Visible progress on the Shenandoah Division has been slow since the 09/30/2003 Progress Report, but work does continue to be accomplished. Most of the current projects underway are related to wiring various portions of the trackage that has been completed so far. This work will continue throughout the fall and winter as we work to get the layout to operating status.

In addition to wiring projects, new risers and subroadbed have been installed. I had previously cut wood for the risers and subroadbed for the north end of the railroad. Rich and Scott came over one night for a work session, and we installed the risers and plywood subroadbed for the main portion of the town of Covington. The next set of projects in this area will be to connect Carpenter, Va. with Covington and to connect Covington with the north end staging yards.

Recent projects have also included restoring the track connections on the New Castle peninsula salvaged from the V1 layout. Now that this work has been done, I've been working on installing feeders from Laurel northward in preparation for a "wiring blitz" at an upcoming work session.

Unfortunately, a lot of the progress I've made since the last report doesn't translate well to photos, but I have included some pictures below of the significant work that has been done.

Overall view of Covington, Va. after the risers and plywood subroadbed have been installed. This view looks northward. The spurs to the left of the picture are part of the large Westvaco plant in Covington. The Covington yard will be in the middle of the picture. The mainline will be the track closest to the edge of the subroadbed.

View of Covington, Va. looking southward. The spur in the foreground serves Blue Ridge Extruders. The spurs next to the backdrop frame will serve the Wampler Longacre elevators.

Another view of the newly installed subroadbed at Covington. Again, this view looks southward. Risers and subroadbed connecting Carpenter (on the left) with Covington have yet to be installed.