CN Yellowhead Division

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice yard portrait.^^   I don't think I've had a gate-caused derailment on TBC yet, and there are no re-railers.  I force alignment with a captive pocket:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24108.msg524745#msg524745

It's been very effective and has stood up well for nearly 6 years now.  Do you have a photo of your track joint?

[lock4244]

Ah, rare departures from the fleet. Will they survive the coming of the Rapido centerbeam?

[Scottl]

Definitely, they are heirlooms!

[Missaberoad]

Don't forget, 35mph for key trains 

The 35mph for key trains (and 30mph for Higher Risk Key Trains) is only in CMA limits (Central Metropolitan areas) which on the Edson Sub would be between mile 6.4 and 9. Outside of CMA limits on signaled track both kinds of key trains are 50 mph.
Scott can have all the Anhydrous and Propane he wants and can still let 'er buck! 

[Scottl]

Nice yard portrait.^^   I don't think I've had a gate-caused derailment on TBC yet, and there are no re-railers.  I force alignment with a captive pocket:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24108.msg524745#msg524745

It's been very effective and has stood up well for nearly 6 years now.  Do you have a photo of your track joint?

This is not the best photo, but it shows how I used a clasp to secure the gate laterally and the rerailers (basically split and reversed).  I have not observed a derailment associated with the gap itself, but some locos and cars seem to catch on the 'cut' end of the rerailer and derail.  I'm of the mind to remove the rerailers and gate entirely and just put in a simple plywood bridge that is aligned with dowel pins.  I will likely leave it in semi-permanently anyway as it is quite high (50") and I can get under it easily enough.  Besides, it looks terrible.

[Lemosteam]

Gary's design is good, but it will still have slight side play due to the vertical sides.  Your clasp has so much variability that it will pull the track different amounts each time you opne and close it.

Another solution would be to use a V shaped interlock underneath with a mating V under the track roadbed.  This will ALWAYS realign the track to center BUT it can introduce vertical misalignment, which I would solve with a vertical only flexible roadbed for a short length back from the joint. Your clamp would work well underneath to hold the two v shapes together.  If you are worried about the wear on the wood of the upper or lower V you could line that with brass strip.

I cannot tell if you have a hinge on one end or not. 

My lift out uses a similar approach, but I left the flex track unsecured where the track mats so I could use some sliding track joiners after the lift out was reinstalled.

This is mine at the track end before I added vertical adjustment screws:

[samusi01]

I have a lift out section… no re-railers involved with it. I did use re-railers in the hidden staging, in hopes that they’d help with anything passing through, but I have found them to be operationally useless. I am not sure if it’s due to only using metal wheelsets and those generally having finer flanges or what the cause may be.

[Scottl]

The re-railers sure don't seem to add any functional benefit.  I'm going to tear it out and put in a simpler lift out that stays in place 95% of the time.

[GaryHinshaw]

Gary's design is good, but it will still have slight side play due to the vertical sides. 

I was prepared to use V blocks, but this was easier for me to make/try first and it has turned out to be surprisingly effective, so it's permanent now.  The side play is negligible.  For Scott's lift out, V blocks would be a good solution for a simple drop-in-place section.

[wazzou]

This would be a good spot for these https://americantieandtimber.com/4.html

[Scottl]

This would be a good spot for these https://americantieandtimber.com/4.html

Those are pretty nice but I can't get my hands on them any time soon so I'll use my go-to of brass screws embedded in wood and solder the rails to to those.

[Scottl]

I tore out the hinged gate and replaced it with a semi-permanent duck-under.  It is positioned with dowels on each end and works perfectly.  I'll add some protective sides once testing is finished and a plug for the wiring.

[Scottl]

Not much in terms of visual updates.  I've been operating and fine tuning track, turnouts and equipment.  Summer is here so layout time will be reduced as the outdoors call.

I found a window of time when the weather was perfect and the smoke from fires was pushed back to slip into Jasper for a research trip.  I was able to spend three days all over the line getting reference photos of scenes, structures and a better sense of the lay of the land.  I also hung out at the yard for most of 24 hours to see how things operated and get a better sense of train composition and equipment.  I managed to time it perfectly and capture over 50 trains including three VIA (Canadian both ways and the Skeena) and Rocky Mountaineer.  A few manifest trains dropped off and picked up blocks of cars in the yard and several trains switched out power.  Much more going on that I had imagined and good fodder for layout operations.  I have some ideas for updated the yard a bit to make it more operation friendly.

The smoke rolled in Sunday so I retreated home, but it is probably the most beautiful drive in North America so I'll be sure to be back soon!

Sunset intermodal rolling into town.  Not much sits in the yard as it is a crew change point, but lots of busy work to do for the layout without switching individual cars.



Good layout-perspective view of the west end of Jasper yard, town in the background, and Pyramid Mountain as the backdrop.  Smoke had come in that morning.  The big Jasper station is hidden by trains but is a key structure, located just behind the lead locomotive.



The drive home.  I'll be back!

[lock4244]

Did you catch the 2100 working?

[basementcalling]

Scott, looks like you found a really amazing prototype to model. Love the thread and the direction you are headed on the layout. Even with just gray foam, it looks impressive, and no doubt you'll make it moreso given how realistically you protrayed the bridge scene on your last layout.