The Grand Valley's Northern Extension...

[MasonJar]

That's great work Wayne! Nice to see the upper level coming together. I wonder what Barney Secord will do now that the airspace over Port Maitland and Lowbanks is somewhat "restricted"...

Andrew

[JaBear]

I might have missed it but what is the average rail height of both levels from the floor?, please.
Cheers, the Bear.

[doctorwayne]

Well, other than anomalies caused by somewhat careless use of a measuring tape , the upper level is about 59" above the floor. The lower level is pretty-much a sawtooth profile, varying between 36" and 44".
The tracks from lower staging, depending on which yard is used, begin at 40" or 44", then converge at a height of 42" at Negro Creek, then climb to 44" at South Cayuga. The grade to the upper level begins at the 44" height in South Cayuga.
Trains headed to Port Maitland leave South Cayuga also at 44" and drop to 38.5" at Elfrida, then, after a level stretch through town, drop again, down to 36" by the time they roll into Lowbanks. The track from there is level right to the TH&B staging tracks.
I'll probably introduce some areas of extra elevation on the upper level in order to add a stream or two, but nothing major.

Most trains, unless they're really short, will be doubleheaded, and some may also require a pusher.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

Here's a look at the various staging tracks.

This is south end staging, with five tracks. Immediately below, and mostly out of sight, are the two tracks representing unmodelled industries, with the TH&B staging/interchange represented by the two tracks alongside the aisle:



This view better shows the two tracks of the industrial staging area. The third track, alongside, and dropping down, is a run-through which allows a portion of the layout to be operated as a loop. The bottom end of it can be seen in the distance where it's joined by the TH&B tracks just prior to crossing the aisle on the lower lift-out. The grade is about 4.7% :



Looking in the opposite direction, the stub ends of the TH&B tracks are at the lowest level, and just above, the industrial tracks and run-through track gaining access to the lower level of Dunnville through an opening in the backdrop. Above that is the double tracked main which enters Dunnville on an elevated right-of-way which serves the main station. Beyond that, the two tracks merge, then join-up with the lower level track at Negro Creek:



The upper (north) staging yard is now in place, too. This view looks south towards the lift-out:



...and looking north. Except for installation of a couple more uncoupling magnets, the 7 tracks are operational, although there's only about 4' of track in place on the other side of the aisle, beyond the lift-out.



Adding a couple more pieces of flex track there would allow this yard to be operated as a switching layout, but this is the end of construction for the time being.

I have a few other projects upon which to spend some time: a couple of freight car kits to build, two or three locos to weather for friends, another to paint, and another to re-build (re-motor, detail, and paint), again for friends. At the same time, but in no particular order, six complete loco rebuilds for myself and, if I'm so inclined, two mostly scratchbuilt steamers to construct. We'll see how far I get, but if boredom sets in, I can always work on completing the original portion of the layout.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

That's great work Wayne! Nice to see the upper level coming together. I wonder what Barney Secord will do now that the airspace over Port Maitland and Lowbanks is somewhat "restricted"...

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew.

Yeah, with little else in place on the upper level, Barney's somewhat limited, although there are rumours that he's on a government sponsored vacation, possibly in Kingston.


Wayne

[JaBear]

Thanks Wayne.

I wonder what Barney Secord will do now that the airspace over Port Maitland and Lowbanks is somewhat "restricted"

Not that i would like to give any reason to alert the Civil Aviation Board, but I do believe that there may be in existance a photo of a Stearman and the Maitland River Bridge that would put to rest any worries over the future of, shall we say, low oblique photography for survey purposes.
Cheers, the Bear.