Mainline Completed through Wausau Yard

I had some time this evening, so I went to work connecting the two ends of the yard. As I mentioned in the earlier post today, I had to realign the "bypass" track so that it could hook into the switches at the north end. While I was at it, I moved the Kraft spur a bit south. Now that I see how much space I have on the north end behind the mainline, I am going to move Kraft south and model something to its north, perhaps a suggestion of East Hill. This is a fashionable neighborhood in Wausau where many of the lumber barons built their mansions a century ago.

Note that I've also added the programming track-- it is the track angling off at the far left. It is used on a DCC layout to program engines. Below is a closer view. The CN engine is on the programming track:

Below is a view of the mainline curving away from the north end of the yard and heading into the tunnel that leads to the staging yard. I put a Milwaukee Road centerbeam flat there because the "Valley Line" through Wausau was part of the Milwaukee Road for over a century before the Milwaukke Road's bankruptcy in the 1980s. It's also a shout-out to Nate, who helped build the benchwork!

Finally, I decided to have some fun to mark this small milestone. I added a couple of details from BLMA-- a yard office and a pair of porta-johns-- and a CN engine. CN's first Dash 9s were all numbered in the 2500s, so I had George Nelson number this one 2564. Can you guess why?

The next step is to connect up the remaining yard tracks and put in the Kraft spur. I also will need to figure exactly where the Kelly spur should go through the wall. Until the next update. . .