Waterville & Washington Railroad

Today I fixed the wobble in the table legs. I used some of the scrap 1/4 Lauren that I have to brace them. Works great. I need to get one more piece for the foam cutter and then I can begin cutting out my roadbed. I built the rest of the Bullfrog turnout controls. I need to stop by the hobby shop and get airbrush supplies. I plan to spray the ties and tie plates. Can't wait until after the 15th when I can really get some work done on my modules.

My Fast Tracks order arrived. I built three of the Bullfrog turnout controls. Super easy to build and I'll give a full review once I get one installed. I installed the leg levelers on one of my modules. I'm not fully satisfied with how the legs turned out and will try to improve the wobbliness. Work has kept me from my layout. I hope once after the 15th of March, I can get some real progress done. Sorry no pictures.

I've placed an order with Fast Tracks for their Bullfrog turnout control. They look easy to install and are simple. I'm hoping my 2" foam does not interfere with the operation. I also ordered a new tip for my soldering iron and some super thin solder from Fast Tracks. I hope this solves my soldering issue. Since the order is coming from Canada, it should take about 2 weeks to get here so I'll have to find a project to work on in the meantime. Maybe I can finally install the levelers in the layout legs.

I jumped around to another project. I have started the Waterville train order signal. I really need to figure out how to properly tin my soldering iron. I'm not satisfied with my soldering on this project. The prototype signal was originally in Blue Rapids, but when the railroad closed that depot in 1977, they moved the signal to Waterville. I'm happy I have extra tubing as I'll probably try building the signal again.

I've been asked about my track plan and I'm following the prototype as closely as possible. I'm modeling the towns of Blue Rapids, Waterville, Barnes, and Greenleaf, Kansas. I'm starting with Waterville as I'm hoping to have it complete so the I am able to show it to Milford Godsey who was the Waterville station agent and it is my hometown. These are from the 1977 Mopac spotting code book.

Roof frame Test fit on depot Roof complete - ready for shingles and chimney

Updated progress view looking down the tracks to the west. The depot is to the immediate right with the Blue Valley Elevator adjacent to the covered hopper. The tape measure on the left will be the large COOP fertilizer Quonset hut. Prototype view of the Waterville depot circa 1950s. I model 1979 so my depot will be painted white and have the old Blue Rapids train order signal in front of the depot. View of my depot progress. I haven't done a lot to it in a year. The tool shed will be replaced with one from Lake Junction Models. The bottles on the right side will be the location of the town fuel dealership. Prototype view and model view of the Blue Valley Elevator. View looking down the rails to the west and my modeling of the same scene. Where the glue bottle is located will be the location of the large cement grain elevator.