Hotham Street

Last week I started working on the magnets (labels) for the trains so they can be positioned on the Train Controllers schematic diagram board and moved as the trains go from crossing loop to crossing loop.  After creating 46 of these it dawned on me that I only needed to create half this number and make then double sided.  So this week I made up another set of labels and today I glued them to the other side of the magnets.  So now I have two complete sets of magnets.  When a train gets to its destination, the magnet gets turned over and then the magnet is ready to allow the train controller to track the train from crossing loop to crossing loop back the other way.  Here are a few photos of the magnets on the board at various locations.

The schematic of Grafton Yard, with all the trains loaded in each of the tracks.  I notice that one of the magnetics if the wrong way around as it shows an even number instead of an odd number for down trains.

In Bonalbo Ballast Siding, we have the ballast train locked away and split across the two sidings.  Train number 35A is the next iteration of this train, it will run to Old Cassino.

In Border Loop, we have Train number 1A almost at its destination of Acacia Ridge Yard

Cassino is starting to get busy.  We have the local Railmotor to Border Loop (the Mountain Goat) in the Dock, with a Stock Train in the Back Platform Road awaiting clearance to go to Old Cassino, while we have another train in the Loop at Cassino ready to head north to Fairy Hill Loop.

At Lismore, the Murwillumbah cement train had previously dropped 2 cement wagons in the Storage Road.  There is also some wagons in the Loco siding.

At Murwillumbah, the cement train has made its way to the end of the Branch, and shunted its wagons into the cement siding.  The loco sits shutdown on the branch line.  The train number for its return trip sits under the magnet for the wagons in the siding.  A container train sits in the Loop at Murwillumbah awaiting its crew to return from their scheduled overnight break at the barracks.

Last monday I started the week off as I spent most of that weekend, doing more plastering.  This time I spent time working around Hotham Street.  So I was terra forming and plastering for a couple of hours on Monday and I spent some more time today as well.  Hotham Street is the level crossing on the northern exit out of Cassino.  This is where the fork line used to exist.  It branched from the main line here and ran to Old Cassino.  I will be modelling this feature, but I'm not sure if I will ever get a train to run around this section of track.  So here are some photos of this area.

This is looking south down Hotham Street.  The track in the front is the north fork to Old Cassino, with the main behind.

Contrast this with the photo I took many years ago of the real level crossing that shows the undulations in the road.

Showing the scenery between Hothan Street and the beginning of the Cassino Meatworks Siding.  In the distance is the Train Control Board.

From behind the layout looking south towards Cassino, we see the north fork branching off to the left and the main line starting to form the tracks into the Yard at Cassino

We have Tuesday Nighters this week at Lefty and Sons.  Should be good!