White River Junction Progress Report - 1

After my friends Paul Dolkos and Mat Thompson came by late last month Paul mentioned that I should postpone scenery work and focus on getting the track and wiring done to the point where we can operate the railroad. "Then," Paul added, "you can get things tweaked and have the freedom to pick and choose whatever project you'd like." Certainly seems to make sense, and I remember the sense of accomplishment when I was able to declare the major benchwork construction done and get all the scraps of wood out of the basement. Could the same feeling of accomplishment accompany getting all the track in - at the time Paul visited there were stacks of flex track and turnouts all over the place. 

I've decided to take his advice - perhaps the most "track intense" part of the railroad is White River Junction. I introduced the scene - at least how I'm using mockups to plan it - in the latest issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist ezine - there's even a video. Since that article was written I've made some decent progress getting the track in place in the freight yard and the WRJ locomotive terminal. I also ordered a couple of turnout kits from Proto:87 stores to see if the details on their plastic ties will blend better with the Micro-Engineering flex track. 

Here's an overview of the freight yard, with the engine terminal in the background. 

I needed to remove some of the Homasote and plywood for the Bridge Street overpass. Of course, before I could get out the saw I needed to know exactly where the yard ladder and mainline would be!

One of the signature spotting features of the White River Junction yard is the Tip Top bakery billboard. Tip Top was rail served in my era - even if it wasn't the billboard, shown here in about the same size that it will appear on the model, is an attention getter!