Crossover Fixed

I am not known for my accuracy in measuring or cutting ... probably something to do with my poor depth perception. So I was hesitant to cut into the mainline to insert the switch I forgot. When I tackle it, the job only took a few minutes and I was able to splice it in so well, it looks like it was there originally!
Definitely making progress. I even ran an engine and box car around the outer loop today.

Splicing in the missing switch

The Track Formerly Known As Flexible

I reused a lot of materials from my old layout. The 2' x 4' modules were mounted along the walls and off course I reused all the Atlas #4 switches. The Shinohara ones are in a box because they are a bit longer than the Atlas versions and I don't like the insulated frogs.

Then I kept a lot of flex track. After all I had 2 staging yards and an online yard on the old layout. Should have scrubbed off the old ballast over the winter so they would be ready to use. Instead, I am cleaning them individually as I need a piece. Slow. And, they are no longer flex track. Some I can wiggle and loosen but they are NOT the same as flex track!

Rights and Wrongs

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a flash of insight. I have been trying to figure out how to finish the Irwin Yard with the cork sheets I had laid. Originally I thought to have each yard track decline from the mainline to the spur but realized this would be difficult to create the right slope. Struggled for many weeks before I hit on a solution - N scale roadbed. I happen to have several pieces and discovered 1-1/2 pieces are just wide enough for HO scale. Perfect!

Using N scale roadbed in the Irwin yard

You can see how well this works as a transition from mainline to yard in the next photo.

Instead of lowering the yard below the mainline, I have a shorter profile roadbed

So that was great. My next trick was not so awesome. With this dilemma behind me I attacked the mainline track laying with zeal.  Saturday I ran both tracks onto the removable bridge (stuck in place until I cut gaps into the tracks later). Sunday I had a little time to run the tracks across the bridge all the way to the next curves. Monday I briefly extended the outer curve to the hidden staging. 

The mainline across the duckunder in the foreground to the curves leading into the hidden staging in the background

Tuesday, I was looking over my great work and ... what the heck!!! The very first part of the track coming out of the yard is a crossover and I only placed one of the two switches. DUH! Easy enough to fix but would have been even easier if I had remembered to place it in the first place.

You need 2 switches for a crossover!

May Update

Wow, May already...and it's almost over. A couple of challenges stymied my enthusiasm but I think I worked through them in my mine. First, the Irwin Yard. I placed some cork sheet down and had planned to have the yard slightly lower than the two mainlines passing through but I was concerned about both the grade and how to make it.I did some testing and discovered that 3 strips of N-scale cork (1 and 1/2 roadbed) would be just about the perfect height and would still leave the yard at a different elevation than the mainline with the surrounding ground higher. Sweet.
Next I laid some cork for East McKeesport but realized, once I laid a turnout on the mainline, that it was connecting with the mainline at too sharp an angle. Disappointing, but I was able to easily pull up the diverging cork and aligned it better. I love cork + white glue on extruded foam sub-roadbed. Below is a video of a test run on the new alignment.