Picture #1: The master plan - designed with 3rd PlanIt.

Picture #2: Here's a 3-D view of the layout. Minimum radius will be 36" and all turnouts are hand built FastTracks #7's.

Picture #3: Prior to taking down the upper deck of my initial concept, I determined that I could not only start construction of my new design by installing the staging yard trackage but that it would also be easier to access.

Picture #6: The staging trackage is now virtually complete with all wiring, Frog Juicers, and SwitchMaster turnout motors installed and operational.

Picture #7: The previous helix is now gone!

Picture #9: The hidden mainline leaving Gunnison with lead down to the staging tracks sub-roadbed is now under way.

Picture #10: The sub-roadbed for the hidden mainline behind and under Sapinero is now fixed in place, with the risers to support the lead down to the staging trackage next to be installed. I think that I can use one of the sections of the 36" radius curved trackage salvaged from the previous helix for the mainline extending from the junction of the staging trackage extending into Gunnison and I've temporarily clamped a section in place for fitting purposes only.

Picture #11: All track on the hidden mainline behind and under Cimarron as well as the mainline rising up to Gunnison (reusing a section from the previous helix) has been installed. The turntable location was measured out and the supporting framework is now in place.

Picture #12: The framing for Gunnison is now in place and now that is in place, the next question is to whether to commence the abandonment of the existing upper deck as it's going to be a lot easier to remove while there is still access.

Pictures #21-22: The subbase for Sapinero is now been mounted to the shelf brackets that were retained from my previous decked layout and connected to the subbase for the mainline installed yesterday that leads down to Cimarron.

Picture #23: After staring at my proposed track plan for this area, it came obvious that the track layout for Cimarron was just a way too boring! The solution was to introduce a gentle curve in the mainline and passing siding which created more real estate for some industries and added some interest as well. The depot, Burnside Mill, and Adkins Fine Ales are now in position.

Picture #24: The Homabed roadbed has now been glued down, the kerfs filled and sanded and then sealed with some latex paint. Next step is some track!

Picture #25: The Homabed extends past Cimarron and up the grade to Sapinero. My mainline grades are all ~2.5% which I think will create enough load to take advantage of the new Tsunami 2200's exhaust features which sense any change in current draw and adjust the cadence accordingly.

Pictures #26-28: The visible track has now been sprayed with Rustoleum Camouflage Brown to blend in the rail and ties. I'm going to refresh my memory on Paul Scoles' techniques for weathering individual ties on the flex track before ballasting. The #7 turnouts look great and SO much better than #6's that I am glad I made the decision to go this route.

Picture #29: The grading crews had a busy day and the Homabed has been installed and filled at Sapinero.

Picture #31: The gandy-dancers have now completed laying rail up to and through Sapinero with all turnouts and wiring fully operational.

Pictures #32-35: Time to install the critical element - i.e. the lift gate - that allowed me to go around the room and maintain access without a duckunder! These photos illustrate the lift gate in both raised and lowered position, an underside view of the bottom deck which includes a turnout and a close-up view of the alignment at the first joint. I replaced the ties at the ends with PC board ones to provide additional strength and rigidity.

Picture #36: The last L-girder framework is now in place on which the connecting trackage to the left hand side of the lift gate will be constructed.

Pictures #37-38: The subbase and roadbed that will connect the main line to the east end of the staging trackage is now being built and once again, I was able to reuse some salvaged 36" radius curved trackage from the helix on my previous endeavor.

Pictures #39-40: The connection has now been made which of course now provides a continuous run around the room through the staging trackage. D&RGW #484 is shown pulling a 12 car freight over the newly completed route.

Picture #41: "What would Mike (Holmes) do...?" While the lift gate assembly was attached securely to the wall, the rest of the layout is free standing and thus subject to minor movement. In order maintain proper alignment, I added a couple of angle braces to secure the adjacent benchwork as shown in Photo #36 to the wall.

Picture #42: Cimarron & Tall Timbers #1 (mfd. by PBL - 2018) has arrived at Cimarron. I had this model custom lettered in memory of my good friend Tom Troughton whose pike and modeling was an inspiration to so many of us modeling in Sn3.

Pictures #43-44: The east end of the siding at Cimarron has now been extended across the lift gate allowing the mainline to now be extended on to Gunnison.

Pictures #47-48: The final section of the main line (totaling ~50 feet) completes the run from the west end of Gunnison up to the east end of Sapinero.

Pictures #49-51: ...but...two steps forward, one step back! After a lot of thought, I have abandoned the lift gate in favour of a fixed duckunder as I've got tired of having to continually realign trackage due to changes in humidity and/or temperature. Fortunately the subbase on both levels was able to be reused with some modified and/or added bracing plus some track splices at the various joints so the entire process was able to be accomplished over a couple of days.

Picture #52: Track crews are busy laying rail at the east end of Gunnison. Kadee under-the-ties uncoupling magnets have been installed and the "P/T" designation is for one siding that will serve dual purpose as my programming track.

Picture #53: Not quite the Golden Spike, BUT...the final segment of plywood sub-roadbed leading into the west end of Gunnison is now in place!

Pictures #54-56: The main line connection through Gunnison was laid July 3rd with the Switchmaster turnout motors and wiring completed for a celebratory cocktail on July 5, 2019. My goal for this first year was to be able to run a train over the whole layout which was achieved with a couple of weeks to spare. Still lots of work to be done at Gunnison but at least a lot of the "heavy lifting" is behind me now.

Picture #57: The yard at Gunnison is now complete with the exception of the roundhouse leads so it was time to repopulate the layout with motive power and rolling stock.

Picture #58-61: Many years ago now, I installed some Switchmaster turnout motors in some V&T Models water tanks to provide some basic animation after being inspired by my good pal Bill Busacca. I recently completed a PBL water tank kit with their sound and animation module so decided that I would upgrade the old V&T water tanks with the PBL sound and animation module. The first photo shows the V&T tank after I removed the old Switchmaster motor. The second photo shows the PBL sound and animation modules assembled on their mounting brackets - to which you will see I added a bottom reinforcing crosspiece secured with a couple of short lengths of angle stock. You will have noted that the V&T model doesn't have a floor in the tank so in the third photo you will see a 1 1/2" ABS pipe cap that I used to make a sound baffle for the speaker to improve the acoustics. The final photo shows everything installed and ready to go on the layout.

Picture #62: Not so exciting but I recently upgraded my Lenz DCC system with their newly released LZV200. I also took this opportunity to upgrade my power supply with a Circuit-Test PSC-6318 Switched Power Supply (1-18VDC, 20A) as I felt that my previous 13.8VDC 15A Regulated Switched Power was lacking in providing an adequate voltage level. Note that I am using the LZV200 strictly in a command station role and am continuing to use my pair of tried and true LV101's as power boosters.

Pictures #63-68: My staging trackage which will serve as Salida (eastbound) and Montrose (westbound) is tucked behind and below Gunnison so will be hidden once some scenery is built behind Gunnison. I initially installed a camera at each end of the staging area in order to properly spot trains without fouling the adjacent track but found that this was somewhat inadequate so I installed a Azatrax MRD-8 infrared detection system instead. The photos in sequence show the following:

• The MRD8 main circuit board - the brains of the beast!

• The infrared receiver encased in its styrene mounting tube which I've mounted to a 0.080" styrene plate which is in turn attached to a piece of 1/4" hardboard to extend it out from the supporting benchwork.

• These are a pair of the infrared receivers mounted over tracks 1 and 2 at the west end of my Montrose/Salida staging area.

• The infrared transmitters were mounted between the ties and point up; this restricts the amount of any ambient light that may be picked up by the receivers which of course are facing down and in shadow.

• The MRD8 circuit board provides outputs to which you can add remote LED indicators. Note that these are unpowered and a separate source is required for any external LED indicators and/or relays. I installed some LED pilot lights on my control panels at each end.

• When a IRD beam is broken (such as when a train is in the way) the LED illuminates indicating that clearance has been compromised.

Pictures #69-71: After reviewing my operation program it became apparent that I needed to extend one of the spurs at Sapinero to accommodate a fuel dealer that would be receiving and shipping various products with tank cars. Thus I extended the spur past the stock pens to create some real estate for the future home of "Black Canyon Fuels".

Pictures #72-73: After clearing off the various accumulated construction bits and pieces it was time to lay out the Gunnison roundhouse. I purchased a "kit" (actually, more a collection of castings, wood, and plans) from Clint Crow about 16 years ago now and laid out the structure as per his sketch: 96' from the center of the turntable to the front walls of the building and a structure length of 72'. Compared to the prototype location, this will be compressed to a five stall roundhouse plus three additional open air storage tracks. I am still undecided as to how I will do the inspection pits and have leaned on various friends (both personal and through social media) for any information that they may be able to share.

Pictures #74-75: Friends William Reed and Glenn Farley came to my aid with some valuable information (both photos and insight) so I plunged ahead with the roundhouse area. The current plan for my condensed Gunnison roundhouse is for three extended stalls and two original length ones. I used Clint's inspection pit castings but am going to construct my own foundation walls with 3/8" x 3/8" basswood faced with Chooch's Random Stone Wall (Medium) sheets. These leads represent the very last of my track work which is now complete!

Pictures #76-78: My original Diamond Scale turntable bridge was built out of wood and over the past years sustained some water damage which resulted in a severe warp so I rebuilt a replacement out of styrene some time ago. I utilized some A-Line 5/8" diesel handrail stanchions for the railings as I had previously used brass strip pinned to the ties with Grandt Line NBW's on the old wooden bridge which proved all too fragile. The bridge deck was painted with a succession of coats of Floquil Mud (new wood), Roof Brown (old wood), Grime (weathered wood) and then over-sprayed with Grimy Black once that it was attached to the girders. Weathering was done with blotches of various black paints dabbed on plus various weathering powders.

Pictures #79-82: While electronics are probably not the most exciting part of this hobby, they do fulfill a purpose in that they help us achieve greater realism when operating our model railroads. Over the past Summer I upgraded my Lenz DCC system with new LH101 throttles and a new LZV200 command station plus a supporting Circuit-Test Switching power supply. The LH101 throttles have now received a further software upgrade which can now be accomplished by downloading and connecting to a Windows computer running Lenz CV Editor version 1.5. The other improvement was the addition of one of New York Railway Systems APR 2 Automatic Power Routing modules which is an add-on for their PTC 4 Programmable Turntable Controller and automatically provides power only to the selected track that the turntable bridge is aligned to. Jack Walton from New York Railway Systems recently also provided a software update which once again, was downloaded and then installed over a USB cable from a Windows computer - this ability will surely make it far easier to take advantage of any future updates and will hopefully become the norm in the years to come!