March 6
It's been a slower week on the B&CC. I've got a construction zone (er "layout") tour for my local NMRA Division scheduled for this coming Saturday and so the last week and this one are all about cleanup.
With construction shut down for the time being, I did finish spiking the NY Mill trackage, so spiking is now complete from Forks up to Lower Blackhawk Yard. In addition, I've spent some more time figuring out industries that will be located along the line. I've decided on using the Sleepy Hollow Mine along the switchback, and I've laid out what the engine house will look like in Upper Blackhawk (it's a deeper version of the Gilpin Tramway engine house). With luck, I hope to have the rest of the industries along the line identified and paper dolls in place by the weekend.
I've also drawn up plans for the NY Mill and Central City trestles. The Central City trestle is going to be a 32' long by 55' high open tail for the wye at Central City. The NY Mill trestle (so named because it goes over the NY Mill siding) will be a 68' double-tracked, creosote-treated deck trestle that allows for normal ballasting. My research indicates that the L&N had ballasted trestles in 1876, the NYC in 1874, and the C&NW tried non-creosote-treated ones in 1871 and 1872. That's close enough for me to bend history (and rule #1 of layouts applies anyway).
Lastly, I'm realizing that I need a couple of smaller center drills for engine fabrication (#0 and #00 to start with). I've got #1 through #4, but I figure if I'm going to get #0 and #00, I might as well price a set that goes down to #5/0.
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