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Despite still needing to find space for the boxes of stuff in the garage, attention once again turns to the railroad.
Retaining walls are in place and over 50 yards of topsoil have been delivered. Depending on how much this settles there may need to be even more soil added (hopefully not since with the retaining walls up, only way to get dirt inside is to shovel it in). The Whiskey River and Canby (WR&C) will be totally redesigned into a folded loop or something vaguely similar to allow more track to be laid in a more compact area. It will also up the activity level. Raising the whole thing above ground level should make it more viewable, add to the realism, and to create greater elevation relief (more dirt). This will allow addition of a tunnel. After all, the local skunks need someplace to hide. And it will make it much more exciting, recovering from the inevitable derailment in the center of the tunnel. |
| The railbus has been converted to Locolinc control, Sierra sound, and an onboard battery pack. Although the battery pack is not all that large it has run for fairly long periods and has proven NiMH batteries work well. So, other locomotives will get a changeout of sealed lead-acid batteries for newer technology, perhaps even LiFePO4. All depends on what can be fit into the available spaces in the locomotives. With their much greater power densities, if they will fit, the Shay should do fairly well with the newer technology. |
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Water feature is planned but, again, will depart significantly from previous design. Although it was well intended, the advise of last time put the river above ground level through most of its course. While this may be typical of New Orleans, it doesn't look much like a river in the west. So "Gulapata" from the recipe in Garden Railways will be used in the hope that the river will look more realistic with "rock" riverbed instead of black plastic that was impossible to hide.
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| The same sub-roadbed, Trex, will be used and the pieces already on hand will be used wherever possible. Again, newer technology may be used for part of the sub-road. Thinner Trex, on edge, can be bent to the needed curves and will require less cutting and fitting than laying it flat did. This method was used for the Oregon Garden railroad and works quite nicely. Once the dirt settles over the winter, we can get to work on rebuilding the WR&C. |
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