OK, where did it go? I KNOW it was August just last week! I was able to spend some more time on the layout this weekend, and worked on wiring in the closet and Ridgway yard area. There's not much different visually (the nature of wiring work!), but the main line is now operational through the Ridgway yard area and all the way into the laundry room - nearly to Vance Jct (where the line ends in a cliff, since Vance doesn't even have sub-roadbed just yet). The staging yard at Ridgway is nearly complete - the area in the laundry room is covered and protected from laundry now, and everything is wired. I still need to add a bit of code-55 track, connecting the code-100 track in the hidden area to the visible turnouts in the Ridgway yard. I haven't tackled the prospect of connecting code-55 to either the code-75 main or the code-100 staging tracks. It can't be that hard, right? Please?

More wiring was completed in the last week, and the line is now operational up to Lizard Head. However, I discovered that the 1156 bulbs I've been using aren't all the same resistance, so it looks like I'll need to replace a bunch of them. The bulbs that work correctly measure about 1.1 ohms (cold) on my meter; some of the newer ones I purchased in bulk are measuring 2.1 ohms. That is too high, and the bulbs are turning on, which also changes their resistance and drops the track voltage considerably. SO - they will need to come out. More soldering - what joy!

In other news, we had a really bad storm here in the Midwest, and we lost power for 4 days. The basement had some minor flooding, and we spent most of the last week cleaning and mopping. No layout work this past week as a result! Thankfully, there was no damage to the layout or drywall, and our backup sump worked long enough to protect us from the worst of it. Some of our neighbors, w/o backup battery-powered sumps, didn't do so well.

Tracking laying in Rico

Having completed another piece of a layout design for a friend, I had more time this weekend for my own layout, and have been laying track in Rico and beyond. About half of the turnouts and mainline thru Rico are complete now, and the line out of Rico is complete to just past Lizard Head!

The climb to Lizard Head begins

A little more track laying over the weekend - a bit of track laid on the north end of Rico, starting up the steep 3% to Lizard Head. Also, a little of the main laid in the Ridgway yard.

Lower trackwork complete!

The lower-level hidden track is complete, on the entire layout (except McPhee staging, near Dolores). The Rico and Ridgway upper level plywood is complete, corked, and ready for track. I've extended the continous-run link from Durango's cutoff thru the stairs (on the upper level) and into Ridgway, and have begun laying track in Ridgway itself. Also, the 5 staging tracks coming out of Ridgway (thru the bathroom and laundry room) are complete, though not wired yet. I spent a good part of June in Colorado, and 3 days of that was spent exploring the RGS right-of-way. I have a PILE of photos from that trip, still being organized. But - one thing that stands out from the trip is how evident the old roadbed is where fills were used. I now plan to take a look of my layout, and see if there are some places where modest fills would fit, and plan the scenery according. Of course the dramatic scenery stole the show, and it was even more spectactular in person, than in the many photos I've seen.