WIRING CRESCENT LAKE – 3

Basic wiring for Crescent Lake is now complete.  All thirty electrical blocks have been wired with feeders attached to bus wires and the bus wires brought back to the station electrical panel.  Each of the twelve staging tracks in Crescent Lake have been split into two blocks.  This reduces the overall bus wire run and provides for future control developments wherein tracks will be energized only when the switches are aligned.  For now, all blocks are tied together and are “live.”  Six additional blocks cover the switch ladders (two on each side of the reverse loop), a long lead to one pair of ladder tracks, and a utility spur track.  The lead and ladder tracks have been wired to provide for detection should I choose to do so.

Crescent Lake Station Electrical Panel.  Bus wires for both rails of the thirty blocks are connected to the terminal strips.

The other bit of cable running and wiring involved routing cables from the directional power connections of the Tortoise switch machines back to a future control panel location.  Two dozen switch machines are now wired this way.

Switch machine wire bundles at future site of switch control panel for Crescent Lake.

Although the switch controls need to be created yet and the track power needs to be connected to the terminal strips, all of the wiring is in place now that needs to be done before further construction below. 

The next construction tasks involve the benchwork, roadbed and track for the last two major sections of the railroad—the Eugene Arrival/Departure Yard (lower staging) to be built below Crescent Lake and the completion of the mountain grade.  I needed to move many moving and storage boxes from the two wall sections that the mountain grade will be built along.  I am now planning the benchwork and track plan for that climb.  Stay tuned!

Planning for the mountain grade.  Noisy Creek trestle will be in the back corner.  The curved aluminum straps in the location of the trestle will be used as the spine for the trestle.  Wicopee siding is in the foreground.  Cruzatte siding begins back against the wall at the left side of this picture.  The turn-back loop at Salt Creek trestle is behind the camera.