Meanwhile in Montgomery Furnace
Just uphill of Crooked creek, at the base of Iron Mountain proper , Is Montgomery Furnace. Montgomery furnace took the place of the infamous Bumpass Modules .
The bumpass modules were a great sucess as a 2 x 6 foot portable switching layout , but the cramped and complicated track plan was near impossible with the larger trains associated with the larger layout.
In replacing Bumpass with Montgomery furnace I went minimalist , and just built with four switches. I probably over did it, and should have included a passing siding, but I didn't. The simplicity thing did not make for reliable operation. two of the switches were built on a curve and I messed up the geometry some how. the lower switch off the main worked well on the main side, but had frequent problems on the diverging route. the other switch that went next to the twin furnaces on the straight route, and to an abandoned furnace on the diverging route, didn't work well in either direction. I had worked on it several times without improving it, and was considering abandoning the diverging route.
Fortunately my experience diagnosing and fixing the new switches I built at the Sawmill area at the club must have paid off, as I made a fith attempt to fix both switches, and fixed both of them in about 15 minutes, after the previous 6 hours of work had been futile.
so now I can get gondolas to the twin furnaces without derailment. also the track to the old abandoned furnace on the other side of other side of the creek . That track doesn't have a real purpose yet. Montgomery furnace is very close to Crooked Creek, I may use it as a rip track, or for storing Mow equipment, as a caboose track , also if it works well enough, It could be used as a hole, to tuck a train into, in case a meet in Montgomery furnace is needed.
This is a big deal, iron operations will be possible, as soon as I fix a busted solder joint on the frog of the switch at the iron reload, and a disconnected wire under Montgomery Furnace .
Maybe the track working here will be a catalist for me to get to work here. the old bellows house is just a foam core mock up, it needs to be covered with wood, as does the coal elevator by the coke ovens. I need to build a derelict water wheel, and a shed on the side of the to house the steam powered bellows equipment. I also need a trestle with tram tracks to bring limestone and coke to the charging deck. I have to re evaluate this ans I was going to use Grant line Koppel ore cars that don't seem to be available now. I am considering using Big City Hobbies Hon30 equipment . I will want to buy some of that stuff sometime anyway, the old mini-trains equipment that these are based on I once made a good tiny HON3 0-4-0 buy pushing the wheels out some .
I need to build a bridge from the elevator side of the track up to the furnace. I will have to cut a lot of wood, and stain it with oil paint stain to match the furnace, that will take some experimentation. the Iron furnace needs some decking at the charging level, some tram trackage with turntables, and a roof above the charging deck. all in all a lot of work for this huge scratchbuild project.
Bill Nelson