2008-07-12 The first subroadbed for the Branchline extends from the stub that was left during the construction of the Taylorville switching area. It will eventually rejoin itself in a reversing loop not far from its starting point. Inside the reversing loop there will be the Branchline Yard and a small industrial switching area. The last segment of subroadbed in this photo, in the lower right hand corner of the picture, will be cut to fit when the reverse loop is constructed from the far side of this photo in a long S-curve. |
2009-03-26 The Branchline Yard has been installed. Sheet cork was glued down over the deck and the track has been installed. |
2009-04-24 The Branchline Loop has been constructed and track installed on it. The Branchline will be run as essentially a loop-to-point operation. |
2009-05-21 The deck for the Branchline Industrial Area has been installed (with the help of the Tuesday Night Group). The switches to be installed on the deck have been roughly placed to help with the final layout of this trackwork. Once the cork has been installed on the deck the trackwork can be installed. |
2009-05-05 The Branchline Yard control panel has been built and installed. Installing the wiring inside the panel will tak a while! Note that the Tortoise switch machines are wired directly into the control panel, as are the sections of track that are intended to be "killable" to allow killing power to inactive engines. |
2008-05-21 The deck for the Sawmill tracks has been installed and cork roadbed is being cut and glued in place. Unlike the rest of the Branchline Yard and sidings, the Sawmill tracks will all be dual gauge track. This will allow both the standard gauge equipment and the narrow gauge equipment to drop off log cars and pick up cars loaded with the sawn lumber. |
2009-05-21 The Branchline Industries control panel has been built and installed. Installation of the wiring has begun. Note that the Tortoise switch machines are wired directly into the control panel. |
2008-06-07 The Sawmill tracks have been installed. The two log cars nearest the camera are HOn3 cars and the car farthest from the camera is an HO gauge car. The Sawmill tracks are all dual gauged so that both kinds of cars can access this industry. |
2009-06-07 The track has also been installed for the Branchline Industries switching area. The track farthest to the left in this photo will be used for the freight station and team track. |
2010-10-08 The Branchline Yard now has an Engine House. The Branchline Yard has been named the Central Illinois Railroad's Litchfield Yard. |
2011-02-10 The Litchfield Yard of the Central Illinois Railroad has acquired two new locomotives to do the switching in the yard and to do some light road switching in nearby towns. The new engines are Bachmann 70-tonners that have to be run as a pair to have enough tractive effort to climb the grade between the CI's junction with the B&O and Litchfield Yard with a respectable number of cars. |
2011-07-20 A new RPO joins the passenger fleet of the Central Illinois. The car is a wood craftsman kit offered by LaBelle (LaBelle HO-7). |
2014-04-06 The Central Illinois Railroad has acquired a pair of new heavyweight coaches. Respendent in their new Central Illinois red and white paint jobs, they join the older fleet of wooden passenger cars in service between Litchfield and Pana. The cars are undecorated Rapido RTR coaches painted in the Central Illinois colors. |
2014-04-06 The Central Illinois has added an interchange with the Wabash railroad. The Central Illinois acts as a bridge road between the B&O and the Wabash, facilitating the flow of commerce in the central portion of Illinois. |
