Attention to Orders

 Amby stopped by this morning to see if he could figure out why the telegraph system only works when all the stations are plugged in and turned on. He, Steve, and Seth think it is something to do with the ground not being at the proper voltage.  Before he worked on that I presented him with his official appointment as Chief Signal Officer of the USMRR Aquia Line. Amby, in true Hermann Haupt tradition, asked if he could refuse the appointment, but so far he hasn't declined it. He wasn't able to solve the problem, but at least it all works when plugged in. 

Cracked fascia at Brooke.

Meanwhile, I have been working on repairing the fascia by Brooke. It was damaged when the contractors were doing the  flood repairs and they jacked up the layout. 

Room for the telegraph 

I had extended the fascia in the area by the rock cut south of Brooke. That piece of fascia cracked along the seam and became loose when they jacked up the layout. Unfortunately, there was no easy way for me to access it from below to securely repair it. So I took this opportunity to extend the fascia about 3.5 inches. 

This achieves three objectives. First, it will allow me to fix the crack, second, creates a nice secure place to mount the telegraph station at Brooke, and third,  extends the scenery.

I plan to add a large foundry building between the tracks and the aisles. This will create a "urban canyon" for the tracks in Brooke.  I was inspired by the foundry in Fredericksburg that the USMRR used to repair rolling stock in 1862 and the iron works rolling mill on Thom Radice's layout.  The interior of the foundry will have full detail. I haven't decided if I will leave a wall open so one can see the detail, or to make it a fully enclosed building. 

The telegraph is resting where the new foundry building will go.