A little over a year ago I expanded my layout in order to add an O-72 loop. I have always wanted to run large steam engines, but never had the curves to do it. To accomplish this, I added to my existing train table and made some major track configuration changes. I was happy to do it but it has been a bit of a slog. Due to other commitments, I usually only have a couple of hours on the weekend to work on my layout. The last year has been doing almost all track work and wiring.
While working on the expansion, I acquired several large steamers. Until I got the O-72 loop in place, all I could do was run them on several of my straightaways. Several months ago I finished the O-72 loop, wired all of the blocks, wired all of the switches and set up DCS and Legacy. All of my engines ran perfectly except for my MTH Premier Allegheny. The Allegheny always died on one particular piece of track. After several moths of troubleshooting, rewiring and changing out track sections, I finally solved the problem. The issue turned out to be the tender pin that hooks to the drawbar was loose and when it ran over this one piece of track with a slight rise in it, it shorted out by hitting the center rail. It wasn't hard to fix, but it was hard to diagnose.
Anyhow it was a great example of a small victory that allows me to move forward. It is great watching large steam engines now run on my layout and totally worth doing all of this work.
What are your recent small victories on your layout?
