I've got my sights on Orrington

This is the area north of the new bridge in Bucksport. The scenery was something from my old layout I called the notch. I had planned to put this piece in this spot and I'm glad I finally got to it. I had to try and match the track work with the scenery.

 

 

 

White Mountain Paper in Orrington is the biggest industry on the layout. I am laying out track to see if the planned arrangement is going to work. This track work is similar to what was on the old layout. This time there will be a passing siding which wasn't on the old layout. It looks like I'll have two new sidings. Coal for the power plant and an extra track to separate the tank cars from the covered hoppers.

Track connected past Bucksport

I finished the bridge north of Bucksport. I was able to get the track installed approximately two feet past the new bridge. While I was working I went ahead and laid the roadbed about five feet past the track. The roadbed is now halfway to Orrington, the next big town. The Paper Mill will be located in Orrington. It is the major on line industry. Of course the electrical still need to be done.

I even went back and put the roadbed and track in between Acadia and Bucksport. I had a piece of scenery from the old layout I would like to try and reuse, so once I had its location figure out I could lay track in the now affected areas.

One town, one siding and approximately 50 feet to go.

The picture shows train NP1 waiting for track so it can get to Bangor, ME.

One more bridge to cross.

Started work on the bridge across the water heater. The hardest part was coming up with a way for it to be sturdy and easily removed in case of the water heater going out. Hopefully I have achieved what I was trying to achieve.

I have a section of scenery from the old layout that I hope to incorporate. It is kind of reminisant of Crawford Notch in New Hampshire. I placed the foreground scenery with the river on the benchwork and started work on the sub roadbed to see if it would work. The benchwork that I used the last time was the same width as this time. The track approach is just a little different.

Radio Issues

I have been having problems with radio reception with my Digitrax system. I don't have a problem by myself, but others say they are having a problem when the group is together.
First I moved around the UR-91 receiver, which didn't seem to change things. I then put in another UR-91. When the next session came around I was told that the problems still were there. Most recently I have added aux power to the UP-5's, which is supposed to help. The next session coming up we will text that change. I made two sets of power which have seven UP-5's and one UR-91 on each string. Of course now one guy says the UR-91's should be powered separately. I'll try this other fix first.
The farthest any radio should have to reach is about 15 feet, well within what many other people are using for a distance.
I also bought some new rechargeable batteries that are supposed to be the greatest thing. They charge fast and are a higher voltage (9.6v), which makes Loconet happy.
I had a small amount of momentum on some of the engines, which I took out, because the operators didn't like it. I hope that wasn't the reason we though we were having radio problems. There are a few engines that are slow starters anyway and I hope that isn't confusing the issue. I need to ask more questions when something happens

Additions

I got around to leveling the hidden staging in St. Albans. I kept it a bit steeper than needed until all of the tortoise machines were installed above. I originally designed everything so that the turnout motors would hoping be out of the way for the track below. This is one time a plan came together. I was able to take out most of the hill.
During the last week I put in the track in Bucksport 20 feet or so down from Acadia, which is now operational. I didn't connect the track in between because I need to think about the scenery. Nothing is wired up yet, but I have another session coming up and there are a few things to tweak on before the session.
I added the platform for the roundhouse / industry in Searsport. No new track, but some things will just have to wait. This area is inside of a loop and has some good possibilities. The biggest decision is whether to have an engine facility, industrial area, or just scenery.

BRWM is participating in NC RailRun 2011

The BRWM has been invited to be one of the operating layouts during NC RailRun 2011, which will be based in the Salisbury, NC, area during Labor Day Weekend. The BRWM is currently slotted for Operations on Friday, September 2, 2011, from 4 PM until 8 PM. If there is enough interest I'll also be hosting an Op Session Sunday, September 4, from 9 AM until 1 PM.

For more information, visit the NC RailRun 2011 blog.

To register for the event, go to the Carolina Southern Division website and sign up!

Changes for the next session

Seasrport and Northern Maine Junction (NMJ) will be open for service. NMJ will actually be in Acadia temporarily until I get more track down. Searsport would normally be a position, but there made not enough business for a full time operator unless someone wants a light load.
There have been some train changes to match the new businesses that are open. This adds six more trains and changes four destinations.
I changed out the tight curved turnout in Wiscasset. This gets a much larger curve going to Rockland for better tracking of trains. I lost a very small part of aisle space, but this was worth it.