Terrible -- II

In order to put the East Terrible Mill into more regular operation, I've been working toward ballasting the track and straightening the alignment. The track in this area is Shinohara HO-HOn3 dual gauge code 70. I've found that rail sizes under code 100 aren't necessarily the best match for cork roadbed -- the softness of the cork, combined with the lower rigidity of the track, can result in dips or tilts, where one rail gets lower than the other, and derailments can result. As a result, I've learned to shim carefully and check levels in connection with ballasting, and once glued in place, the ballast serves a prototype function in keeping the track aligned.

Here I've added a Kadee 308 under-the-track uncoupling magnet to the spur:

When I originally laid the dual-gauge track, I decided not to make any provision for magnetic uncoupling, since the HO and HOn3 couplers would be on different centers, and magnets would work only with the one gauge and not the other, depending on how they were positioned. More recently I've come to realize that most of the actual switching and operating I do is on standard gauge, so I decided to go ahead and install magnets on certain spurs aligned for standard gauge operation.

Here is a wider view of the East Terrible area as it stood a week or so ago:

Ballast and ground cover work are under way.