A bit more completed - upper decks are done now for both Rico and Ridgway. The upper-deck supports for Ridgway required some extra work, since it's got to be strong enough to lay on should I ever need to work on the plumbing, which is directly over it. This is one of the few spots in the basement w/a drop ceiling, and the yard completely blocks access to it w/a ladder. So - the yard'll have to be designed so I can lay a board over it, then lay on the board to work on the plumbing. Hopefully that'll never be needed, but it's better to plan now for it.

It's been busy around our house lately, so again not much progress. The lower return loop under Ophir is done now (sub-roadbed only), and joists are added from Ophir to Vance Jct. I've also been working on the upper deck for Rico, which is now complete (but not anchored until the track below is installed and tested). And, I've also been installing fabric skirting with clothespin anchors (glued to the benchwork) and landscape fabric - an idea mentioned by David Zuhn and published in Oct 05 Model Railroader (I think it was the Oct issue). The fabric I used was 4' x 80', cost about $9 at Home Depot, and came in a cellophane-wrapped roll. It's black, somewhat feathery in appearance and about 90% opaque, and melts rather than burns if tested w/flames. It works great, and is fast and cheap, and really dresses up the area by hiding all the junk under the layout.

Pretty good progress this past couple of weeks - the grade for the switch lead out of Durango is done to a point above Wildcat Canyon, and the hidden grade diretly under it is done to that point as well. Work is progressing on the townsite for Hesperus and the curvy roadbed in Wildcat Canyon. This has been a slow area to get thru, because I've been building lots of 1x2 u-shaped supports, to hold the switch lead above while making a bit of a tunnel for the hidden track below. The benchwork is quite narrow at this point, and there's not much room for the upper track supports.

Good progress this weekend - subroad thru Durango is finished! Working on the area around Hesperus and Wildcat canyon now. This shot shows the lower line at Mancos, and then the line coming into the cutoff for Durango (Durango is beyond the upper line on the left). This is another complicated area... basically the main line goes thru Mancos (below Durango), then drops into a tunnel until Hesperus. After that, it's hidden again as it loops under Ophir and climbs up toward Durango's level.

Here's another show, showing more of the line coming into Mancos on the lower level, and the climb to the Durango cutoff above and behind it. It'll be a bit challenging to make this work scenery-wise, but I think it's very doable.



Access into Durango proper is (as w/the real RGS) via a backing move thru a junction switch. The main here comes up out a tunnel (the middle roadbed here), goes to the switch (beyond the photo on the left), then rises backward from the switch into Durango itself (the upper-most roadbed here). The lowest line in this shot is the main coming into Mancos.

Work continues, a little slow this month; focus is the grading below Durango. The grades from the junction near Mancos are complete, and grading under Durango is mostly done up to Hesperus.