Ever since I connected the peninsula benchwork to the wall at South Jackson the layout has been and ops disaster. All trains had to be evacuated from Salem and Pocatello staging. South Jackson yard was going away and all trains had to get out of town. The result was Redland packed full and trains stashed all over the mainline. Wiring was torn up, nothing much was able to run.

I've been working to get the layout back into shape to run again. If you've been following my column, "Up the Creek" in Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine you know a lot has been done in lower deck staging. It's not complete but there's enough to operate as one end of the layout. I just finished getting the junction at the top of the helix wired so trains can run through the turnouts (see the December 2012 Up the Creek (coming Dec 2, 2012)).

The last thing remaining before ops can resume is getting track back into South Jackson yard. I was working on that earlier today. Horace Fithers is hopeful trains might be running again by Christmas. I don't know if that will happen, but a January op session should be possible.

Of course all this construction results in a considerable mess. It's been a long time since I posted a panoramic view of the layout so here's one for you.

Please note, rather than a traditional ultra-wide photo you move around in by scrolling the browser, I chose to post the component images. Once you're in the panorama shots keep clicking the left or right arrow buttons to move to the next shot.

Tiny thumbs of all the panorama component images are presented below. Click on them to get started.

Charlie Comstock
Superintendent of Nearly Everything - Bear Creek & South Jackson Railway Co.