Main line for the entire layout now complete!

Track gangs complete main line ahead of time

Well, today marks a really satisfying day on the D&H Champlain Division.
The main line and all of staging is now complete (in terms of track laying).

Over the last week the track gang powered through Whitehall, up to Willsboro, through Pt Douglas and then down grade to Plattsburgh.

All main line turnouts are installed and tortoise machines installed also.
The passing siding at Plattsburgh is completed.
Now for the main line passing sidings in the rest of the towns.

The next job, once the passing sidings are complete is to wire up the track and turnout power.. Then the trains can roll on their own rather than being 0-5-0'ed around the layout.

Here are a few progress pictures.

Whitehall main yard

Abandoned branch line on the left and the main line on the right. The abandoned branch line will also be the lead track for Switching in North Whitehall

 

Main line about to go down on the section between Whitehall and Willsboro

North end of Whitehall.

 

Testing out turnout spacing in Whitehall.

 Main line being installed in Willsboro

 

 Main line complete in Willsboro

 

Looking South from Willsboro

North Willsboro and Pt Douglas

 

Main line from Pt Douglas past Red Rocks and into Plattsburgh

Main line from Pt Douglas past Red Rocks and into Plattsburgh

 

Last piece of track on the main line to be installed

Last piece of track on the main line is now installed.

1st meet in Plattsburgh

 

Testing siding length

 

 

Well that's it folks. The main line is now done.. Now to wire things up.

 

Stay tuned..

Main line enters Whitehall

Track gangs hard at work.

The track gang has again been hard at work.

Over the last few days the track gang has laid the sub road bed for the main line from Ft Edward to Willsboro.
Also the main line has been installed from Ft Edward around into Whitehall..

All in all things are progressing well.

See below for a few pictures of the work that has been completed.

Ft Edward to Whitehall Main line

Ft Edward to Whitehall Main line

Whitehall to Willsboro main line

Whitehall to Willsboro main line

Whitehall testing turnout spacing

 

Whitehall testing turnout spacing

Whitehall testing turnout spacing

Thanks for checking in. Hopefully the main line will be completed by the end of the month.

Main line progresses to Ft Edward

Track Gangs are hard at work

Over this weekend the track gang has been hard at work in Ft Edward.
The main line through town is now complete.

This then completes the section from Ft Edward down to South Staging.
The track and turnouts are not yet powered but the tortoise machines are installed.

Work to power the main line will begin once the main line reaches Whitehall.

Unfortunately the track gang was delayed late today due to the lack of no more gaps!

Here are a few progress pictures.

 

Ft Edward

Ft Edward

Ft Edward

Main line between Ft Edward and Saratoga Springs

Main line between Ft Edward and Saratoga Springs

 

Main line between Ft Edward and Saratoga Springs

Main line between Ft Edward and Saratoga Springs bridge load test

 

Saratoga Springs

 

  Saratoga Springs

 

  Saratoga Springs testing train length

The train was manually moved during the testing via the 0-5-0 switcher.

Thanks for stopping by.
Hopefully by the end of the month the main line through to Plattsburgh will be completed.!

Main deck completed and main deck track work started.

Another milestone completed

As of last week, I completed the install of the main deck all around the layout.
This is a major milestone that has been coming for a while and is finally here!.

There are sections of main line that once I decide where the road bed needs to be will be cut to shape such as the main line between Whitehall and Willsboro, and Ft Edward to Saratoga Springs.
This will be done at the time of laying the track in that area.

All the main deck (apart from 1 section that I was not happy with and replaced the ply) has been painted with a base brown in readiness for track laying.

Here are a few pictures of the completed main deck.

Here is a train sitting in staging under Whitehall so show the gap that is available.

And now I have started to lay track on the Southern end of the railway and am heading North from staging approach to Saratoga Springs.

Thanks for dropping by.

This week I had the pleasure of hosting visits from Ron (on his way through town) and Rod, John F and John C to review the construction work that has been completed so far. All were pleased / impressed with the progress. Hopefully a running session on the main line and passing sidings is not to far away!

Hopefully the next update will be track arriving in Ft Edward and may be even Whitehall..