It has been a few weeks since my last update. SInce then I have been re-examining questionable trackwork on the second level of the BQR and pulled a bunch of it. The back to back turnouts that caused the original problem with my Canadian cars has been replaced with a single turnout and some long, smooth curves going through a custom curved diamond. Recognizing that what was done was a really bad idea, more than a few hours were spent running trains in my head through the area until a better plan emerged. A problem that folks who model prototypes don't have to the same degree... sigh. Scotch helps as a lubricant...

The Sydenham yard area has become a tad more functional -- assuming I can actually build the long, curving wye that makes it all fit. Templot has been useful but there is still a long learning curve to climb before it would help me plan on a larger scale. So the methodology has been a mix of templot/3rdPlanit/graph paper staked to the deck. In reality it has been the last tool that has been the most useful to me.

Moving outside the limitations of commercial turnouts has been conceptually exhilarating -- we will see if my enthusiasm continues after I get a few turnouts cut and soldered together. The plan is to build them in place on top of the sketch - then bury the evidence in ballast.

Then comes the fun of putting the wiring back together and rebuilding the control panel. At this rate that likely won't happen before the new year...

But as a retirement project it has been wonderful -- and more satisfying than trying to keep the garden alive through the drought we had this summer.