THE LOOP IS DONE! DECEMBER 30, 2008

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I rushed home after work, loaded up my tools, and headed for the Red Zone. I got to work by 4:00 and maybe could work till 5:00.  Soon Charlotte got curious and came down to check out my progress.

The inside rail is cut and holes are drilled.  Here I'm bolting the joint bars to the rails. It's getting dark so we need the flash for the camera.

The sun is setting and the last section of track is on the ground and bolted to the previous section.  Next I will cut the rails to fit and drill holes for the joint bars.

I'm smiling despite the cold and the wet spots where I was lying on the damp ground.

No fancy ceremony, no golden spike, just a happy man bolting the last joint bar!

DONE! Well, at least the rails are connected.  There is still plenty of work to do - ballasting, aligning, adding ties, and tightening track screws. It's getting dark and we're pushing the camera's ISO setting to 800 just to get a picture.  But here it is, 5:20 on December 30, and we're basically done building the loop!