# Addition to the Zia and Columbine RR



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I had a tree die next to the upper loop of my railroad and had to cut it down. This left an open space just begging to be filled so a track addition was in order. 

Here is the original upper loop with some of the track already taken up. 









This is the area for the addition. The extension will tripple the size of the upper loop. 









The grading in progress, looking north. The track has to go up and the down 3% grade. The cut can be seen on the far left side and the fill, outlined by the rocks, on the right. 









The cut from the top of the original loop looking south. 









The fill going to the bottom of the original loop looking south. 









Wesley is coming over Wednesday to help lay track. I hope I have the grading completed by then. I had to take a day to put up a barrier around the layout to keep out the wild horses who have suddenly taken a great interest in walking around on the railroad and messing things up!


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks like a worthy addition. Good photos! Keep us posted on how it progresses. And...do something about those horses. I lost a whole lot of track to deer on my previous railroad that was built at close to ground level.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Although it is not as extensive as Marty's addition and trestle and took more time, my extension is now pretty much done and I am pleased with it. Only a little touch up needed, I will do that just before my steam-up on Oct. 25. Here are some pictures.

The extended loop looking north.










The cut looking north.









The north end looking west showing two new bridges (More on that below) and one of the new wyes.









The other new wye looking south. You can also see some of the lower loop on the left and through the tunnel.









I forgot to take pictures of the bridges before installing them, so here is a sample of how they were constructed. I cut expanded metal the width needed for the bridge and welded it between two angle iron sides. Then I wired 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the expanded metal. This was covered with weed block cloth to keep the balast from falling through.









To level the track I made a new leveling tool. It consists of three pieces of aluminum angle screwed together, two spare wheel sets and a level from the camper supply store. I like this level because it has a wide range and is easy to read.









This picture of the bottom shows how the wheels are mounted. The rear axle is mounted in slots on the ends, the screw in the middle lets it rock slightly so that the front axle under the level always has both wheels on the rail.


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