The Clearwater, Seeley Lake & Pacific Railway: 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.