Southbound O721 close-ups

"Name that cut of rock" - When I see a loaded hopper on O721, I wonder what it has, but here you can see the commodity. Looks like ballast...

Gypsum didn't seem as easy to get on O721 as it seemed in December, where three straight catches yielded it. TTZX 865137 marks the third time I have seen it in the video era.

Last Railfanning Day of 2011!

For an outing horribly interrupted by a failing camera and an accident in Hollywood, the pickings here are not bad at all.

Another New Plan

For the new year, I revised the plan up a bit. It allows more lineage due to the use of four corners instead of U-curves, maximizing the area I have. I'll be working on two boards ASAP getting the studs nailed on to them, then getting the supports. The challenge is one of them will be 4' high and the other will be 2'6" high.

Segment 1 is the lower horizontal, 2 is the right vertical, 3 is the top horizontal, 4 is the vertical (and I extruded some of it from the shelf that will go over it) and 5 is the Deerfield section.

BIG Model Railroading Tip

When planning your layout (long story on why it was delayed), never go with 180º Us. I made this mistake in the old plan and am reworking it. With my S-shape, I only have three lineal segments. I tried something different, using the allowable footprint. I made a lollipop design. Kinda like a swirl but it has five lineal segments. The more lineal segments, the less is wasted to your curve tracks. Also, by the minor warping, I may be able to incorporate a gradient on segment three that will allow the track to go below segment two.

With my new plan, I will be able to have a portion of South Dania, then on to Allsteel, City of Lauderdale, Cross Dock on an independent spur, Amerigas lead next to it (I may use the nearby curve to illustrate the spotting operation), then Fast-Dry, Bonsal, Boise, Home Depot, then Publix/Sun-Sentinel, then even Rankin. Lots of work. BrickAmerica, due to its incredibly low frequency, is being omitted from the layout.

My Local

This time I caught him working Fast-Dry Courts. He had an interesting cut once finished; 1 tank from there, 1 scrap gon, 5 Amerigas, 1 scrap gon, and 2 Cross-Dock reefers.

Welcome to Miami, once again...

Merry Christmas