Layout Construction - Update #3

RDC-3 Budd Car - Great Northern #2350
When I was a child I participated in most things that young people do. Cub Scouts was a great adventure for a young man. One of the events of Cub Scouts that seemed to have an effect on my future as a model railroader was the day we took a ride on a train. That ride went from Great Falls to Havre, Montana. It was on Great Northern's RDC-3 #2350, a combination baggage and passenger car. The RDC-3 was built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pictured below on the left is #2350 sitting at the Great Northern depot in Great Falls. The photo on the right is the #2350 after being retired it was spotted sitting at the Reading Shops in Reading, Pennsylvania during May of 1974. Left Photo Credit: Unkown - Right Photo Credit: TC Caughman, RailPictures.net

    

I knew that Proto 1000 had produced a Budd RDC-3 in Great Northern scheme, but I did not purchase it when it first came out. It was one of those things that you want but have to decide if you really need it. When I designed the current layout, passenger operations were something that never occurred to me. Then one night while searching eBay, I came across the #2350 up for bid. I knew I had to have it this time. With a little luck it was mine. I finally got around to adding a DCC decoder and LED lighting to the unit.

Here is a video on YouTube which shows the #2350 traveling from Helena to Butte, Montana.

Let the good times roll!

Layout Construction – Update #2

Falls Yard Update
Additional turnouts have been constructed to complete the mainline, passing and grain elevator siding along with the first yard track. I installed an additional crossover before the staging tracks to facilitate longer trains coming from or going into staging. In the last photo on the bottom right you can see the staging tracks have been placed on a removable section. While this section is not required to be removed to gain access to the crawl space, it will make it easier to move boxes in and out.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.