One Project Leads to Another

One thing leads to another.

A few weeks ago, I relocated the track switch for the spur to the Midwest Plastics industry and mounted the spur and industry onto a piece of MDF.  I wanted that spur to be oriented in the same direction as the spur for my auto parts plant. In order to smooth out the short curve onto the spur I shifted the entire plastic plant about 6 inches to the right.  That little project turned out to be just the beginning.

Hey, that looks like those three SCLAIR cars at Midwest Plastics.

The 2nd step became apparent when I realized that shifting the industry over just that little bit meant that the highway overpass that runs beside it also had to be moved over.  Shouldn't be a big deal though, as the overpass has never been glued down to the layout, so I just edged it over also about 6 inches or so to where it looked about right.

However, when I moved the highway overpass, it ended up directly over top of the street crossing. If a driver crossed the tracks , they would run right smack into the overpass support pillars. Can't have that.

As can be seen here, with the overpass moved, the level crossing led straight into the overpass support pillars.

Moving the crossing to the right would have opened up a whole new set of problems with a track switch and ground throw, so I moved the crossing about 6 inches to the left instead.

Some fresh ballast and a little ground cover added. I'll still have to install some signs and a few detail pieces.  Luc gave me some ideas for fixing up that little unscenicked area to the left here.

Below, JSSX 815 is passing under the highway as it begins the run back to the yard  But see that 3rd support pillar on the left?  There's another little issue as I never even noticed it was out of line until after this picture was taken 2 days ago.