Snyder Merge and new Beer Plant
A Blessed Friday to all, as we continue to weather many deaths in California. I hope you and your loved ones are doing ok.
Hard to believe April has passed us, and on to May, will see how this month goes, hopefully some better news on the Covid 19 Front......in a few weeks......Very tough times for Folks.
Since are lives have dramatically changed for the moment, with all this time away from meetings and other usual things one does in live, me and Mr's Blue have set about to getting all those Honey do lists caught up, about 40 yr's worth I think, OMG I can't believe all the things we said we said we were going to do, and for whatever reason, never quite got there to complete it....LOL
That's life folks, and I am most assured you have similar stories too.........
So this last month, cleaning out the Garage (that'll take some time), and of course the good all Yard, plants to cut back, others to remove, and lots of Flowers to plant. Nope this will not be a few weeks, I fear it could take a few months.....But the bright side, I have been able to get my weight down to a point, it has not been in 30 some years, other than aches and pains from aging, I feel pretty healthy, and to me, that is a bonus round........
Now for the part you are probably waiting for, Trainz:
I continue my merge of parts of New England to New York project, just some scrap pieces and general fooling around to see what I do with it.......Currently working on some new Track for added Connective Tiles I added in some areas, changing, adding, deleting, and moving Hills around etc, as I toy with some ideas.......
At the moment adding some needed signaling in the new Route areas......I post those pictures later.....
Tonight pictures shown here are from another group merge of 5 routes,
In this portion on E/W or Snyder, I added some commercial buildings with Boxcar Service for Beer Plant. In this part of large Plant area, we have a cross diamond setup to allow cars shoved on back side of building for Beer Loads.
On this side, we have Team Tracks serving the other side of the Plant, works very well, as only one crew handles this job, and there is not risk of shall we say Diamond Cornfield Meeting, which could prove deadly at the worst, and bad derailment at the least, depending who meets first at the Diamonds. This is line of sight operation, with stop and proceed on clear, occasionally we might have another crew dropping loads off the large Freight consist, so will suspend the local crew for shunting until the other crew releases their Tracking time, we never run Joint in this area.......Other Rail Companies might, we won't risk it, the outcome could prove costly if not totally disastrous with the loss of an Employee(s).
Large rake of Boxcars being shoved across the Diamond.
And lots of empties coming in for Beer, Oh boy, nothing like a cold and frosty one on a hot day.......
And our approach view as we drop empties past Beer Plant here, getting reading to stop just past the switch, do a reverse move, shove into long, very long Spur, then space one Car at each door of Plant. Just around the Curve to this plant, We also have a switch allowing us to small Beer Plant Rail Yard and then exit out the other end into this mainline we are on here about mile or so up these tracks, works real well for us.......And stops the potential for log jams, with so many Beer Hops and other Freight coming into this very large and busy Beer Plant.
Finally, our overhead view of Plant, and Cars being shoved into right side for loading, takes about 4 hours or little bit more, then Plant will call us for OK pickup for Beer Loads, and there you have it folks, this is how we Roll on this one..
Recall, I mentioned the drop-off look when using 1-2 tiles widths, well you can clearly see it here at this elevation, so how do you cheat,, Put background panels on one or both sides, trees, and or small rolling hills to hide your drop-off....At least that is what I do......Some folks will put several rows of trees close to Mainline line, so your vision of the edge is buffered by looking through the trees, buildings, or other distractions......
And what I don't want to see, is the edges of other Tiles across span if you have your Route with open areas. It just doesn't look right to me....One of my habits when I work in Surveyor is glide over all the track-age at train height with cameras, scanning left and right views to the edges to see if there is any strange drop-offs, especially if you have Tiles coming in 90 degree cutoffs, because you might see unfinished edges from either side of your Rails as they cure to left or right to clear corners of your Route, and many times, I will add a blank tile, and do some basic scenery, or Rolling hills to block off the drop-off points.....
On the same hand, everyone has their own style of doing things, and I have to be respectful of that, and I am, this is just my preference and the way I make changes sometimes, when I run across this situation.
Our scheduled Amtrak, one of the 4 that cross thru here daily. It becomes important to have at least one of the mainlines clear for this fast moving People Mover.....Otherwise, we pay Amtrak fine for delaying a hot shot train........So it is financially in our best interest to keep him moving, and the customers happy, I know this all too well, I have ridden many a Amtrak for out of town Meetings and other Travel needs......
One other thing, my signals are working very well, with the expected Approach indications as seen here........
On the right side here just up a ways, I added 2 working lumber yards with independentant Spur approaches, so either one or two Crews will work these yards for load outs........
As this Amtrak passes by at 70 or better, I look at these magnificent Trees, never seen these before.......Towering Giants guarding the highway crossing inside, yes, their is a small country road passing thru here, and the Drivers better not run this Crossing, else, this Amtrak will take them out in one quick move.
Cleared the Tree Giant Crossing, now we are close to downtown stop, Engineer is slowing speed for Station stop 2 miles down from here. Notice small rolling hills, on both sides of this area, this picture was taken in September last year, since then, a lot of this has changed. You'll see more of how this devoid area looks in upcoming pictures.
When I do merges, put things together, I have a theme in mind, but I have to be honest with you all, I never know how my idea will turn out, I might change things a couple dozen times to get what I am looking for.
I might kick it to the curb, bad idea, never could of worked, and start over.........!
Also, I don't do prototype per see, I like to have fun, and just envision how I would want my Railroad laid out if I owned one, corny, yes, probably so, but it is fun, especially during these tough times we are in....Keeps my mind relaxed and sharp at the same time......
And with that, I bid you a good night, and hopefully a better weekend ahead, prayers to those stricken with Covid-19, for a good recovery, I can't say quick, since this Virus affects everyone quite differently......
May the lord keep and bless all you in need.....Peace
