Russel,
As it was in the beginning.
On 8/26/76 the water tower was on site but not set up, it shows as a dark spot between the legs of the wye. We watered the locomotive from a pond near the depot, using a duplex pump powered by the boiler. The depot was there though not finished, and the East leg of the wye did not tie into the main line yet. We completed the East leg in October, and immediately derailed on the switch. Someone tried going through it before the guard rail was in place. The black spot in the grade was indeed a ditch, and was a real incentive to keep your train under control when coming in to the depot. The main line itself only went a few hundred feet beyond the West leg of the wye. There was no shop building then and any servicing was done out in the open. The shop was erected in Dec. and Jan., off the end of the wye, and the tracks installed in Feb. Fortunately we had almost no snow that winter, though it was plenty cold.
Ah the good old days, when everything was new and fun.
Jim