Major changes are coming soon to the north end of Bakersfield!
The layout was designed for use with Peco track and curved turnouts and much of the current layout was from a previous layout using Peco track. About a year after this layout was started, Atlas came out with their track. All Peco track laid was removed and replaced with Atlas, with one exception. That exception has always annoyed me and plagued the layout with trouble. Those were the10 curved Peco turnouts that could not be removed due to the track arrangement. There is always an issue with the turnouts or one caused by the turnouts. I've threatened for years that I was going to remove those, and they still remain. When Atlas announced curved turnouts I was thrilled. In disappointment, the radii on them was way too tight to be a fit for what I needed to have.
My friend Mike Stoner from Sedona, AZ, master track hand-layer, will be coming at the end of April to remove and replace all Peco turnouts with his own hand-laid turnouts! Mike is an excellent modeler and an amazing track layer. He laid all of the track on his railroad and the last time he was here he replaced on of the Peco curved turnouts with an awesome hand-laid turnout, which you will see in the last photo. The first photo shows the area to be changed and the following photos show details, with some notes included for Mike so he can prepare for this major job.
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| This is the overall area that will be changed, from the steam loco, moving to the right about 2 feet or so. |
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| Two of the curved turnouts that need to be replaced. These photos were taken from left to right. All numbers on the blue tape show the turnout number to use when throwing the crossover in that location. (Mike...the plywood in this area is 1/4" thick, however about where the crack is on the right, the plywood is 1/2". There is cork roadbed over the plywood. The red dot is where the next turnout starts.) |
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| 3 more Peco's to replace. The white labels are the BDL detection number for that section of track for detection to JMRI purposes. (Mike, the previous photo is to the left of the red dot. The bottom right turnout is in the bottom left of the photo below.) |
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| Three more Peco's to replace. |
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This photo is in Goshen Jct. and are two more Peco's that need to be replaced. (Mike, these are on 3/8" plywood and cork roadbed.)
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This is a photo of the turnout Mike made about 2 years ago that works flawlessly!
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I can't wait until this project is finally done! Thanks in advance Mike!
