Changes made ...

I haven't posted within the blog it seems for a while. I have been making changes to the site as we make changes, move forward and try new things. We have moved our old forum to a new location as the advertising that was being shown on the "free" forum was not something that I nor David wished to be reflected upon the site. So with that I am in the process of getting the new one up and going. Hopefully we will get a few more to join as members and get it to be a viable option for us to discuss and ask our questions. We are working on 3 different things on the layout currently. We have come up with a new track plan for the Grain / Freight Distribution area and while working on that area we are trying oout something new for the roadbed of that area. I have also installed my first rotary beacon on a SOO SD60. Now the rest of the fleet are in trouble. My writeup of this is posted on the site. And the third project is completing the Old Grizzly Trestle. it is moving forward and hopefully it will begin to move at even a quiker pace. Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

Old Grizzly Gulch Trestle ...

I have finally started on the bridge and have made some good progress. Pictures will be posted on the website today. Due to the weather in western Washington (not spring yet for us it seems) it was a little chilly in the train room so I moved my supplies and bridge upstairs to work on. Why I don't do this more in the winter I am not sure. Here is my key learning thing from assembling the bridge deck last night. Measure once, Measure twice, Double check and then cut. I made a mistake and cut both of the runners along the bottom of the deck incorrectly. Thankfully model glue reassembled it for me and I think once all is assembled and painted it will be difficult to truly notice. I will be working with SculptaMold tonight to add to the cliff sides to that the timber bents will have a place to rest. I will also need to modify the middle supports as the river is a tad further away from the bridge than the kit would accommodate. Check back soon as the bridge closes on to completion (crosses my fingers).

A wiring we will go ... a wiring we will go ...

So for this week it has been wiring, soldering, and trying to make the underside of the layout something that can be understood. Though with the spaghetti of wires under there it makes it difficult at times. There has been a couple key things that have been accomplished during this portion of the construction. First we broke the layout into 7 power districts with short protection. We used 1157 automobile taillights for the short protection. An important note for this is to realize that all the feeders that are on the same polarity as the taillight needs to be wired into the taillight. This was something that we found out after scratching our heads a little bit. Once it is all wired correctly the system works very well. The only power district we did not add the short protection was on the lead in and lead out to include the pull out bridge of Old Grizzly Gulch. Our thought were that if a short happened at that point we would want all of the layout to lose power. In regards to Old Grizzly Gulch we added power on/off switches to power the bridge and the lead in and lead out. This will allow about 12" prior to the bridge to be dead if the switch is off, which will cause a runaway train to stop prior to diving off to the floor. The next item that we accomplished is that we added a power terminal box. With this we have one lead from the Digitrax booster and all of the feeders have their specific places within the terminal instead of 10 lead soldered together. I will be posting pics soon to show these projects. Visit again soon!

The bear awakens ...

After a long hibernation, i am dusting off the website and making a new run at it. I think some of my issue previous is trying to do stuff daily and when that didn't work things fell to the wayside. I am making a schedule to update the site at a minimum of once per week. This will give a good look at what we are doing or not doing and give a good look at the progress of the site and other projects regarding the J & C Western Railroad. Both of use have alot to add so we will be updated frantically to get everyone caught up on where we have been and where we are going. Thanks to every one for visiting!!! Check out the logo we are working on for our layout. I think it is beginning to come together. Let us know your opinions ... thanks again!

October begins a new month and new challenges ...

Much time has passed since changes or updates have found themselves to the website. With the chill of the fall and winter months approaching, I feel that even more of an effort can be placed to this project. I still feel this is an endeavor that can help all that find themselves on the same path of this journey. Thanks to all that have continued to visit our site as it has set idle for some time. My goal now in the future is at a minimum to give the site updates no less than twice a week. I think that will give us time to bring together the information needed and also allow the normal activities of our daily lives to happen.We have continued to work on the layout. We have tested the entire layout as we have finally been able to run trains over all placed track. That was a long time coming; I think we were pushing 2 years since trains have run as such. We are trying to at least get the base of the bridge and the track layed on the pull out bridge section we have named Old Grizzly Gulch. With that functional we will be able to run trains in a larger loop. I have been working on putting the layout in a drawing so all can see where I am talking about as I talk about updates. I will be putting more updates on this week to get us and you caught up with our process.

The trains run to new places ...

This weekend was actually a very big week for the J&C Railroad. I have been saying that we have run trains within the Freight yard which was a huge step but it only wetted our appetite to do more. So on Friday night, David cleaned track and I installed the Auto Reverser on the Wye & built a temporary bridge structure within that curve on the Wye. With all of that we were able to run trains on the entire layout. It seems like it has been an eternity since we have actually run trains. We also were able to test the tunnels with a double stack well car. To our surprise there is only a few tweaks needed but the tunnels accept the extended height of these cars. It is truly amazing what happens when the track is cleaned and good power is run through the rails. We would like to at least now set the track and bridge on the drop in bridge section that I have labeled as Old Grizzly gulch. I have a Walthers Cornerstone Trestle that I am going to put in that place. Once this bridge is functional the only place yet for track will be the Lumber Yard facility. David will be working on the design of this during the week. I seem to keep putting off laying any ground cover. My main reason is that I have never done it and there is always the initial fear and nervousness of doing it. I know once I start, I will be saying “Why hadn’t I done this earlier. I am going to make a better effort of working on the site through the upcoming days so come back soon for updates. If you would like to receive an email when updates are posted email me your name and address. I will place you on the list to be notified of future updates. Thanks for visiting and we look forward to seeing you soon!

A new month and new progress ...

So it is a new month and new thing to learn. Our site has broken the 100 hit plateau and just as I enjoy watching our layout take shape, I am also happy that the website seems to be finding a place as well. I hope that the site is a welcomed stop for some as they continue their own travels during the building of their layouts. Please sign up for our free forum so that we can get to know you also. I have found the numerous forums out there to be a valuable asset and resource; I hope that one day ours will be as well. Currently, David and I are still working on the Freight Yard leg of the layout. David’s concentration as been within the Engine Service Facility. He is working on creating the Fueling and Service Pad next to the turntable. It is coming together very well and he will be posting his thoughts soon on this project. My attention has been on a background building. We have many building on the layout but are any completed? Not really. So I am working on getting this one to the done state and with that I am practicing my weathering and painting of the building as well. This is my first attempt at this but I am pretty happy on how it is coming together. Check out our gallery to see pictures of my progress thus far. I have also stripped away the paint and decals from the GP40 as I prepare it for the Tacoma Rail paint job. I am awaiting some specifications from Tacoma Rail on the paint scheme so I will give updates on this at a later time along with the review of the paint striping that I had done.