Christmas is fast approaching and I've begun to make progress on the track work for the layout so I figured it was time to look in detail at rolling stock purchases.

First item:

I need a few sodium chlorate cars but I'm having a hard time finding the right kind of 2 bay covered hoppers online.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that produces 2 bay covered hoppers with sealed bays for sodium chlorate?

I finally got to the point of installing the photo backdrops I purchased from Trackside Scenery last year. I went with their Valley Flats series to provide a generic wooded backdrop to the paper mill.

I just upgraded my test / programming track on a shelf to include a Kadee 309 electromagnetic uncoupler. I wanted to test electromagnetic uncoupling on my minimum radius with my largest equpment length before laying track on the layout.

This thread will document the building and laying of track for the layout.

***Track Plan updated 15 Apr 20***

This blog will document the bench work for the DOMTAR Pulp and Paper Mill - Rebooted

This thread documents the rebooted DOMTAR Pulp and Paper Mill layout.

I have decided to combine all of the separate layout blogs I have been posting into one by linking to the older ones below the track plan. I will post all further progress updates in this single blog.

The most recent version of the track plan will be posted at the top of the thread.

****Track Plan updated 19 Sep 21****

The bench work build for my updated layout is taking a long time so to keep things interesting, and get some trains running, I indulged in this small project, making use of unused equipment. 

Happy holidays!

I've got a lot of saw dust from building the new bench work. I figure I can use it for wood chip loads and a wood chip pile on the layout. A lot of the dust is wet though from working outside in the spring, and some of the chunks are too large.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to dry out the saw dust and decrease the size of some of the larger chunks. Let it air dry out of the wind on some baking sheets? Use a blender?

Any advice is welcome.

The DOMTAR Pulp and Paper Mill is a freelanced modern industry inspired by a mill that operated near my hometown up until the early 2000s. It represents my third attempt at a personal switching layout, preceded by two unfinished versions. My improved understanding of operations, layout design, and various construction and modeling skills prompted the change. To save money and time I'm recycling most of my previous bench-work, control hardware, and structures.