Fields: The passing siding at Fields is the main attraction, apart from the mountain scenery, and the scene is very narrow, average of 9 inches along the wall. Taking this into account, we opted to use as much material that we had on hand, opting for simple wooden brackets similar to those used by Bill Decker on his Cascade line. These tie directly into the studs and for the most part seem to hold up extremely well.
The corner of the room and end of the Fields siding is much deeper, so we reverted back to our original construction utilizing a 1/2" plywood wall plate and 3/4" supports held together with steel brackets. While this method is extremely strong, the amount of hardware used is immense.
Continuing up the hill the grade begins to kick up again and the stretch between Fields and Cascade Summit is true mountain railroading with a tall trestle and numerous tunnels. Similar methods were used on this portion of the climb as before, taking into account trestle and tunnel locations, as well as mountain scenery. Spanning the window was a necessity and a nearby window in the workshop offers escape opportunity in case of emergency.
Crew member Pete Tomko gets ready to install benchwork on the run to the summit.
Can see the rise in the benchwork as grade climbs upward. Scenery to ceiling in this area.
Low head clearance here, but solid support for Fields.
Approximate location of Noisy Creek trestle.
Finally we decided to rework the support for the peninsula, as our original idea of 2x4 supports were not sufficient enough once we tried to attach supports. In addition, the area is more complex then initial inquiries revealed as it must support four different levels of track. Our new design should support the railroad in a more efficient fashion.
Compare to early photo. Can clearly see the 4 levels and where supports will go.
Stay tuned for continuing progress into 2017!
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