More Work on the Thomsonbahn...
In April and again in May I visited David Thomson and worked some more on the Thomsonbahn. Having completed all the track work for the main line (or so we thought), it was time to move onto the signaling and the switch wiring. However, there was one thing left to do on the staging yard...
... Make it BIGGER!
The picture above shows the old staging yard, but you'll notice that the curves on the "harp" are now much closer to the camera, which is in the corner of the layout (the spot where I am looking out in one of the previous pages). The reason is that Dave wanted longer sidings in his staging yard, so we added some curves...
... And now the staging yard continues under the freight yard / locomotive servicing facility! Both of the above photos were taken from the same vantage point, the first one to the left, and the one above to the right. It shows how the staging yard is now "L"-shaped, with a significant increase in length. The smallest storage track can now accommodate trains that are nearly seven feet long, while the longest track is over ten feet long!
Since I was in Cincinnati for nearly a week, we were able to get significantly more done than just the increased size of the staging yard. We also added signals, including four signals automated for block control.
Look Ma, No Hands! Dave and I are running our first trains "hands off". Thanks to the design of the block system, three trains run completely independently on the layout, without a chance for running into each other, thanks to the block system. We isolated the "spaghetti section" as one block, so Dave can run the trains through the spaghetti section as much as he wants without fear of a collision. The next train won't enter the spaghetti section until the train in it has headed up to the station level. There are also block signals (2) in the station level, and one protecting the entrance to the staging yard.
That's me, testing one of the block signals. I set them up temporarily so Dave could run the trains before the "serious work" of sinking the solenoid housings into the Homasote began...
Here is a view of the passenger station with the two temporary block signals installed. The signals will work automatically but can also be overridden, allowing trains to be pulled into the sidings and have other trains pass on the main line.
Another shot of the imposing V200 ready to head out of the station...