Today's post is not about the Grand Trunk Southern. It is in a brief hiatus as my wife has encountered some health issues and they are my #1 priority for the immediate future. She got great care and the problems hopefully are not long term. Today's post is about the Atlantic Superior Transportation Co. or as it is know in these parts, the ASTX. The ASTX was a profitable and efficient railroad company back in 2006 when its principal owner encountered some major life changes and it went into what became slightly more than a 15 year hiatus. Like the phoenix however the ASTX is once again rising from the ashes. In this short series of posts I will share with you what is currently happening and share some photos of its current state. Justin's modeling time is limited as he is a Landscape Architect and the middle of winter, roughly 2 months is the only time he really has time for the layout. So this winter we went like mad to get a lot down and the entire layout is up and operational. Trains are running again on the ASTX.
The owner of the ASTX is the person I have referred to in some of my previous posts as my "track guru", Justin Parry. Justin is modeling the area north of superior and in particular the area around Thunder Bay. The ASTX is a competitor here in Canada to the Canadian Pacific and the CN. It has partnerships with Burlington Northern and Union Pacific through a number of gateways. The layout is 3 levels with the lower level having an out and back running feature which effectively makes it 4 levels. The pre 2006 layout staged 120 unique trains, Justin has downsized this layout and it will stage around 70 unique trains. Later, in the posts I will share a photo of the string diagram I created for that 2006 layout. The layout uses Atlas Code 55 track on the visible layout and Peco Code 80 track in the staging yards. Turnouts are controlled by tortoise machines and stationary decoders on the mainline which will be computer controlled by the dispatcher. Locomotive control is Digitrax DCC.
Photo 1: The layout is located in the basement of Justin's home and to enter it you go down a flight of stairs. He wanted to created an eye catching signature scene at the bottom of the stairs and in this photo you can see imagine what it will look like as you see the early construction stages. The track across the bridge goes through a tunnel and into the mid level staging yard in an adjacent room. The track which you cannot see at the top goes into the top level staging yard. We have had numerous discussions how to hide a small fascia on that level so it blends into the signature scene. The bottom level can be seen coming around a curve and transiting under the signature scene into the lower level tunnel. Once the scenery is finished and the river poured this scene should be quite stunning.
Photo 2: To our immediate left as we were facing the signature scene, we see the only helix which is in the main layout room. It connects levels 2 and 3. The opening at the left of the backdrop is deliberate so that a train going up or down the helix can be viewed. In the 2006 iteration of the layout there were 3 helices in the main room, but Justin redesigned and rebuilt the layout to eliminate 2 of them.
Photo 3: In the adjacent room to the right of the signature scene are the staging yards and a dock area and the major helix on the layout. This photo shows all 3 staging yards. The staging yards comprise large return loops. If you look a the right side of the photo the yard tracks are looping around a large helix and returning to the same yard. This means that 2 trains are staged on each track. The yard is controlled by stationary decoders and routes have been setup for each yard track which will eventually be controlled by the dispatcher on a computer. For now you dial in the route on your digitrax throttle. We will be able to stage 70 unique trains from these yards.
Photo 4: There is a lot to see in this photo. I will try to unpackage it. I helped Justin with the routing of these yards and I still get confused at times. The helix joins Level 1 to Level 2, Level 2 to Level 3, and there is an option to go from Level 1 to Level 3. There is also the potential for 3 tracks worth of staging within this monster of a helix. The foreground tracks are the entry staging tracks for the middle level. The tracks at the rear are the same tracks as the foreground as they have circled around behind the helix and they represent the outbound tracks for the middle level. The tracks in the centre are going into the helix down to Level 1. The tracks on which you see the potash train and the bulkhead flats are the tracks which go up to Level 3.
Photo Miscellaneous: I call this miscellaneous photo since I added it late and don't want to mess up my numbering system. This photo shows the string diagram I created in 2006 for the last iteration of the ASTX which ran 120 unique trains from these staging yards. The string diagram is taped up on the fascia of my Grand Trunk Southern. It just underscores the complexity of a layout of this size.
Photo 5: This is the final photo of this post and the last taken in the adjacent room before we return to the main room. This area will represent Thunder Bay docks and there will be a large grain elevator complex and unit grain, ore and coal trains will terminate here.
