Ever since I saw the announcement by USA Trains last year that they would be producing the modern auto rack train cars, I have wanted one... or two.. or a whole fleet. I know our layout has two problems preventing us from running big rail cars. The first is the sharp curve when the train is coming down the grade in front of the campground. I have had many train cars derail in that area, so I swapped it out for wide radius this past spring. The second is our small tunnels which were 10". I once lost the locomotive air horns inside the tunnel and I knew they had to be replaced. The tunnels were the first thing we added at the beginning of the layout:
CLICK HERE - LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL 10-30-2010
I asked around and a month later my co-worker Carl found two 18" culverts. With money saved-up and the culverts ready to be installed, we ordered and purchased the cars from Winona Garden Trains.
The only thing left to do was to rip the old tunnels out. It was late when I started and put the stones and track back in the hole for the night. But the next morning I was impressed how the newly formed rail canyon looked compared to the old tunnels. I think now I am going to save the culverts for when I create my next layout expansion.
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