Thee official name of the West Virginian Railway Company

 
 
 
 

Rebuilding Horseshoe Run Grade in 2006.

July 2006 - Original grade removed!
Here are some images to document a major upgrade to the layout. The above image was taken on July 30, shortly after the original grade was removed. GONE!
 
 

In the image above, the benchwork extended from the wall on the right to the chair on the left. Horseshoe Run grade connects the upper level in the background with the level just below it.

To the right, Steve Raqué poses with a throttle as if plugging in to move his train. The extension chords on the floor are laid out on top of the chalk drawing that we used to build from. After several sketches, a scale drawing was made, then transferred to the floor using chalk. This ensured the track would fit the space properly with no surprises in the construction stage. The orange extension chord represents the mainline climbing to the upper level. The minimum radius was set at 30 inches with a maximum grade of 2%.

Planning the new grade.
The image above was taken on September 7, 2006, while the one to the right was taken on October 14. Benchwork was installed quickly, although it wasn't quite done when this was taken. Some additional parts need to be added on the right side to connect with both levels of the original layout. The upper level supports are also missing at this time. Crews worked extra time to make some great progress on the new addition. Benchwork ready - October 2006.
Benchwork and subroadbed installed December 23, 2006.
It is now December 23, 2006. Benchwork is complete and all of the subroadbed has been installed. The image above is a combination of two images. The vertical separation between the upper and main levels of the layout is 14 inches. The top level rail sits at 58 inches, while the rail in the yard below sits at 44 inches.

The worker elves kept busy and completed installation of the Homabed roadbed in a couple of days. The image at right was taken December 26, 2006. Grey paint was applied just after this image was taken. Everyone was getting excited about laying rail and watching the first train on Horseshoe Run grade.

Homabed installed December 26, 2006.
December 31, 2006 - What better way to celebrate New Year's Eve than by running trains on the brand new part of the railroad. Here's the very first train slowly descending the grade with several loads of coal. The second main is yet to be installed. The first train on the grade! December 31, 2006.
 
 
Gary busy connecting the interlocking plant. Keith attaching feeders to the mainline.
Mike attaching feeders to the mainline. Eric prepping another stretch of flex-track for the mainline.
There were many people who spent quite a bit of extra time to get Horseshoe Run grade operational. I only have images of the above four members. Clockwise from the top: Gary Deavers, Keith DeVault (don't ask about the hard hat), Eric Hansmann, and Michael Hohn. Jim Kubanick, Steve Raqué, Steve Kite, Richard Turton, and Nevin Wilson also were heavily involved, just not photographed. There were a few others, but my memory fails me. Let me know if you helped out and I'll update the list.
 
 

Another quality Hansmann Production.
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All content and images copyright 2005-2007 by EWHansmann, unless otherwise indicated..