One Step at a Time

 

Edmonds Landing Yard

    We've got the yard laid and wire drops in. With help from The Typesetter we're getting prepared for a afternoon of soldering. The main bus will be run along the front of the layout so it took two tries to the get the wire length right. But it's worth it and I'm glad I did.  I watched a video on Model Railroad Academy and the double L bend helped a lot. 

Marvin's Curve

Yard Work

 

Edmonds Landing Yard

    Today was the day I wanted to get the Edmonds Yard down. I had watched a YouTube video and I liked how the creator did it so how hard could it be? A trip to the hardware store gave me all the materials I needed for this project. Liquid Nails for Projects, a caulking gun, drywall roller, caulk saver cap and a few other odds and ends. I was ready.

    Fifteen minutes after I started the project the first phase was one. You'll see where a spur is "Missing". Well that's the caboose track and won't be installed until we know how the engine house will sit. The hole above the engine house track is for the BLI water tower. The blue tape you see is marking the spot for the dedicated programing track. Once the layout is ready we'll move from the NCE Power Cab to a smart booster and the power cab will be used to power that track for dedicated programing. 

Incline Anchor installed

    Edmonds yards is built on a slight grade. With the upgrade to metal wheels cars roll far easier. A huge inspiration to me is the Willow Creek Railroad. In one of the videos the owner mentions using the bristles of a small broom to create hold backs in a a yard. If a Master Model Railroader can do it I figured so can I. Right now the Incline Anchors, what I'm calling them,  are simply a proof of concept. They will most likely need to be replaced once ballasting is done. But it makes the yard usable once I can play with my trains again. 

    

Milwaukee Road RSC-2 #940

    It was a train show weekend with plans to attend two. Well I made it to one, spent all my money and saved three hours of driving. The big haul was a Kato RSC-2 with DCC and sound installed for under $100.  Couldn't pass it up as such a locomotive is perfect for this railroad. I did a video of it you can see below. 

    Few other things were accomplished today. In addition to the the installation of the Incline Anchors, holes were drilled for the installation of the yard feeder wires. The Superintendent has decided that the railroad will go the keep alive route instead of frog juicing. The juice is an option but having capacitors as standard on all motive power will go a long way in making the railroad operation friendly. 

    The next project will be the installation of Marvin's Curve, an 18" curve leading to Clearwater proper, and soldering joints and keepers. The railroad should be ready for full operations no later then the 1st of December of this year.  

    On the prototype front here are some shots of ACM #7 and the Library car a few weekends ago. Things are looking good. 

Headlight Illuminated. 

Bethlehem Steel

Wooden Bits Looking Good

The 70-ton Bonner Movie STar

Little Library Car in front of the Library Car

A Thoroughly Modern Layout

Kadee #48 and metal wheels meet on my test track. 

    One of the goals of the Clearwater Pacific is to create what can be considered a modern, up to date layout. This is 2025 and the state of the art has moved forward. Getting back into a hobby as deep as model railroading is a fascinating process.  The last time I was seriously looking at layout building and what was out there was when this blog ended around 2011. Since then there has been travel, sailing,  and a host of other things to move my mind away from this hobby. But now I'm back and boy has it changed. 

    Well not really. But the standard for a modern operating layout are pretty well set. Groups like OpSig, the OPerating Special Interest Group of the NMRA seem to have it dialed in pretty well. And the internet expands the ability to communicate and share information and hard won knowledge. A favorite of mine at the moment is the Talking Ops with Don Irace sections of the Around the Layout Podcast. Lot of good things percolating from listening to those episodes. 

    Later posts will delve into the operation of the layout and what I have planned but now I wanted to touch on standards. If you're interested in operating it becomes very apparent very quickly that setting yourself up for success is a matter of eliminating as many variables as possible. This means your standards for track, wiring, couplers, wheels, and more have to be exact and maintained.

    So the Clearwater Pacific is now different. In a great episode of Talking Ops on Bulletproof Operations Don mentioned two things I'll touch on here. They are couplers and wheels. On the subject of wheels switching to metal wheel sets is a recommended practice for a variety of reasons. Those reasons include layout and track cleanliness and less friction. On the CP we're settled on Walthers 33" wheelsets as standard for our freight cars. Changing over the current roster is slow but once done maintenance will be more cost effective and easier. Couplers are standardized with Kadee 148. These are easy to install, have less required parts and are a great improvement over a mix of different knuckle coupler types. At the time of writing this all of our cars have Kadee 148's and the locomotive fleet is rapidly changing over as well. Eventually as we get to the wiring and control system that too will be standard. We'll most likely devote a few posts to that but it's coming.

    In conclusion we've set these standards early and hope to reap the benefits as we get closer to actually laying tracks and running trains. 

Don't Call It a Comeback

 

    Let us return to the big north woods. The story that started all those years ago has returned. Some old faces will make an appearance. The lure of tall timber and small trains is still there. But we needed an outlet for the creative side of things and this blog will become it. So join us once more as we delve deep into Montana's history in both the real world and cinema. And the depths of my own imagination. 

    I kept wanting to write about what I'm doing with this layout. And thinking I should start a blog. But then I remembered I already had one. This one. So the history from the first Big Blackfoot remains but we'll build on that foundation. This is where I'll update you on progress, sketches, harebrained half baked ideas and the joy that comes from building your own miniature world. All aboard it's going to be a great ride.  

Update

Thank you all for the nice comments. Sadly the BBRy as envisioned by me is on indefinite hold. I do have some HO rolling stock including an unlettered 3-Truck DCC and sound equipped shay available for sale. This page will remain up as a repository of knowledge. In the meantime, keep your water up!

Still Chugging!

I've been busy with other projects as of late but I'm still planing on the layout! Here is some sawmill action I took during Forestry Day this year.

Springtime!

Here is an archive shot of Big Six somewhere in the Chilcoot. Behind the locomotive the beginnings of a slide ass jammer can be seen. The date is unknown but the camera taking the photo is obviously quite old and well used.

Well it's springtime on the BBRy, and that means things are stirring once again. I afraid I may need a bigger railroad! Just acquired a bobber caboose and another loaded 40' flatcar for the railroad. The hard work will again commence this fall as other obligations and commitments are tying up my time right now. In the mean time swing by Fort Missoula and view not only some Big Blackfoot relics but view the the only public regularly scheduled, steam powered sawmill in the Big Sky State! Dates will be April 23rd and 24 and July 4th from 8am-4pm. Also I should mention plans are afoot to see if the whistle of the oldest Willamette in existence will see steam once again. No hard plans yet but I'll keep you all updated! For all you of you following this blog, thank you! If you have any questions or comments, feel free!
James Maxwell
Blog Writer