GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Great choice for your first pic! That loading dock photo is especially realistic!
Ralph

WOW Chris, thanks for the pics, everything looks good and i like the change from the oil loading platform to the loading dock!!

Thanks! I really need to finish it, its really just a thing i quickly put together from some scrap styrene! The main problem is I can't figure out a good way to get between the building itself and the loading dock. The rail loading dock on American Hardware Supply is very skinny, and building a ramp around the two inside tracks and to the loading dock there looks alittle hazardous for fork lifts. I do know that on the prototype, boxcars had little bridges across eachother to get to a second set of box cars, and I've already begun doing that. I've thought about extending the loading dock, but the building has been built into the surrounding scenery, and if i start taking up more space, I'm going to loose some believeablility i think. The only other option i thought about was building up to the truck loading docks on the side. I could almost make the industry be a team track as well, but it wouldn't really change the way it all operated. I haven't heard of a business sharing its loading dock, but we'll see how it works.

That whole corner needs to be finished, actually. I have the scenery i wanted to use, and so i'm thinking before christmas i'll have most of it done.

Looks good Chris, will you be ballasting the track for better drainage?

I'm really hesitant to ballast the mainline. I know I really should get that done soon, before the catenary goes in permanently. The problem is i've been thinking about adding block detection, so that maybe I can have a few signals that change aspects or something. On the other hand, the layout is so compact that i don't think i really could accurately make Signals for most of it, but I figure atleast for the passing tracks, there should be a signal of some kind. I'm guessing i'm going to have to use the electrically operated block detectors, which means i need to wire and islolate my blocks. If I have to tear up ballasted track, it won't look right and i'll need to re-do it, so i've been putting off ballasting the mainline.

I also want to add under-table switch machines, and so i'll probably try to get things prepped for that before i add more ballast. We'll see how it goes!