"The clickety clack of the train going down the track; hopefully, does not end in a bang." An engineer friend.

For ease of use, and because it was a little cheaper, I chose Atlas code 83 flex track. Before another person asks, no, not the concrete sleepers. It has wooden ties. For some reason, many people ask about the concrete sleepers. Concrete ties last longer of course... 40-50 years versus 8-25 years for wood ties. However, concrete is not period appropriate. Code 83 will work perfectly for others' use/play with the layout when Blackwood's Crossing hits the road. It is a model railroad, that means it is meant to be played with. Code 83 rail will accidentally bend less than code 55-70 rail which will be used on our eventual permanent layout. The track was test fitted into place and cut to size with track snippers. I don't use a Dremel Tool for this. I personally find that the snipper gives me more control. Also, the track snipper does not wake up the Mrs. in the apartment, like a power tool would.

Atlas switches were also used. They were modified to to use caboose industry ground throws. The layout is DCC using an NCE powercab. DCC switches were about $50 a pop (per switch) when I started planning this layout years ago. That is way too much. For a parent building a layout for themselves, or their child, these prices naturally scare them away. Therefore, I used standard Atlas switches. The way I have designed the switches to work really minimizes the amount of times people have to reach into the layout. This will limit the amount of accidents, or breakage in the layout. They look cool, and are very cheap to purchase. I estimate they cost me about 2 dollars for parts plus 15 dollars per Atlas switch. $17 a switch is not bad at all. Also, you can use many different switch throws to make it suit your layout.

As you can see from the pictures, made on the computer in Paint, no expense was spared in creating diagrams for the illustration on the building of Blackwood's Crossing. Maybe someday I will write articles for a model railroad magazine and can have better illustrations. Unfortunately, this model railroad (HO Scale) is possibly too small for dead rail. That is battery powered engines. I will try building one later on. However, I will need help in doing this. Until I find that help, it is powered trains. Once the switches were installed, I had an idea.

The layout will not only have movement, but sound also. I'm not talking about the DCC locomotive. Those sounds are really cool, but what about all the other sounds? The mine hoist, the horses on the road, the birds singing, and many other things are easy! We painted the picture, so to speak, in part 3. William Wordsworth said, “Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.” Now we will add even more to our moving picture. This is meant to be immersive, or at least as immersive as it can be made.

Most of us growing up had a stuffed bear, or a book that had an audio recording. You squeeze the bear, or push a button on the book, and it plays the recording. After giving it some thought, I ran with the idea. I only want to worry about doing the electrics for the DCC. That means these would have to have a battery. With this thought in mind I went online and found a great little product. Talking Products, MP3 Recordable Sound Chip Module, 4MB Memory, with AAA Battery Box. It works on battery power, and is the complete package. All that has to be done is download the sounds you want as an mp3 file from your computer into the sound card. Then, you are done. You can order them from Amazon, but here is their website: www.talkingproducts.com

With the sound and switches taken care of, now it is just laying the track. That is simple. Cut it into its lengths, insert the rail jointers, and glue the track in. All this is easy. Just use adhesive that will not affect the rail or ties.

Once this is done, we move onto the DCC. NCE Power Cab is easy. Follow the easy instructions, hook it up, and away you go. As I have several ladder tracks... I just have to use feeder wires. This can be done after I figure out soldering in Blackwood's Crossing Part 5.