Northampton Subdivision Construction

Northampton Subdivision nears Completion

My project this week is the long-awaited completion of the Northampton Subdivision. The line will run between South Newbridge and Northampton (in the furnace room)--right at the bottom of the stairs to the basement. I did not want to make the layout any wider at such a busy spot, so I trimmed two-three inches from the mid-level benchwork that carries the mainline up the grade toward Pembroke. There will be a very steep cliff down from the mainline to the new branchline; I haven't decided for sure whether it will be a rock cut, a retaining wall, or lots of ground foam vegitation. I am leaning toward the latter--I think it will make the two tracks seem farther apart. Below is a view of the scene right now. The branchline will follow the very narrow shelf at the base of the plaster/screen wire cliff:
The community of Pembroke poses a problem: I cut away part of the town (all of the structures have been removed), and the only road into the community is now a sudden drop off. That would be fine at the edge of the benchwork, but it is not the edge--it is at the top of a steep cliff above the bracnchline.
The Northampton branchline should add some unstressful operation to the layout. One local a day will switch Northampton (a sawmill, an apple shipper, and an oil dealer); passenger service may consist of a coach tacked onto the rear of the local.