Spent some time last night and this afternoon ploppin'/pullin'/re-plopin' rails in place at the IM&S/SLSF diamond and interchange... preliminarily pushed the rails toward the IM&S Yard... and then laid rails up the grade to the Frisco's Van Buren depot/mini-yard area. (See the attached AE map.)

The Van Buren side of the Arkansas River is gonna' be a fun place to switch!

The IM&S portion in particular will afford a lot of switching. Both lines will afford a TON of AI traffic if desired! (Like 20+ trains per day on each line!) This means you can be thrashin' cars at the IM&S riverside yard in Van Buren... and see a nigh-constant parade of SLSF trains headed north/south as well as some IM&S AI to boot!

When I get the track in this portion completed, my planned first segment (FS/VB) will have all track in place. (Shucks, except for the IM&S line to Greenwood, the rails have reached all outlying extremities that were planned at the onset!)

HOWEVER...

It is SOOOO tempting to push the rails northward on the SLSF at least to Winslow so I can work on that very important town (important to me) when I feel like it. IF I chose to shoot for Winslow, rail laying would go quickly. (Single track main lines are MUCH faster to lay than intensive yard/industry areas.)

Ah well: WE shall see!!!