REPAIR AND REVISION

With track laid at Crescent Lake, I’ve taken a break from intense new layout construction.  Part of this was to focus on the Thanksgiving holiday and house guests.  Further, it was past time to address a track repair need and a long-delayed track improvement.

A long-delayed project was the addition of a spur track off the Oakridge wye to service the future sand house.  The test operating sessions used the primary sand track to provide service, but eventually this track will need to be kept open for helper locomotives being serviced.  Test fitting a #6 turnout showed I could add such a switch for a sand spur and still access the wye with at least a 36 inch minimum radius leg. 

East Oakridge wye leg with sample #6 switch nearby.

Sample #6 turnout overlaying East Oakridge wye track.

The former East Oakridge wye track was removed using a technique suggested by Jerry B. for the adhesive caulk.  Jerry discovered that an alcohol soaking softened the adhesive caulk making easy work of track removal and potential salvage.  My previous effort in the same area used just a putty knife.  This is the second time I have revised track in this area. Adding alcohol to the process made the task easier and made clean-up very much easier.  I was able to scrape the roadbed to remove the previous caulk.  This contrasted to the sanding operation used before.

Removing the old track with a putty knife after soaking the area with alcohol.

Track and caulk removed from RR-East leg of the Oakridge wye.  A small pile of scraped-up caulk is to the left of the putty knife.

The new #6 turnout was installed.  Once the caulk set for the turnout, the remainder of the wye track was formed and fit into place as well as the new spur.  Both of these were then permanently laid with the adhesive caulk.

Revised track at East Oakridge.  The new sand spur has its first car delivered.

As I worked on the connecting roadbed and track between Cascade Summit and Crescent Lake, I ended up destroying a switch at the RR-East end of the Eugene Depot area immediately below.  I simply failed to cover with a hardboard or plywood overlay all of the track down below.  The result was a bent up switch leading to the depot main track.

Mainline switch at the RR-East end of Eugene Depot requires replacement.

Replacing the bent switch employed the same process used to revise the RR-East Oakridge wye to provide the sand spur.  An alcohol soak was followed by lifting the old switch out with a putty knife.  The area was cleaned up and a new switch installed.

New switch installed in the switch ladder at the RR-East end of the Eugene Depot.