr is a RRampmeter wired into the track feed. To the right of the panel is the plug for the programming track and throttle jack. The black object is a foldout cupholder -- certified by actual test to hold my favorite snifter. Also in the future is a row of light pipes to the LEDs on the PM42 -- it is mounted under the helix.