UP's 2-8-2 Locos in Victorvile, and Starting to Lay New Cork Roadbed

Our featured Victorville locos this time are the Union Pacific's 2-8-2 steam locos.  Then we'll look at my latest layout progress, which involves laying the first new cork roadbed in over a year.

The UP had many 2-8-2 locos in many classes, and their history is very complex.  Looking at the postwar photos of them on Cajon Pass, it appears that virtually all of them belonged to the MK-7 class, especially the 2709-2715 series.

UP's MK-7 class 2-8-2s were built in 1917, and during the postwar years they were used as helpers and on local freights on Cajon Pass.  In alternate months they also served as the local switcher in Victorville, until UP dieselized the area for the first time in mid-1948.

Here's a great photo of UP #2710 beside the Victorville water tanks in Nov. 1947, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer:

 

And here is UP #2711 on a helper waiting track in Victorville, with the boiler house stack behind the cab, the elevated fuel oil tank behind the tender, and the sand house to the right of the tender:

 

Here's a good action shot by Fred Wheeler of UP #2733 helping an eastbound freight at Blue Cut on Cajon Pass in 1945:

 

And here we see UP #2713 helping a westbound freight up out of Victorville and through Hesperia in the 1940s:

Although these locos were replaced by diesels in mid-1948, two of them came back during the 1950-1951 "return to steam" period.  These were OSL #2515 (an MK-4) and UP #2715 (an MK-7).  I haven't found any photos of these two locos during that time.

But there was one final appearance of UP #2709 on a fan trip between LA and San Bernardino on March 14, 1954, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer in San Bernardino:

 

As for HO models of UP MK-7 class 2-8-2s, I think that only LMB made them, and they all came with coal tenders.  I have this model (below) painted for #2710, and I'll be replacing the coal tender you see here with a UP-style "long" oil tender by Bachmann Spectrum:

I'd like to find another LMB UP MK-7 for #2715, but they are rare and expensive and need an oil tender.  I do have a Balboa UP MK-6 like this one below (but without the snowplow pilot), #2253, which I could also use in Victorville:

Turning now to my layout progress, I finished drawing the track centerlines and turnout locations in pencil on the plywood for all the secondary tracks beside the mainlines.  It was challenging to make everything fit as well in full size as they did on paper!  

When that process was nearing completion, I shot photos from two angles, showing the various curve radius templates and rulers and turnouts and the triangular templates for #6 angles and #8 angles.  Here's a view showing some turnouts being placed and outlined and some curves being drawn using templates:

 

And here's another view showing some curve templates being used around the turntable area, and a #8 angle template being used for the crossover turnouts:

 

Then I cleared these things off the layout and got out the tools for laying cork roadbed, which I haven't used since I laid all the cork roadbed in the staging room over a year ago.

 

I began laying the Midwest cork roadbed where the tracks will emerge from the staging room onto Section 8.  I use DAP Alex Plus caulk to glue the roadbed to the plywood, following the pencil centerlines I drew.  I use a few pushpins to hold the curves in place, then use a roller to press the cork down, and then set some bottles of water on top while the caulk dries (not very long). 

 

This is mostly fun, except where there are turnouts and the cork needs to be cut into wedge shapes where the tracks come together.  I have a pile of cork turnout pads that someone sent me, and I use them, but they are not long enough to eliminate the wedges problem.

 

I shot a photo at the end of the first day's work, showing some of the new cork in place on Section 8 (with the old Section 9 in the background) and the other turnout pads in the lower left:

 

This week I laid a little more cork roadbed each day.  Where there is a tangle of turnouts, it gets really difficult to cut and fit all those cork pieces.  I keep a little bowl of all the cork wedge scraps and use them whenever I can.

I shot three photos at the end of this week's work, showing the new cork in place on Section 8 (a real tangle) and curving into Section 1.

This view looks back from the new Section 8 roadbed to the old Section 9, where the roadbed was painted a year ago.  You can see all the patchwork around the tangle of turnouts here, and the little bowl of cork scraps:

 

This next view looks in the opposite direction, from the old Section 9 (painted roadbed at the bottom) toward the new roadbed and the tangle of turnouts:

 

This final view looks at the curves from Section 8 into Section 1, where the new roadbed ends until I can tackle the next tangle of turnouts, whose cork pads you can spot in the distance:

 

It feels good to make a little mindless progress each day!

 

Finally, here's the cover page for the expanded set of Rainbow Bridge CAD drawings that Jim Coady made for me.  We're still discussing how to go about building this large bridge, which is almost 36" long in HO scale:

 

 

I wonder how far I can get with the cork roadbed in the next two weeks.