~ Andy
Although not on such a grand scale, Charlie and I were very happy to complete our two-track Conrail mainline on Tuesday evening, October 4, 2016! I started designing the layout with Bob Dengler and Tom Gaus in 2003 and we started construction in 2006, so it has been a long time coming. I credit Charlie with keeping the project moving forward on weekends and evenings when I'd rather have relaxed with a magazine or newspaper. ~ Andy Here Charlie drives the "golden spike" (okay, it was just a track nail painted gold) in the eastbound track as Conrail SD40-2 #6366 waits to make the first entire loop around the layout. This loco was lightly weathered, tuned and had sound and DCC added by our friend Mike Garber from Midlothian, VA, so it was very appropriate that this would be the first loco to make the complete run. The final spike was driven in front of what will be Westinghouse Airbrake (now Wabtec) in Wilmerding. I hope George Westinghouse is looking down and smiling! Here is a photo of the "new" room where the tracks met. This room will represent the Turtle Creek Valley, starting with Braddock on the left and finishing with Trafford on the right. This picture was taken about four weeks ago, just after the backdrop painting was complete. With the main line connected, a complete run around the layout takes 14-1/2 minutes at normal operating speed. We have worked really hard this summer to get the mainline completed for our NMRA open house on October 16, 2016 and we are so glad we made it, We've not taken time to update the web site since mid-July, so now that the open house is behind us, watch for some catching up and updates on our Progress and Blog pages. Thanks for your patience.
3 Comments
Deane Mellander
10/20/2016 06:43:54 am
Way to go, guys. Been great to follow along. Hopefully I can get to pay a visit sometime soon.
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Andy
10/21/2016 07:01:10 am
Thanks Deane! It has been a fun journey, but we are far from done. We appreciate your interest and encouragement!
Reply
Robert Braeuner
10/22/2016 03:57:32 am
Congratulations guys! Well done, it looks awesome. Very inspiring!
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