Monk Subdivision - First Scenery Work

While I have figured out a few issues with my tracks, rectified some pesky vertical track alignment at some turnout and found out a way to reducing noise over the spline built over plywood, I have decided to start working on scenery where wiring and track are alright, namely around the bridge and Langlois Station. I see it as a practice run, but also as a way make things more tangible and motivating. Looking at a wood frame benchwork is dreadful and makes you feel like it was all a mistake. Only when landforms start to appear does that uneasy feeling subdue.

Abenaki River with its cardboard profiles

For scenery, I wanted to try something else, having explored enough with foam and got fed up by the sheer amount of electrically charged static dust it creates. My first idea was to use a cardboard lattice covered with some kind of papier-mâché made from kraft paper recycled from mail parcels. However, when recently visiting BV Hobby, I discovered a large roll of plaster clothe sold at discount from some estate. The guy collected everything he needed for the dream layout, including basic materials, never dared to do it, then passed away. A nice reminder to take chances and not procrastinate.

A brand new MDF fascia board ready to be permanently fixed

I have never used that material on the past, but figured out if it was a mess, I would just remove the unwanted scenery and start again.

My first attempt at cardboard lattice was messy at best!

Second try was marginally more rational

All started by preparing some contoured MDF fascia board to get the land profile right. Then, I cut 1 inch wide cardboard strips from salvaged boxes. Using a few cardboard profiles glued in place, I started to build my lattice until I got the shape right. In some cases, I had to apply more lattice to correct landforms that didn't look right at all.

Once the plaster cloth is laid down, it all blends together

About three layers of plaster clothes were applied everywhere, making sure they overlapped for more strength. I was both surprised by the ease of working with this material, but also how it wasn't messy at all. The shell starts to harden a few minutes after application, which gives you a good idea if more cloth is needed here and there.

The third try at Langlois was much more controlled

The next morning, I found out the plaster cloth didn't bond well with the fascia or the roadbed, so I fastened it with with white glue. Later, when I continued scenery at Langlois, I made sure to apply glue to every edges and the lattice prior to applying the plaster cloth to create a true bond between the structure and hard shell.

The lattice was generously covered in white glue

I'm quite pleased with this methode. The landforms look very natural to me and any little glitches can easily be fixed with Sculptamold. It gives some freedom, it's fast, the results can be assessed very quick and you can work without fearing to turn the layout room into a dust nightmare. I really appreciate how all these discarded cardboard boxes laying around have also found a new life.

The plaster cloth bond strongly with the lattice

Third section done

For roads, I still have decided to use 1 inch insulation foam for their foundation since I need a nice regular slab to build upon them. But I am no longer required to shape them extensively. For the feed mill dirt road, I think I could have shaped the road a little bit to create the camber. This will need to be done with material such as Sculptamold later on which isn't that much of an ordeal. I'm also planning to use similar slabs under structures.

The road form inser in place

I'm really excited by that quick progress that I had planned. Scenery is truly one of the wonderful albeit stressful, part of this hobby. I already have started to work on the big concrete culvert, which is going to be quite the challenge if you ask me! Can't wait to build the fill over the river valley since it's probably the most iconic scene of the entire layout.

Open for business... almost!

Monk Subdivision - Lessons Learned in 3 Months

In January 2024, I wrote in a post that Mike Confalone was right about his “Act first, think later” approach (https://hedley-junction.blogspot.com/2024/01/monk-subdivision-mike-confalone-was.html). Sure, Mike isn’t a reckless modeler as he puts a lot of thoughts into his work, but the ideas are always tested in the physical world and if they fail or lose their purpose, they get adjusted, fixed or replaced by newer ones are better.

I’m have been following that mantra for more than three months now. Going down to the basement, leaving the computer behind and working my little share each single day since then. What I have in front of my eyes now is a functional layout, sufficiently wired to be operated and with basic controls, both DC and DCC. I also have a large bridge already in place.

In my previous “life”, I would have worked by basically doing nothing for months, working like a madman a few entire days, then hit a roadblock, go back to that forsaken computer and find a new funny train related distraction until I would change my mind a go back working on the layout after forgetting the reason I was working on it.

Relying only on will power alone is a sure plan for failure. Only discipline can help to achieve results. As I will state in a future post, I still have a lot of things to do before starting scenery, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be there if I hadn’t put a few minutes each day on the layout.

And don’t believe it was a walk in the park over the last few months. I made a lot of mistakes, had to demolish and rebuild from scratch. Wiring had to be modified more than once to get it as clean as possible when it will be time to expand it. On my bucket list, there is a lot of rebuilding in my future. But when done piece by piece, step by step, everyday, it’s no longer a dreadful chore but simply leisure.

Part of me want it perfect, particularly the running qualities and the scenery, but I need to take my time and work on it a little bit everyday. I had planned for the layout to be fully operational by mid-September and I reached that point by early October due to some technical issues with the lift bridge. It may not yet be steam power friendly, but it is for diesel power and I will take that win any day!

Monk Subdivision - Adjusting the Staging Yard Lift Bridge

Adjusting the staging yard lift bridge wasn’t an easy task, but when decomposed into discrete steps, it was much palatable. The first steps was to remove the end tracks on the bridge itself to resurface the warped plywood surface. They were all soldered and wired with feeders. Thus I took my time, over two evening to prepare everything.

Resurfacing the plywood was much easier than thought

Then the surface was sanded down with a rotative sander and final level adjustment done with wood putty to ensure a perfect surface. It took three adjustments, but I got it right and sealed everything with a good coat of paint.

 

Perfect vertical alignment for improved performance

Then tracks were relaid, resoldered and rewired in place, assuring a good alignment to prevent derailment.

 

When done, I took care to finalize the bus wiring and gather all the wired together in a bundle. This was to ensure no wire would get entangled by repeated action of the bridge lifting motion.

 

A simple surface bolt took care of lateral position

I also added a small bolt to secure the bridge lateral position. This was required because I observed some lateral play that could be about 1.5mm. That is a huge misalignment! I found out by accident when a steamer hit the rails full speed and got its rods firmly stuck. This is some really nasty mechanical stuff. I went to the hardware store and tested several surface bolts until I found one that had minimal slack in it to ensure perfect alignment.

 

Adding a MDF guardrail for peace of mind against accidents

Finally, I added a piece of MDF to act as a guardrail to prevent trains to plunge on the concrete floor of doom. That takes away some stress to run expensive rolling stock!

Now, I have reached a point were most tracks have been laid and are functional. I only need to address the faulty trackwork by the curved turnout located on the superelevated spot. Once this is done, it will be a matter of adding the team track and coal track in Armagh, followed by installing a few tortoises and additional wiring. I must admit I'm a little bit afraid of running trains when there is not terrain to catch a falling piece of rolling stock. It doesn't take a lot to have such an unfortunate accident and I'm not willing to take that risk.

I must admit I'm not writing that much because I feel these nuts and bolts articles are far less interesting than scenery, planning or simply modelling. I have been working on a few rolling stock projects in "secret" too, but I'm waiting a bit before sharing them since I want to focus my efforts on what matters right now.

Monk Subdivision - Fine Tuning the Tracks

The loop of track is in place; it is wired and functional. The first train even made the inaugural run. What’s next?

The first train to ever complete the loop

That’s a good question. Part of me is wanting to dive direct into scenery but it cannot be done yet until running has been assessed. Until I can prove a large 2-10-2 or 4-8-4 steamer, a 16-car long passenger train or a 35-car freight train can navigate safely and reliably over the layout, it would be foolish to ballast the track.

Inaugurating the staging with a proper mixed train

Several key issues have been identified, including the following:

1) Superelevation is neat but it doesn’t like to start after a turnout. I haven’t experimented that much with it, but I reckon that you need at least 12 inch of flat track on both sides of a turnout. This is the only way to make sure locomotives with long rigid wheelbase can navigate them without derailing. In this case, my BLI ATSF 4-8-4 with its huge drivers is a perfect candidate for testing.

Vertical transition and patchwork of track near a turnout isn't a good idea

2) Superelevation on very broad curves add very little. In this specific case, I’m talking about the broad curve at Langlois station, in front of the feed mill. I made the superelevation half what it is elsewhere, but it still look silly. The reason is simple; this is a switching spot and having your freight train partially tilted doesn’t look good. It just looks like poorly laid track which induced unwarranted tilt. Also, that curve is so broad I gain virtually nothing from that superelevation. It's not high on the priority list, but it may be "improved" in the near future.

3) Superelevation on very sharp curves looks silly. This is the case of the 28” radius curve leading to the staging right of Armagh. For some reason, the trains look far too much tilted on this curve, as if they were going to fall. Visually, it’s not pleasing at all and mechanically, it induces the aforementioned issue with transitioning with the turnout. While superelevation is desirable, I think it should be half what it is there.

This superelevation may be reduces... maybe not

4) At the culvert, between Langlois and Armagh, there is a slight grade. Nothing major, but it’s there. Visually, it had a little bit of interest because in real life, there was a grade there. The issue is the grade isn’t constant vertically, which induce some optical effects that don’t look good. I will need to rework my risers there.

The plywood creates a sounding board and must go

5) The next issue is linked to the previous one. I used plywood to create a flat surface at the river level for the culvert, then screwed the risers on it. This created a dreaded soundboard. When trains run over that section, a very loud noise is unheard, which is really bursting the suspension of disbelief. I will need to remove that plywood as much as possible and rethink the way risers are fixed. Not at easy task, but a necessary one.

6) Elsewhere, the tape I used for superelevation isn’t always perfectly located under the ties. This variation causes trains to wobble a little, which is unsightly. The same also happens here and there because nailed track is not always perfectly laying flat on the cork. When ballasting, there is a risk of gravel going under the lifted ties and making these deformations permanent. Tracks will need to be secured with latex caulk before adding scenery.

7) The staging yard lift bridge is sitting a little bit higher than the yard, which created a substantial height difference at rail head. This is a likely source of future derailments. My idea is to either rise the yard tracks or find a way to lower the bridge. It is my suspicion that the later is probably easier and won’t add further vertical deformation along the route.

This is almost 1mm vertical difference between the layout and bridge!

8) Team tracks and sidings in real life often sit lower than the mainline and I wonder if I should implement that everywhere on the layout. It is visually interesting, but that vertical transition could create issues at the double ended team track in Armagh. I can already imagine a lot of running issues raising from such an aesthetic choice. It can work at Langlois station, but I am more doubtful at Armagh. Had the track been 10 feet long, it wouldn’t be an issue, but when shorter, it becomes a roller coaster of poor decisions.

9) Finally, I need to test if all the staging tracks have a good geometry that works well with long trains. Lots of curves there which will inevitably reduce the pulling power of locomotives. Also, I need to identify which ones are best for passenger trains or large steam locomotives.

Nothing beats the feeling of a train running freely around the room

As you can see, there is a lot of things to figure out but I feel like brushing them away would be the perfect recipe to be disenchanted with the layout. Poor track always leads to frustration and untimely death of a beloved project.

So I guess I have still a lot of work cut for me!

Monk Subdivision - Sherlock Holmes and The Short

Yesterday, Jérôme paid a visit to the layout to run some trains… if we could troubleshoot the short circuit plaguing it. The first hour was spent trying to find out if there was something wrong with the wiring. Could some of the feeders or bus wires be inverted somewhere? Well, we did find two problematic feeders that needed to be moved around, but the problem persisted.

Next, we moved our attention to the staging yard control panel since we got short indication. However, when disconnected from the layout, it was perfectly fine. Using a multimeter, we investigated two Peco curved turnouts. They were electrofrog and could have been insulated incorrectly. Alas, they were fine… I even went so far as removing one, just in case. 

Then Jérôme started to probe the screw connectors. Most of them were shorted, which meant something wrong was going on with the tracks. Pushing forward the investigation, our attention turned to the staging yard lift bridge. Even when disconnected, we got shorts on a few tracks. This would became the focus of our attention.

The problematic situation as discovered

After a while, an idea crossed my mind. Could the soldered PC board ties used at the ends of the bridge be the issue? Well, it was. At first, we suspected solder bridging the gap in the copper foil, but it wasn’t the case. Then, the real problem reared its ugly head. The PC board ties are secured in place with two nails at each end. While the copper foil is notched on top to prevent shorts, the plating under it is continuous. When you drive a metal nail through the tie, it bridges both copper layers, creating short. 

Our solution was to add an insulating notch on top

The solution was easy and I simply removed some copper at one end so the nail could no longer be electrified. In hindsight, I should have notched the copper plating underneat each tie. Once you know the issue, it is extremely easy to remedy, but tracking it took several evenings, and finally two brains. Since I’m not that proficient with electricity, I was suspecting my wiring was wrong, but couldn’t figure out the mistakes. It would have been hard to think the PC board ties were the main issue… or should I say, my way to secure them.

A notch should be made in the bottom copper plating first

With this problem figured out and troubleshooted, I can now complete the basic wiring and start to improve track geometry. I can still see a few things that bother me, including superelevation at turnouts, running noise over plywood and some vertical alignment issues here and there. If I was running only diesel locomotives, I wouldn’t care that much about it. However, large wheelbase steamers don’t like it.

Monk Subdivision - Running Trains! Or Almost...

My posting rate isn't that stellar due to a simple reason. Is wiring really an interesting topic?

A week ago, the long weekend was an excellent occasion to get immersed with the layout work and try to make things happen, which means to be able to run a full train all around the room. On Friday, I was able to finish the laying the main staging track until I ran out of track. Then, the next day, a few other sidings by purchasing some remaining track stock at BV Hobby. I didn't expect running low of track and joiners, but sure I did and I scavenged everything I could to make the project progress waiting to gather everything I need to finish my work.

A classic 1970s MLW CN consist over Abénaki Bridge

To celebrate that milestone, a prototypical 1970s CN Monk Subdivision diesel consist was assembled, with two Bowser Big Alco and one RS18. It truly made the concept shine though it was too soon to run around the staging track since it wasn't wired yet.

And since then, my life has been all about wiring track, soldering feeders and running bus wires under the layout. I'm using screw terminal blocks with connectors. It gives a more professional look while being much easier to work with and move around. I know I have already some trouble shooting ahead of me and not having to unsolder everything will be quite helpful.

This sums up my modelling life since two weeks

To be honest, I have a big picture of how wiring should work for the layout, but I'm kind of figuring it out directly under the layout. My approach is simply to do small sections according to my operating logic and come back the next day to extend it.

I also have been working on a control panel for the staging yard. The concept is to have each staging track fed individually and controlled by a switch to turn it on or off. I have many reasons to implement that system. First, I don't want all train loco running for no reason, particularly with DCC and sound. Second, I'm using my NCE Pro Cab DCC system which isn't designed to handle a dozen of locos under power. Thus, I figured out the best thing would be to store a train after it had made its appearance, shut the track off, turn on another track and run another train. This is also a way to reduce the risk of runaway trains in a room I'm rarely standing in it.

Ugly but efficient, I like the feel of old metal toggle switches

The panel is simply a scrap piece remaining from the 4' x 8' project. It may be replaced in the future by something more aesthetically pleasing, but right now, it is doing its job nicely.

I also implemented another safety device for the staging yard lift bridge. With a single micro switch, it controls the common bus wire directly from the source. If the bridge is open, all tracks in the staging yards are without electricity. I didn't want to only cut off some short sections before the bridge. My reason being that I'm not always standing in the staging yard and can't really see what is happening. On the main layout, everything is easy to monitor and the bridge there can be left opened without stopping operation if in "switching layout" mode and not running the entire loop.

The temporary train control station at Armagh

I've yet to see how much time will be required to finish up the layout, but it's progressing at a steady pace. I would love to see trains in action soon, but time will tell... and may need much more wire than I anticipated and some troubleshooting will require my attention. I also ran out of wire only to find out it is no longer available. If you have been following copper wire costs lately, I can confirm that the type of wire I uses has almost doubled price since 2024. My answer to that was simply to install more terminal blocks and plan better my feeder location. That way, I have been able to reclaim enough 18 AWG wire to make all the feeders I need for the staging yard. It will only be required to purchase some bus wire later on.

Monk Subdivision - Completing the Draw Bridge

First official train over Abenaki river bridge!

It seems the new schedule is bearing its fruits. Over the last few days, I have been able to lay all the track on the scenic portion of the layout and complete the basic wiring. It could have been a daunting task, but working little by little each days brought excellent results and made it possible to trouble shoot issues along the way.

Installing a locking device was high on my list...

However, as I often mentioned, this project isn't quite linear and I am constantly revisiting things done before to improve them. One of these is the draw bridge which required an extensive rebuild after the tragic incident earlier this summer. The first order was to find a way to secure the bridge when opened and after designing several complicated locking systems, I simply used a standard window hook which took less than a minute to install and provided the most intuitive and safe system I could wish for.

A simple hook was more than enough for that purpose

It was then time to rethink the wiring issues before laying track. My initial idea used electrical dowels by DCC Concepts but they had two major flaws. The first one is self explanatory and is linked to the fact these dowels are designed to fit together in a linear fashion. You push them together. However, with the draw bridge rotating motion, they never perfectly aligned and you could feel a strong force between them. Surface scratches showed how bad that non linear motion was grinding the metal and could ruin the connections in the not so long run.

The second issue was temperature and moisture variation. The dowels tight tolerance made them prone to misalignment, more tear and poor electrical contact. It was already happening... a single expansion of 1 mm made it impossible to lay the bridge flat and level with the layout. So, it was not a good option from the start and I had to find a way that could take into account the motion and the dimensional variation.

Microswitches provide a more reliable mean of electric control

I decided that the draw bridge tracks would be permanently wired to the layout bus wires. Open or not, it didn't make a difference if it was continuously powered. The real sections requiring a power cutoff were the approach tracks on each side of the layout. To control these, I installed micro switches salvaged from a pair of Bullfrog turnout controls on the feeder wired of both insulated track sections. One on each side and activated when the closed bridge reach its final destination. If the bridge slightly contract or expanded, it has no impact on the contact with the switch, making it an ideal solution. 

Latex caulk applied to the bridge piles

The wiring was also rerouted inside the draw bridge to make maintenance and troubleshooting easier than wires buried in scenery. New access holes were cut for that purpose and I tried to keep it neat and clean.

No need for a complicated solution here...

I then proceeded to glue the steel deck bridge on the concrete piles using latex caulk. So water on an old brush was useful to clean up the mess. Only some touch ups will be required to weather these spots. The rest of the track was laid, wired and testes. And yes, it worked on the first try, which was more than I could ask for.

The completed bridge sitting in place

I had the pleasure to run the first train over it and it was gorgeous. Having the bridge on a diagonal line was the best decision I could make since it really create a dramatic vision when the trains are running over it. So far so good and it really is a motivating factor to finally see trains running over the entirely of Monk Subdivision after too many years of procrastination.

I won't regret that sweeping curve at all!

The staging isn't complete yet, but it's only a matter of connecting 6 feet of track, wiring it and installing a similar system of microswitch on the other draw bridge. Once all this is done, it will be time to address the few track geometry issues here and there to ensure perfect and smooth running of all locomotives, including the pesky big steamers. Had to order some extra track to finish the sidings and add a few staging tracks. As I said, I recycled a lot of old track, but I may need to replace a few damaged sections and rework some transitions where I added superelevation.

I can already say it will be a favourite scene of mine

Monk Subdivision - Laying Track & Summer Vacation

Progress has been slow but steady on the Monk Subdivision this summer due to a long road trip on Quebec North Shore, Manicouagan, Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Some real classic trains were witnessed without being scheduled into the program, which made it a nice serendipitous discovery. More on that in a future post.

Otherwise, I have adopted a 1-hour per day work schedule. It's long enough to progress while keeping my mind sharp and not compromising on quality. No idea about when I will complete the entire loop, but I'm far enough that I can run a train from Armagh to Langlois.

As a matter of saving some money and not encouraging overconsumption in my hobby, I've been reusing old Peco track from the previous layouts. Some had been painted, none ballasted. Good sections are reused, bad ones discarded. It's all about ensuring a smooth and reliable geometry for mechanical and aesthetical enjoyment of trains.

I'm working slowly, but steadily, following that old army motto of "slow is fast". As an example, I used masking tape to implement superelevation in my curves. That tape is a little bit unreliable when you stretch it around curved lines. Some was simply ungluing itself due to tension in the tape. My trick is now to lay it in place and cut it later with my hobby knife at 3-4 inches intervals. It removes all the tension and makes sure things stay in place.

Day by day, the loop is closing

It's a little bit weird to speak about so little progress, but at the same way, it demonstrates another point. I generally considered these steps to be technical hurdles to overcome as far as possible to reach the real hobby (paint, ballast, scenery, structures, etc.). With the slower pace I implemented in my life and the reduction of useless time spent online, these less savory steps are now the hobby itself. Laying track carefully is a mind soothing process and an exercise in precision. There is joy in doing that just for the sake of doing it.

Also, having finally discarded a lot of my big dreams - or should I say, delusions - it's much easier to reach to the basics that counts. I'm no longer focussing in laying all the tracks or wiring in one go, having the staging yard figured out right now is basically irrelevant, even the sidings are. As long as that loop of track is built in such a way it can be refined, expanded and modified, the main goal is reached. The rest is just gravy when the current steps will be done.

A small train is enough to give it life...

I used to be extremely nervous about having it all figured out with the layout, down to the type of screws holding the fascia in place. It's all irrelevant. It led to two undesirable outcomes: the accumulation of a lot of stuff thought to be required to "build the layout and motivate me" and worst, the loss of motivation when the proof of concept was going to far. Over the years, I have found out that projects I plan in minute details reach that point where my mind has built the thing in virtual in my mind. It has been figured out and made "real". Under such circumstances, building the real life layout is just a repetition of what happened on paper and in my head. No challenges, no fun, nothing... It's just a sterile repetition. On the other hand, if the planning process gets the basics done but don't go to deep into the details, my brain still has many motivating problem solving opportunities to keep interest high.

At this point in my life, I'd rather build than dream. Monk Subdivision proved me since early this year that making mistakes in that hobby isn't the end of everything and it's generally a matter of spending one evening correcting the situation.

I can't promise when trains will run on that loop, but I'm already having my fun making my mock passenger train longer and longer as flextrack is added everyday!

Monk Subdivision - More Roadbed

 As I reassemble the splines in a slightly improved location, I have to make a few adjustments. The original splines were built when, for a short while, I envisioned to have the station in the foreground and the team track in the background for visual interest. It was a fascinating idea, but I left it alone because the foreground buildings would be a real nuisance during operation, having the team track far away behind the traffic was not optimal and the most intricate facades of the each structure would be invisible, which would be... self defeating.

This change of plan means that the outer left curve in Armagh (West) was build with some compromises due to being a passing track but the inner curve was the right radius. I cut the spline where both the main and passing track had constant radius to remove the discrepancy. To save on material, I cut away the funky old passing track easement to the turnout and only kept the inner portion that had the right 42" radius with a large sweeping easement to the turnout.

On the right corner (East), it was just a matter of matching splines

That salvaged piece of spline was then reattached to the outer track, making a beautiful constant 42" radius for the mainline, which was always the goal.

In the station area, the old splines fit perfectly

I could have saved myself some troubles and relaid the splines from scratch, but that would have meant to buy another sheet of MDF, rip it into strips and build a new series of splines. The recycling option was interesting in the measure I got my desired radius without compromising on the geometry. If such a compromise would have been required, I would have built new from the ground. Track geometry is the place where half-baked efforts and cheapskate strategies never pay of.

Swapping the outer spline for the inner spline in the right corner

Monk Subdivision - Reinstalling the Roadbed

After rebuilding the bridge and adjusting it a bit, it was time to finally reinstall the roadbed aka the splines. I had carefully cut them in sections for storage a year ago to make it easier to rebuild the layout. Unfortunately, I recalled I had buil them according to a different track geometry. 2 years ago, I had in mind to have the station in the foreground and the passing track near the backdrop. However, plans have reverted back to having the depot facing people in the aisle.

A mockup always help to raise your spirit!

It shouldn't take too much work to adapt the splines since the curve radii are corrects. However, I still had to build from scratch the pesky S-curve entering the staging after Lake Therrien. This is probably the most tricky area of the layout. Since I want to run passenger cars and large steamers, I have no choice but make sure the straight transition is over 13 inches and that my curves all have a generous easement.

The track leaving the staging is a 28" radius. I wish I could use a large one, but there is a limit to what can be achieved with the staging. With this tight geometry, not mistakes can be made. So, instead of build the spline right on the layout with a part inserted into the wall and no way to really figure out the radius, I decided to draw a perfect template on a sheet on plywood, drive locating nails at regular intervals and use that as a tool to build the MDF spline. When done, I installed it temporarily and checked the alignment using Kato Unitrack curved tracks. Mind you, I was less than 1/4" out of alignment in the staging room, meaning it was well within building tolerances.

Gluing some cork before installation

Before installing the spline, I glued some cork at the end to ensure I could align the roadbed with the fiberboard in the staging. Installing the spline was a child's play, using some cardboard template to make sure the alignment was perfect.

Installed and ready to glue

All in all, this step proved to be much easier than anticipated, which was a great relief. But it also made me think about the future of the layout, my level of energy and my desire to run trains in a smooth and simpler fashion.

Reverting back to a saner and simpler staging concept

At the end of the day, my philosophy has been rehashed and tested again and again in this blog. Vince Valley just cemented my hatred of complicated wiring, how this stuff can take all the joy from the room. It also thought me the chances I will operated complicated scheduled trains are very scarce. For that reason, I removed the complicated crossover that made it possible to reverse trains. Sure, it was excellent on paper, but execution was complicated, made DCC and DC use incompatible and was a source of derailment even in the best conditions. I decided to reduce the number of available tracks, get rid of the troublesome curved turnout and have a nice and simple staging yard. Sure, trains won't be reverse, but I also have enough loco and rolling stock to stage enough trains in both directions to be happy. Wiring will be simpler and if I ever decided to do some automation, things will be far more user friendly.