The Fast Freight Line in N Scale

Real Estate Market Heats up in Cumberland...

2012-01-13T15:39:00.002-05:00

That title ought to drive the search engines a little nuts...
I'm starting to get excited about building out the Cumberland section of the layout. Urban scenery presents a fair amount of challenges, and for me one of those is getting some unique flavor out of the buildings. Design Preservation Models and Walthers Cornerstone are good models to start with, but frankly, I get weary of seeing the same buildings on everyone's layouts... You can personalize them a little with some paint and other details, but the variety has become a little limited, especially if you're planning a reasonably large urban area.

Fortunately, over the years, I've never thrown anything away. I've done a lot of kitbashing, so there's gobs of leftovers, everything from whole wall sections to sprues of windows and doors. I also keep a good stock of strip and sheet styrene, so in a pinch, I can fabricate whatever I might need.
So I dove head first into the parts bin... and came up with this:

I should first explain that I had some help from my friend Paul Hutter, who lives in Cumberland, and who went on a mission to get some pictures of buildings along Baltimore Street, the old main drag through town. He provided some outstanding examples, several of which are far beyond my modeling capabilities... But with a little smoke and mirrors, and plenty of stuff accumulated over decades of model railroading, I don't think I'll have a problem breaking up the monotony of the usual DPM parade...

Downtown Cumberland has some magnificent examples of late 19th/early 20th century architecture, and many of the main street buildings are very well preserved. Here's the pair I'm simulating...

Baltimore Street, Cumberland, Maryland. Photo by Paul Hutter

I love the faux stonework on the one on the right, and the bold arch of the hobby store building is awesome. I'll be trying to get the flavors closer as I paint and further detail the buildings, but obviously, I'm not trying to build inch for inch replicas. While DPM structures are pretty versatile, they're also quite "vanilla". While they offer several footprints, and a some halfway decent larger buildings, the window patterns, the details and the overall styles of the models are pretty similar. Like today, architects of that era often pulled their details from a catalog, so in a sense, this approach can be prototypical. But in larger towns that found themselves in a "boom" of prosperity, you'd be more likely to find the kind of bold architectural statements such as the ones shown above.

Anyway, I scavenged parts for a couple of kits, rounded up some DPM modulars for the side walls, and otherwise filled in textures and shapes to get close to the flavors shown in Paul's shot.

I'm still working on them both, I'll come back and drop in a more finished view when they're ready.

Bear in mind that my main street will be about 3' long, so there will be quite a clutter of buildings once it's done. My goal is to do a couple key buildings that capture the essence of Cumberland's streetscape, then use the usual suspects to fill in the blanks.

I'm giving most of the attention to the facades, because as you can see, the buildings are pretty much cheek by jowel. These will back up to the curved skyboard that encloses the Thomas sub helix, and will be placed closer to the rear of the scene. I like their three story elevations, and the arched windows.

To make the facades, I started with half of an old Heljan engine house to get the big single arch. I clipped out the pockets designed for the door "hinges" and simply shortened the opening as such. I used the doors to build up the arched windows, adding some strip styrene to fill in the gaps. A couple of Gloor Craft dual windows sufficed for the second floor. The first floor is all scratched out of strip styrene, with a couple of door and window frame castings to finish it out. I used DPM Modular walls cut in half to make the side walls, and blank sheet styrene to make the unseen rear of the building.

I just started the second building this evening, but I'll be adding the storefront next chance I get. You may recognize the twin arch windows as coming from the back wall panel of the Walther's Union City Roundhouse. (Recall that I accumulated about a half dozen of these kits to build the bones of my 22 stall roundhouse at Ridgeley, so odds are, you'll be seeing these windows again!)

There are several "signature" buildings on the street that I want to include, which will help viewers familiar with Cumberland to feel at home. This big bank building, for instance:

Photo by Paul Hutter

Having the first floor squared and the remaining stories rounded on the corner make this immediately stand out. It will be fun to experiment with different materials to see if I can get that effect to work in N scale.

Another would be Peskin's, which I assume was a department store. The variety of window styles, and the big Art Deco sign board give evidence of both the building's original vintage as well as one of its commercial revivals.


Photo by Paul Hutter

The more modern buildings to the left and right will add more authenticity to the scene. Afterall, a downtown isn't a static thing. There are always buildings being built, torn down or remodeled as the fortunes of the neighborhood ebb and flow. My 1970 era could be considered the end of the mid century boom for Cumberland, but before the hard times that followed the closure of several major employers later in the decade.

I'm looking forward to working with the Townbuilder Series from NZT Products and Stonebridge Models. It will be nice if they move beyond the plain vanilla styles offered by DPM and Walthers, and provide us with some more interesting downtown buildings for our towns. Afterall, in our smaller scale, we have room for a wider variety of buildings.

That is all for now...
Lee

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

2011-11-22T07:24:00.001-05:00

I was in MB Klein's old store in Gay Street, Baltimore when I heard a dad say that to his son. Obviously the boy had eyes bigger than his dad's wallet, and Dad wanted to emphasize to the boy that model railroading is not a hobby for people seeking instant gratification.

As I look back through the enormous volume of photos and other bleatings I've posted over the years, I can't help but notice how many projects have gone unfinished. My adult A.D.D. certainly has something to do with it, but it's safe to say that there are projects that were aborted due to bad planning, or a change in direction of my thinking, or the discovery of the proverbial "better mouse trap." Having a lengthy to-do list has never bothered me. After all, I've been working on my 100+ year old house at the same time I've been building my layout, and my wife will be the first to tell you that I'm forever adding to THAT list.

So, while the yard on the layout remains to be ballasted, several main line turnouts remain to be wired, and the base scenery on some sections is still a dotted line, I've undertaken the design, layout and construction of the major city on the WM Western Lines: Cumberland, Maryland.

The focal point of the scene will be the grand WM station there, constructed in 1913, and still in service as the terminal of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.

Since I'm modeling 1970, the train sheds won't be there, and the building will have it's well-worn and threadbare appearance from that era. The last passenger train passed its doors in 1956 or so, but the building carried on as a freight agent's office and as home to the CTC dispatcher for the Connellsville sub. This is how it looked in 1989 before being refurbished for the tourist trains.

I started building a model of the station based on plans published in Model Railroader in the mid '90s, but got hung up on the windows. The model is currently in the capable hands of David K. Smith, of NZT Products, being studied to find the best solution. In addition to the MR drawings, I have a copy of the original blueprints of the building, so we're in the process of reconciling the original designs to the "as built" arrangements.

A key element of the scene will be the concrete channel in front of the station that was constructed in the 1950's to help control flooding along Wills Creek. I've started framing up that area, including the interesting steel beam bridge that crosses the channel just west of the station.

You can see the station location, with the stand-in building, the creek channel in front, and the buildings of Baltimore Street, the main drag through town. The industrial site on the left side of the creek isn't prototypical, there's a neighborhood there, but I wanted to add some more switching opportunities, so that will be the PPG Plate Glass plant, worked through a switch back located on top of the flood wall. The other industrial tracks behind the station are also foobed in for my era, but there is a newspaper plant back there, a freight house and a couple of other players to be named later to provide more traffic for the railroad. I'll also be adding the Queen City Brewery farther back and on the same side of the creek as the station. I'll have to build that last, since I'm going to need to have access to the hole back there to build the rest of the town.

To try to capture the essence of the downtown, I had a friend who lives in Cumberland, Paul Hutter, take some photos of a few key buildings in town. I'm going to try to model a couple of the more prominent ones then sprinkle in the usual Heljan and DPM kits around them to fill in the blanks. The plan is to build a supporting frame, then construct the city block by block in a way that it can be dropped into place fully detailed, lit and ready to just plug in.

With budgets remaining tight, I don't expect this section to get finished any time soon, but alas, Neither Rome, nor Cumberland, were built in a day...

Quick Progress Report

2011-10-19T22:38:00.001-04:00

Sorry I've been remiss in keeping this updated. Fact is, I haven't had much time in the train room. I'm still busy with fixing up other parts of the house, plus work, plus this, that and the other...

Anyway, I'm taking this week off to burn off some vacation days, and since the wife is back to work (FINALLY) I have some unsupervised play time. Here's what we've been up to lately...

Put in some time on the layout today, mostly on adding fascia around the front side across the windows.

If you disregard all the rubbish below that narrow green band of masonite, you can see the progress. The most interesting (read Pain the Arse) part of the project was figuring how to make the helix look a little better, yet still keep it accessible for emergencies.

This is what I came up with.

The portal on the left is the Connellsville sub going into the top of the helix. I cut the portal out of sanded plywood and added some trim pieces. The whole section from left to right was supposed to be one solid piece of plywood, but somewhere between the attic and the garage, I lost a half an inch, so I opted to just cut it in two and use some foam to fill the gap.

I'm going to make a "half dome of foam" to stick some scenery there next to the upper helix track, which is now, by the way, ballasted. If nothing else, I can use this as a photo backdrop for rolling stock shots.

The primary access for the helix remains up the middle... the blue tub you see there slides out, leaving plenty of room for even us full-figured railroaders. And I'm going to have to go under there tomorrow, because I've got three more bike cable/click pen installations to do to get the A/D tracks fully functional.

So at this point, I've got about 6' of fascia to do around the Cumberland area, and another 4 or 5' on the front edge of the yard. Inch by inch, it's getting done!

How fleeting the summer has been...

2011-09-11T23:09:00.000-04:00

Here we are just past Labor Day, and the only thing I can report is that I don't have much to report! Since our camping trip back in July, I've been busy tending to lots of other business, some of it pleasant, some of it not so much.

For those of you living on the east coast, you know that in a one week period we had a little earthquake followed by a not so little hurricane, followed by a three day gulley washer thanks to a tropical storm named after me.

You'll be pleased to know that the railroad survived all of these catastrophes more or less unscathed, although I did have to go up and right some of the rolling stock that tipped over in the quake.

This was the worst of it. There were a couple of other cars knocked over in the yard, but nothing major down in staging, which I was worried about. At any given moment there's upwards of 150 cars stowed below decks, and I had visions of a major catastrophe down there.

After the shaker, Hurricane Irene came through, and the major effect there was the power going out for about 18 hours, which meant another weekend without getting some decoders done that I owe people... No juice, no soldering! Tropical Storm Lee had more impact on the west side of the Chesapeake and on up into Pennsylvania and New England, so other than a couple of stray showers, that left us alone.

A few weeks earlier, I finally completed a project that had been put off for quite a long time, a wagontop B&O caboose for the Brunswick Railroad Museum in Brunswick, Maryland. They have a little N scale layout in the front window of their gift shop, and Tom Simpson, one of their directors as well as an old high school bud, asked me to whip something up for them. I'm going to see if I can help build a more B&O appropriate layout for the front window. The shot below was taken on my layout before I shipped it up to Tom to ride around on the Unitrak loop they've got there.

One other thing that I did get done was some work on a few commercial vehicles and pick up trucks thanks to a generous gift from one of my crew members. He had stockpiled a bunch of cast pewter kits in anticipation of a layout that now likely won't be built, so he sent them along to me. So I started tinkering.

There's more, but they're in varying stages of completion. There's a whole gang of Chevy cabs that I thought would look good on one of the open auto racks, but that will strictly be for photos. The cast pewter models add way too much weight to the car to be practical for running. It might work on an N track run that's relatively flat, but the grades on the WM Western Lines would definitely cause the experiment to end badly.

That's all the news that's fit to print for now. With the weather cooling down and outside projects tailing off, I'm hoping to spend some more time in the train room finishing a bit more of the many projects that I've started. But I'm not in a big hurry. I understand that if you finish everything on your "to do" list, you die!

Spending some time with an old friend

2011-07-22T03:22:00.003-04:00

To provide a foundation for this post, I should explain that in 1959, my dad bought a brand new Plymouth Belvedere right off the showroom floor. He had been home from the army since about 1954, and had a good job as a freight clerk for the Baltimore and Ohio. Since he was as yet unmarried, and still living in his parents' house on Highwood Drive in north Baltimore, he could afford to splurge a little. I should note that the car was Fire Engine Red, with a white convertible top.

When dad was in the Army, he was stationed in what was then known as West Germany and he reached the rank of Corporal as an MP "protecting the beer halls for democracy" as he used to joke. It was a small joke he would cast out with a twinge of melancholy, as this was during the Korean War, and many of his friends from high school and the neighborhood were drafted and sent to more dangerous places, some of whom never returned.

While stationed overseas, Dad became fast friends with John Simons, of Cleveland, Ohio. After his service in the Army, John went on to attend seminary and become ordained as an Episcopal priest. While he became an upright man of the cloth, he was also a gregarious man of great humor. Long story short, after Dad left the service, he remained in touch with the Rt. Rev. It wasn't long after the big Plymouth was in the driveway on Highwood that Dad got the call from his old friend to invite him to his parish in Parma to serve as Godfather to his new son. (John and his wife Nancy remained close to my parents, although both John and my dad have passed.)

My Dad

In so extending this invitation, the reverend set in motion a chain of events that led to today's adventure. You see, my mom, Barbara, was John's parish secretary. Imagine if you will, being a young woman of 26, and looking out your office window to see a long, red automobile sweep into the drive, tail-fins glistening. With the top down, you see a splendid young man with wavy blond hair step out, and he politely greets you with a pleasant smile, sparkling blue eyes, and a strange accent that, at least in northern Ohio, might as well have been from South Carolina. (Dad didn't really have an accent, at least not to our ears, but then we grew up in Baltimore, too!) His face was tanned from the long trip up US 40 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. He must have seemed quite exotic.

So, anyway, one thing led to another, Barbara was swept away in the big red convertible, and they settled in Dad's home town. Naturally, as we children came along, there evolved the annual ritual of traveling up to Cleveland to spend a week or so each summer with the cousins. By the early 70's, Interstate 70 was gradually being completed, and we would speed along in a series of Plymouths, each gulping down more gasoline than the last.

Back in the days before the mind-numbing omnipresence of television, and this ridiculous modern philosophy that children need to be entertained every moment of the day, we did what came naturally. This usually involved squabbling over who would sit next to the window, or complaints about the comparative proportion of this half a sandwich vs. that. But for the most part, we would just press our noses against the glass and look out the window (provided, of course, that you were the one that won the window battle!)

Traveling west from Baltimore on I-70 in those days was a good illustration of why Maryland has long been referred to as "America in Miniature." From the big city with the harbor and industry, you traveled to the Beltway, that most modern of conveyances that provided a gateway for massive suburban development. Once on 70, you found yourself in rolling country dotted with dairies and horse farms. Once you reached Frederick, you could see the first line of the Blue Ridge reaching up into the sky. I remember imagining that it was really an enormous tidal wave ready to crash over the little town below.

After a couple of ridges, there was the broad Cumberland Valley, a tremendously fertile farming area marked by huge barns, hay stacks, and silos. The silos always made this elementary school boy think of giant Thermos bottles for some reason. Past Hagerstown, the more rugged ridges of the Alleghenies began. I knew my favorite part of the trip was close at hand when the two westbound lanes climbed high above the eastbound traffic, which afforded an excellent view of the railroad tracks that ran next to the highway just to the left.

How often it happened I can't recall, but I do have vivid memories of coming around that certain bend in the road just before Hancock, and seeing the headlight of an oncoming train. I had no idea at the time, but this was the Western Maryland Railway. I suppose my dad called this to my attention at some point or another, but at that age, I would have had no idea what he was talking about anyway.

There was a long siding there just east of Tonoloway Creek, which snakes down from Town Hill just east of Hancock. My guess is that this was an important passing siding between Hagerstown and Maryland Junction, the two major terminals of the WM, so it wouldn't be unusual for a westbound drag of empty coal hoppers to be holed up in the siding to wait for the passage of a hot Alpha Jet going east.

As the 1970's wore on, and the Chessie System asserted itself as the new landlord over the WM, I noticed that I didn't see those headlights much anymore. The main line was cut just west of Hancock in 1975, and all the WM's through traffic was diverted over to the B&O tracks at Cherry Run. The line from there to Hancock remained in place to serve a couple of industries with local switching. The long siding at Tonoloway became little more than a storage track for some of Chessie's decrepit fleet of poorly maintained freight cars.

With the passage of a few more years, business dried up for the shippers in Hancock, and the purpose of the line was called into question by Chessie's management. In rapid succession, an application was filed with the ICC to abandon the route, followed shortly by an approval. The scrap train was on hand before the ink was dry. As a final insult, the handsome Hancock train station burned to the ground in a fire of suspicious origin.

As we got older, the trips to see the relatives became fewer and farther between, but I still had occasion to travel that way on business, or to go to a wedding or funeral. But I still experienced the anticipation of possibly spotting a headlight, even after I knew there was no possibility of there being one. Still, this remained a special place for me, and when I learned it had been converted into a "Rails to Trails" project, I knew that one day I'd have the opportunity to take a closer look at this stretch of railroad that so intrigued me as a child.

Today, well, Yesterday was the day.

My son and I embarked on a camping adventure earlier in the week after Laura and my youngest, Julie, went to Disney World thanks to the huge volume of Girl Scout Cookies that was peddled by her troop. After spending the night in Brunswick, Maryland, we headed to Hancock for our second night. So Thursday morning, we struck our tents, loaded the bikes back on the rack, and headed to downtown Hancock for lunch. I decided to ride on the rail trail going east, then cross over to ride the C&O Canal towpath back to town. The round trip was about 17 miles.

I managed about 8 miles out of 22.5 on the WM Rail Trail out of Hancock. If you're a low level bicyclist like myself, this trail is a dream. Fully paved, barely a grade (Thanks to the outstanding 20th Century engineering of the WM), and absolutely bucolic surroundings... save for the roar of I-70 most of the way going east.

A few hours after dark with an extension ladder and some wire cutters would net a treasure hunter quite a few glass insulators...

The original WM era mile markers, sections of rail driven into the ground, have been restored.

another bag of rocks has been harvested for the layout...

Apart from one couple I encountered going west, this was the only other "hiker" I came across on my ride. After I switched over to the canal for the trip back, she reappeared with her fawn. I'm definitely heading back up there as soon as I can to ride the rest of the route.

Photo by Charlie Hill

While I would have probably enjoyed it more to see some speed-lettered diesels barrel through with a fast freight one more time, I have to say it was nice to get up close and personal with this stretch of right of way that was responsible for a whole slew of childhood memories. And maybe, just maybe, for the rest of the stuff you've read about here...

Dream Big

2011-07-09T10:54:00.000-04:00

So I've whipped up a tentative train schedule now that the layout is more or less complete.

Train descriptions:

FIRST CLASS – FAST FREIGHTS

AJ-1/3 Alpha Jet fast freights originating at Allentown from west bound cars consolidated from the L&HR, CNJ, and Reading. Interchanges to the WM at Lurgan, near Shippensburg, PA. After being switched at Hagerstown westbound Alpha Jets would typically run through to Rook Yard near Pittsburgh, then on to Bellevue, Ohio for further classification.

On the layout, AJ 1 & 3 starts at east staging, entering the layout at North Junction. At Ridgeley, set outs for local traffic and cars bound for other points on the railroad are made, and cars are picked up that are bound for the interchange with the N&W at Connellsville.

AJ-2/12: Alpha Jet fast freights originating at Bellevue Yard on the N&W (former NKP) via Rook Yard, to Connellsville, Ridgeley, Hagerstown and Lurgan on the WM, destined for Rutherford Yard, and eastbound connections at Allentown (CNJ, L&HR, NH).

On the layout, these trains originate in West Staging, entering the layout at Greenwood, proceeding east to Maryland Jct. then on to Ridgeley for classification to continue east to Lurgan.

GRAIN EXTRA – (Seasonal) Eastbound grain from the Great Lakes and Midwest for shipment to Port Covington for storage and/or export. Connection from NW at Connellsville, through train to Baltimore.

On the layout, follows main around Ridgeley, pausing for a power change and fresh caboose.

SECOND CLASS – FAST FREIGHTS with Intermediate Switching

BT-1 Originates at Port Covington (Baltimore), westbound to Connellsville to P&LE (Dickerson Run) to Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Cleveland. From there, it followed the Nickel Plate to Toledo, Ohio, its terminus.

On the layout, BT-1 starts at east staging, entering the layout at North Junction. At Ridgeley, set outs for local traffic and cars bound for other points on the railroad are made, and cars are picked up that are bound for the interchange with the P&LE at Connellsville. The train may also do pick-ups and set-outs at Maryland Junction. If volume permits, it may also pick up cars bound for the Laurel Valley, which would be set out at Rockwood Jct.

WM-6 Eastbound counterpart to BT-1, operating from Dickerson Run Yard on the P&LE through Connellsville and on to Baltimore via the East Sub.

On the layout, the train originates out of West Staging, entering the layout at Greenwood. It proceeds east on the Connellsville Sub as far as Maryland Junction, where it may do pick-ups and set-outs of traffic from the Thomas Sub. Proceeding east, it enters Ridgeley Yard to be reblocked for the trip east to Baltimore, via North Jct. into East Staging.

NW-12 Technically East bound from Roanoke, Va to Hagerstown on the Norfolk and Western. Primarily traffic bound for the northeast via the Reading at Lurgan, and timed to connect with AJ-12 at Hagerstown. Also carried traffic to go through to the N&W connection at Connellsville as well.

On the layout, the train originates in East Staging, entering via North Jct. and terminates at Ridgely Yard (a westbound move on the layout).

NW-11 Technically West bound from Hagerstown to Roanoke. Reverse move to NW12, with connections from the Reading and other points via AJ-1.

Originates at Ridgeley, then departs for East Staging via North Junction (eastbound move).

WEST BOUND GRAIN EXTRA (MT) (Seasonal) Empty grain hoppers being returned to the Midwest via Connellsville and the N&W.

On the layout: Originates from East Staging. May pause at Ridgeley for a power/caboose swap.

THIRD CLASS TRAINS – Local Freights and Traveling Switchers.

Luke Digger: Originates at Ridgeley Yard. Turn to Westvaco Mill at Luke and return. Departs westbound, works at Luke, then returns eastbound via Williamsport Jct.

Handles all Luke traffic that originates from the Main line via Ridgeley.

West Local: Originates at Elkins and moves eastbound toward Ridgeley. Switches Thomas, Shaw, and Cumberland, and provides pick-ups and set-outs at Luke, and transfers through traffic to Ridgeley for connections. Typically carries wood chip loads from the west into Luke.

East Local: Originates at Ridgeley and works westbound toward Elkins. Also switches Cumberland, Maryland Junction, Shaw and Thomas as needed.

Union Bridge Traveling Switcher: Originates Ridgeley, operating eastbound to North Jct. and East Sub (staging.) Switches NC industrial tracks and PC interchange as needed. Return train (from East Staging to Ridgeley) uses the same symbol.

Elkins Mine Run: Handles delivery of empty hoppers to mines along the Thomas Sub, pulling loads and staging them at Thomas if space permits, otherwise returning loads to Elkins.

Coal Extras

(Train Symbol = Road Number of Lead Unit)

Connellsville Sub:

GREY TRAIN: Eastbound. Originates at Somerset, PA on the Laurel Valley, also picks up at Blue Lick at Meyersdale (all off layout). Consists of Laurel Valley and WM hoppers, usually with Laurel Valley power through to Ridgeley.

FAIRMONT EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates Fairmont, WV(B&O) via Bowest Jct. and the Connellsville line. Consists of WM and B&O hoppers. May include B&O power through to Ridgeley.

ELKINS EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates at Elkins, with coal from the WM’s local lines in WV, as well as cars from Thomas. WM hoppers, WM power through to Ridgeley.

Eastbound from Ridgeley:

ALLENTOWN EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates Ridgeley, with cars bound for Bethlehem Steel at Allentown. Usually includes cars from Fairmont.

PHILADELPHIA EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates Ridgeley, with cars bound for Philadelphia Power electric generation plants. Soft coal from the Grey Train, WM and Laurel Valley

BALTIMORE EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates Ridgeley, with cars bound for Baltimore Gas and Electric generation plants. Soft coal from the Grey Train, WM and Laurel Valley

PORT COVINGTON EXTRA: Eastbound. Originates Ridgeley, with cars bound for Port Covington for export. All 55 and 66 ton cars due to limitations at the rotary dumper. Cars from the Thomas Sub.

Westbound from Ridgeley: (loads)

PITTSBURGH EXTRA: Westbound. Originates Ridgeley, coal for US Steel and other manufacturers via Connellsville/PLE connection. Small numbers of cars may be added to BT-1.

Train also includes ore loads from Port Covington.

Westbound from Ridgeley: (MT)

FAIRMONT EXTRA: Westbound. Originates Allentown (East Staging) proceeds through to West Staging.

GREY EXTRA: Westbound: Originates Philadelphia and Baltimore, combined at Ridgeley. WM Power into Ridgeley, LRV power west to Rockwood Jct. (West Staging)

ELKINS EXTRA: Westbound: Originates Port Covington, Baltimore, Allentown etc. Combined at Ridgeley with cars for Shaw, Thomas, Elkins and points beyond. Also includes westbound ore movements bound for Pittsburgh.

I either need more staging, a bigger yard, a longer main line run, fewer trains or more freight cars... The eyes might be a little bigger than the stomach, not sure yet!

Arteries in Place, Time to Get the Blood Flowing...

2011-07-07T21:12:00.000-04:00

So, now that the primary infrastructure of the Western Maryland Western Lines layout is in place, and the ceremonial last spike and first trains have been dispensed with, it's time to get down to the business of operating a model railroad.

This means the uproariously fun activities of inventorying the rolling stock, updating the car cards (these are actual cards that represent each and every piece of rolling stock on the layout) and preparing the multitude of waybills for each car.

Car cards and waybills begin to make sense of the mayhem.

I use a simplified 4-cycle waybill in my operations, wherein each car card is matched to a slip of paper that dictates four different destinations for the freight car in question. The waybill slip is turned at each destination, revealing where it will be headed next. Some of them are easy, such as some of the coal hopper fleet. When loaded, they head east, when empty they head west back to the mines in the mountains.

One of the challenges of organizing the operations on my layout is to keep the "bridge" traffic as interesting as the on-line and local stuff. The Western Maryland earned it's bread hauling coal, but it was the through traffic as part of the famed "Alphabet Route" that provided much of the butter. At the west end, trains came to the WM from both the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie and the Norfolk and Western at Connellsville, while to the east, priority freight arrived from New England and the northeast via the Reading at Lurgan, and from the WM's own terminal at Port Covington in Baltimore.

On the real WM, Hagerstown was the nexus of the eastern routes, while Ridgeley Yard near Cumberland worked the traffic coming and going from the west. Between the two yards lay the Cumberland Extension, a largely unpopulated route designed to little more than shuttle trains back and forth with virtually no on-line traffic along the way.

Coal traffic, meanwhile, was concentrated at Knobmount Yard, just south of Ridgeley, where coal drags from both the Thomas Sub and the Connellsville "New Line" came together to be weighed, marshalled and otherwise readied for distribution to the WM's many coal-consuming customers.

On the WMRY Western Lines, I had to pick and choose my operations focal points carefully. Initially, my primary yard was to be Hagerstown. This was driven by the relative importance of this yard compared to Ridgeley, as well as the desire to model the massive engine terminal there. But I really needed to also account for the coal traffic at the west end, since I clearly don't have room to model both Hagerstown AND Knobmount. So I compromised, building the large yard and engine terminal in the mold of Hagerstown, but naming it Ridgeley to be more reflective of the overall traffic flow.

A side benefit of this is the geographic proximity of Ridgeley Yard to Cumberland is a reasonable facsimile of reality on the layout.

Having spent the last few evenings riffling through the paperwork, the overall operations scheme of the layout is starting to come into focus. I'm planning a little shake down session in a couple of weeks, so I expect to have a bit more to report once that's under my belt.

A quick follow up...

2011-06-27T20:35:00.001-04:00

For those of you who missed the earlier iteration of the N scale WMRY Western Lines, here's a view of the same spot now occupied by Ridgeley Yard, circa 2004/5.

Yup, there's Andy's bed and his toybox about where the dispatcher's desk is now.

Man, was it that long ago?

Golden Spike Special!

2011-06-27T13:31:00.001-04:00

To celebrate the recent completion of my main line trackage, we held a special ops session today for the "Golden Spike Special" made up of cars provided by a number of friends and fans. During the past week cars have been arriving in the mail, including one shipped from a friend serving in the military that's based in Germany.

Today we welcomed a few more traveling cars from modelers who have been following the progress on my layout through my blog, including a couple collected at the Hershey N Scale convention this weekend. The highlight was Bryan Bussey's (of Eastern Seaboard Models) magnificent Conrail OCS full dome, shown above just ahead of the PRR full dome Eric220 provided. (Eric's layout is based on a "What IF?" contemporary PRR that spans coast to coast...) Sadly the roster shot I took of this car didn't turn out very well, but we did get a peek inside at the neatly set tables and other details:

Remember, this is N Scale!

Also had cars from Dave Foxx, Mike Delamaiz, Bob Bufkin, and David K. Smith. Sizemore (Tim Alder) was well represented, having painted the F-unit on the point. Phil Hoffman brought along some Spanish prototype cars, but they were unable to be included due to some compatibility issues. According to Phil, this was in keeping with Spanish rail operations...

While the layout wasn't built with passenger traffic in mind, we managed to get the Golden Spike Special around the layout in reasonably good order. We didn't ever really reach "track speed" owing to the numerous photo and video run bys requested by the crew. Here's a couple of highlights:

Crossing the Potomac from Ridgeley into Cumberland.

Passing a freight holed up on the long siding on the Connellsville Sub.

Crossing the river into Greenwood, en route to Connellsville.

Returning to North Junction at the east end of the layout. Note that the KCS has spotted the Spanish cars near the scrap yard. I'm not sure what this means.

The train then headed west again, this time working its way up to Thomas via the Thomas Sub. Here it is leaving the main at Maryland Junction:

Restricted clearances made Thomas the end of the run, so the engines turned around, and pulled the train back down to Ridgeley.

Here it is drifting downgrade at Shaw as the sun starts to fade.

While we didn't get to run many trains, we had a great time. It was good to see the layout back in action, although we naturally found a few things to add to the "to do" list. Thanks as always to the crew, who have been such a great support through this whole project.

At this point I think it's appropriate to offer a word of thanks to all the people who have had a hand in making today possible. As most of you know, the economy has really taken a toll on my family, and being able to keep working on the layout has been a blessing beyond measure. I guess to some extent it's been a good hiding place, but it's also been very therapeutic, and a good way to mark progress on a lot of things, not just the trains themselves.

Anyway, for all of you who helped out, my gratitude knows no bounds.
John, whose layout and approach to the hobby has been an inspiration since the first day I washed up on your doorstep... what is it, 8 years ago?
Dave Foxx, Phil Hoffman, Ed Kapuscinski, Brian Carhart, Bob Bufkin, Carl Tweedale and Tim Alder, my regular crew, who were instrumental in making the jump from the old layout to the new, and who have contributed countless hours and 6 packs to the cause.
David K. Smith, who puts it all into an image that's worth a thousand hours of labor saved... and whose creativity and innovations continue to push me forward.
Jerry Britton, for getting out of N Scale, and showering me with surplus track. There needs to be bronze plaque on the layout somewhere for you, Jerry. Literally, the layout expansion would not have happened if not for your kindness.
Bryan at ESM and Craig at Bluford, who helped me pull off the hopper car project last year that financed much of the project.
Eric Payne, Dave Vollmer and so many others who have asked the right questions at the right moments to make me think my way out of various corners, whether they involved scenery, operations or what have you.
Thanks also to Victor Miranda, who helped dig me out of a couple of steam loco situations along the way.
Jason, Mike, Gary Hinshaw, Phil, Tim, Ed, John, Bob, and so many others who were happy to dip into their junk boxes to pull out whatever salvage I needed to finish this project or that. I've got plenty of leftovers that I hope one day to "pay forward".

So, onward and upward. Now that most of the railroad is in place, I suppose it's time to start editing those old car cards and way bills!

Nearing the Finish Line

2011-06-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

It's the Saturday before the Sunday when the operating crew will show up for an initial shake down run. The train room is still somewhat in disarray, there's still a few nagging problems to work out, and only a few hours remaining to get it all done.
Since last we chatted, I've gotten 99% of the yard at Ridgeley installed, with switches wired and mechanically connected.


East end yard throat

West end yard throat

I'd like to get the yard tracks and surface painted before show time, but that will be a time consuming and messy process. I'll probably do it anyway, dragging the compressor and air brush in from the garage to shoot it with some burnt umber acrylic. That will go faster than brushing it all on. Then while the paint's drying, I can do the stuff I have to do, like clean the debris off the floor, put away the various tools, and otherwise make the train room and the crew lounge a little more hospitable.

I'm really looking forward to this session, it will be the first opportunity to try out the systems that I've put in place, and the first peek at the finished track plan for my regular crew. I'm hoping the feedback I get doesn't involve any major upheavals.

Part of the fun will be running a "Private Varnish" special around the layout, wherein members of my crew, plus a few other fans are sending or bringing representative passenger cars from their layouts. The first two arrived earlier this week:

The car on the left is an SNCF (French National Railways) coach that was shipped in from a fan in Germany, and the other is a Pennsylvania Railroad full dome (yes, it's a foobie!) from a fan who's layout is based on a contemporary "What If" version of the PRR that spans the continent. I'm expecting a few more to arrive Sunday afternoon.

Look for a full report of the festivities sometime next week.

A little honey, then a little vinegar...

2011-06-14T23:47:00.001-04:00

Tonight the layout ran remarkably well. At one point, I had three trains of 20+ cars orbiting, plus a little passenger special I threw together to start warming up for the onslaught of visiting varnish in the next couple of weeks, which I ran down the Thomas Sub from Elkins, then around the full layout through both staging yards and back up the hill. This included 85' passenger cars with body mounted couplers going up the 24" diameter twist on the Thomas Sub.

The only upset I had was at the end of the evening, when I went to retrieve the coal train from West Staging, which I had hoped to run back up the Thomas Sub to park in Elkins... Earlier, when I put it into the staging yard, I overshot the exit turnout by less than an inch. No problem, I figured, I'll just nudge her backward enough to push the slack in, and that will clear the frogs for Track 2. Well, as the Orioles were going down in flames in Toronto, so too were my dreams of a flawless night of operating trains. Somewhere in the darkness, one of the hoppers popped over the railhead, leaving the train coupled, but inoperable due to a trip pin snagging on something.

I left it, and came down to share this with you.

Before I can do anything tomorrow night, I'll have to pull the other two trains that are down there out by their tails and run them up the hill to get them out of the way. Then I can inspect the train to see where the problem was. I suspect it was a car with body mounts pushing a truck mounted car out of alignment.

As I contemplate going through this process yet again, I can't help but accept that I'm starting to get good at clearing things out down below when problems arise. I did install work lights, so I can see pretty well down there. To pinpoint a flange or a knuckle, I've got a couple of nifty pens with LED's on the end, which are better than flash lights due to their small size and concentrated beam of light.

The process does remain time consuming, so I can only imagine how disruptive a wreck in staging would be during an ops session.

I suspect that the best solution will always be to have me serve as the west end dispatcher, so I can carefully monitor all traffic going in and out of there. At least until someone else steps up and takes an interest in doing that job.

For comparison, the East End ran flawlessly, but I wasn't really taxing it very much. Recall that each track can hold two trains, so I had to do some "valet parking" maneuvers, pulling the second train forward after the first had left, and remember which tracks were occupied to prevent unfortunate rear end events from taking place.

There were two instances where cars derailed in East Staging, one was a passenger car that suffers from a high-low coupler issue and likely dragged a coupler pin, and the other an empty coal hopper that was probably underweight coming down the helix that got bunched up.

Still, despite it all it was a good run, with a variety of locomotive consists, train lengths, and car types. I was overall pleased with the performance of the railroad, including the West Staging yard. One highlight was a trip by the grain train, headed up with an A-B Intermountain F unit consist, which went through in the opposite direction of typical traffic flow. When I noticed this was going on, I panicked that the old Atlas c80 flappy paddle remote turnouts would wreak havoc, and that climbing the inside loop of the helix would create undue stresses with horrifying results... neither came to pass. The train rolled through the yard smoothly, just in the wrong direction.

It has been suggested that I reverse the flow of traffic through the yard to put the outbound trains closer to the aisle, and this may be a simple solution. But I think longer trains will have problems climbing the helix with 2 fewer inches of radius... I'll try some experiments when I have plenty of patience on hand, and plenty of beer for when the patience runs out!

That's tonight's report. More to come as the end of June approaches.

Decisions, Decisions

2011-06-10T08:12:00.001-04:00

During our last segment, I was lamenting about the operational snags that I had encountered in the new west staging yard. It turns out there were two primary problems.

One of the locomotives involved had a wheel gauge problem, as well as a dragging coupler trip pin, which was creating derailments going IN to the yard.
Another train that was stored in the yard had been jostled off the rails while parked, causing some cars to separate, and others to snag on the outbound frogs.

The track problems occurred when I went in with the "big hook" to collect the derailed rolling stock. I have a length of trim with a nail in the end that I use as a grappling hook to reach the farthest corners of the netherworld. (My primary argument against expensive, fragile add-on detail parts on rolling stock.) This had snagged on a piece of track and pulled it right out of its glue. I was able to repair it, but once the yard is installed overhead, this area won't be accessible at all. I suppose with a little more caution, and perhaps a different tool, I can avoid this problem in the future.

So, all of the problems go back to "Human Error," something I'm profoundly good at. So for now, I'll be adding some bracing to keep the table more stable to minimize the jostling effect, and checking and double checking the maintenance of the fleet to prevent tracking problems.

This doesn't address the primary design flaw, which David K. Smith has brilliantly solved with this drawing:

It's no easy task to implement this design, being as it exists below the engine terminal and yard complex, so I'm perpetuating the debate, to paraphrase The Clash, "should it stay or should it go?" It's got me stymied, and is holding up progress on building out the yard, and basically discouraging me from going into the train room at all.

Le sigh. I guess I should give myself a little more time to think about it, but the time draws nigh to, as Grandma so colorfully put it, "shit or get off the pot" ...

Houston, we have a problem.

2011-06-05T10:04:00.001-04:00

After months of successfully running trains through the west staging yard, the last couple of days have presented amazing challenges that are causing me to re-think this whole side of the layout.

Well, at least the bits that are under ground and virtually impossible to reach.

I'm not sure if a heat kink has developed (the layout is in the attic, and it got hot as hell last week), or there's debris that's fallen on the track, or if my haste in laying the recycled c80 flex I used down there is rearing its ugly head... But it's turning out to definitely NOT be ready for prime time.

It's been exacerbated by the installation of the yard office desk, which makes the distance between the aisle and the exit throat unmanageable without extraordinary effort.

The problem is on the right side.

This is the "as built" drawing, and you can see how far back the turnouts are from human contact, and this is made doubly challenging because the vertical clearance is only about 6".

That view pretty much illustrates the problem.

In retrospect, I should have brought the helix around another 1/4 turn, and placed the turnouts closer to the front edge, as I did on the east end in the original construction.

Why I didn't take this into account is beyond me. And I'm afraid that in the present condition, an easy solution is too.

Don't Panic!

2011-06-02T16:32:00.001-04:00

One of the things on my bucket list has been to re-organize my Picasa albums, and I finally did it last weekend. The result is that many of the images built in to this blog, and my other musings on the various fora I post to have disappeared momentarily.

Don't fret. They're still there, and should now be easier for me to get to, and therefore easier to share with you, dear readers.

I've completed the process of updating all of the blog photos, and going forward, you'll be able to click on the images for a more detailed view. Thanks for your patience!

The Nerve Center

2011-04-29T21:35:00.000-04:00

When I first conceived of this layout plan, there was one critical element that simply HAD to be there. A reasonable representation of the shops and roundhouse at Hagerstown, Maryland.

This was the major division point on the Western Maryland, where the East Subdivision branches from Baltimore, Hanover and Shippensburg met the main line to Cherry Run, and then onto the Cumberland Extension to go west. To support this nexus of east and west, the WM chose Hagerstown to be the location of its primary shops.

Obviously, there was no way for me to replicate the entire facility, especially since I also need to have a functioning model railroad yard in the same space. But with a little selective compression, a lot of old Heljan roundhouse kits, and some very useful input from my on-line design committee, I came up with a plan that offers not only some of the operating potential of a division point terminal, but also the look and feel of Hagerstown.

My one cop-out, and admission that I can't fully do justice to Hagerstown, is that I refer to my facility as Ridgeley, which in reality was a much smaller yard at the west end of the Cumberland Extension. This is appropriate, since my operations are more based on the west end than the Hagerstown area, although I do take advantage of thru trains from the east arriving with Reading locomotives on the point.

Anyway, the focal point of the yards will be without a doubt, the engine terminal and shops. I want to convey the importance of Ridgeley to the operations of my railroad, and nothing can do this better than a substantial set of buildings, complete with interior and exterior lighting to demonstrate around-the-clock activity.

I think I'm getting close to that. At the far left, you see the two arrival/departure tracks that will serve the yard which will be beyond the left edge of the image. Next, there is a caboose servicing track, then the westbound ready tracks. The Walthers 130' turntable anchors the scene, and is surrounded by the car shops and a 20 stall engine house. The eastbound ready tracks are at the lower edge of the scene.

At the lower left hand corner, the first track to the left is the drill track, where the yard switcher can work cuts of cars in and out of the classification tracks, and the main lead from the main line through to the yard is next.

This will be a very active part of the layout. As a bridge route with connections to the east and west, lots of run through power from the Reading and Norfolk and Western will make appearances here. And the steep grades and tight curves west of Ridgeley will require different types of power than the lines east of the yard, so there will be a lot of reasons to change engines here. Cabooses will also be swapped, as the Hagerstown pool will work east, the Elkins Pool will work west, and the foreign road cabs will have to be turned around and sent back to home rails.

All the while, the BL2 switcher will be slugging it out switching the yard building blocks of cars for various destinations east and west to keep that Fast Freight Rolling. For me, this is the nerve center of the layout, and facilitates the type of operations I enjoy. All of them. I can put together a local to run up the hill to Thomas, or to the paper mill at Luke. I can pick up a hot cut of cars bound for Connellsville and send them west down the Youghiougheny, or I can spend a busy hour or two shifting cars in the yard to build the blocks for next time. It's all very satisfying to me.

The best part about using a fully functional model railroad yard is that you never run the same train twice. Oh sure, maybe you've got a cut of coal hoppers that always seem to make the same trip, but you can even mix them up with the judicious use of car cards and waybills. And for those times when I want to just send a train around in endless orbits, I have that option available as long as I pay a little bit of attention to a couple of turnouts. With the staging yards I've built, at the end of the night, I can just bring that train (or two!) in for a landing, make a note of which trains are parked where, and I'm ready to run loops again, or have a full blown ops session the next time out.

Model railroaders who avoid yards are really missing out, in my opinion.

The Epic Battle

2011-03-17T10:56:00.007-04:00

If you've ever built a model railroad, and who hasn't, you know there are a lot of things that involve mass production. Whether you're fabricating grab irons for your boxcar fleet, or installing couplers, or putting in switch throws, there's a fair amount of repetitive motions.

That being the case, you'd think that you could make your parts, set up the assembly line, and start cranking things out. But there's always that one piece that doesn't want to be like all the others. There's that one coupler box that wants to pop apart when all the other ones snap together tight. Or the switch throw, that no matter how much you tweak it the points just don't close one way or the other.

Such was the case last night as I endeavored to install the slide switches in the new engine terminal. I put in three with virtually no effort. Drill a hole, insert the throw rod, wire the contacts and in she goes. Then came Number Four.

I don't know if it was just getting late, or if the second cup of coffee wore off, or just what the problem was, but this particular switch just didn't want to go in. At first, it was a simple matter of the points not closing in one direction. This is usually fixed by adding a bend here or there in the rod. Well, that got it closed the way I wanted, but shot the other direction.

So I tried a different approach, running the throw rod through the handle the other way. Well, in handling the switch this time, I managed to break off one of the wires...so, back to the soldering iron. I put Humpty Dumpty back together, and still no throw. Grrr. Turned out the rod I used was too small for the hole I drilled, and it was slopping around just enough to keep the points from moving or holding tight.

One Bigger Throw Rod Later...

I carefully bent the rod to go precisely from the slide switch to the points, gingerly clipped everything together, then ever so cautiously pressed the slide switch into the hole in the benchwork... At which point the slide switch itself decided it was time to self destruct. As I could hear the little spring and contacts clatter on the floor, I looked up to the ceiling, uttered a few utterances, and decided it was time to go to bed.

Finally this morning, with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I resolved to start fresh with a new slide switch. Five minutes later, it was done. And so it goes...

Eureka!

2011-03-16T11:50:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note to update you...

The last of the public works crew has emerged from the manhole, and declared that the primary power bus for the mighty Western Maryland Western Lines is hereby complete. At least the parts that I needed to crawl under the yard for. (Still need to run about 6' between the sections on either side of the window).

The final major wiring project will be the control bus. That's all right behind the fascia, though, so it will go in pretty quickly once the necessary materials are assembled.

So, tomorrow night, God willin' and the creek don't rise, I can clear the aisles of all the crap that I pulled out from the gloom beneath the benchwork, and actually access the entire layout without fearing a broken ankle.

Once completed, the final section of benchwork for the yard gets installed...

Steady Rollin'

2011-03-14T23:32:00.002-04:00

For the last two weeks, I've been making pretty steady progress on all the tedious work I described in the last entry. The main line is now complete, the drop leaf in front of the closet door has been constructed, tracked and wired... and even a modest bit of scenery applied.

I've also gotten to the point where I could re-install the turntable and get it functional, so the roundhouse will likely be moving to the front burner again soon. It's a big, unweildy beast, which I was hoping t0 be able to work on at the workbench, but it's fairly close to the aisle, and the table height is about right to be able to sit on a stool and work on it, so I'm okay with that. Wiring in the lights will be a bit of an adventure, but I worked out the kinks of my process when I did the Elkins Roundhouse from scratch a couple of years ago.

I'm going to install a 12 position rotary switch, which will allow me to leave the roundhouse tracks dead, with the ability to turn on two tracks at a time to move engines in and out.

I've also dreamed up a panel that will indicated the outbound switch positions in West Staging. I've already rigged them up to just about impossible to come out against a switch, but it will be fun to have a visual.

So, basically... where I am at this point is very nearly complete, at least in terms of infrastructure. The main line is complete from east staging, through the yard area, then to Cumberland and Maryland Junction. From there, the main proceeds around the peninsula, along the front wall, down the helix and into West staging. Also, from MY, the Thomas Sub is complete from there up through Thomas, up another small helix, and into Elkins on the upper level.

I can't wait to get all of this boring wiring and trackwork done, so I can get back to the scenery, the part I really enjoy!

Until next time...

Impatience is a Virtue

2011-03-01T10:25:00.004-05:00

As a follow up to last week's entry, I have to confess that I've made a career out of placing carts in front of horses.

Adamant as I was about doing the messy, time consuming and virtually invisible wiring that needs to be done to make the staging yard under Ridgeley work properly, sadly it remains undone. I got all in a tizzy yesterday (my day off) and cut the panels needed to not only finish the main line, but also to situate the massive 20 stall roundhouse I've been fooling around with since last February.

Not to worry. Most of the panels remain loose, so I can still root around under the belly of the beast to do what still needs to be done.

...But not until a train is running the entire circuit...

Hopefully later tonight!

Less is Better

2011-02-28T07:42:00.003-05:00

For me, yesterday's challenge was to get a train running the full route of the layout. Fortunately, Bryan and Dave had other ideas.

So, instead of focusing on my need for instant gratification, we focused on building a proper frame to ultimately carry the main line as well as the yard through the gap. So, it'll probably be a few more weeks, or perhaps days, before I can lay those last few pieces of track to connect the dots.

If I had one more piece of plywood on hand in the garage, we might have finished the job, but as it is, this is better, because I'll still have good access to the subterranean staging yard to finish up a few jobs down there before I close it all up.

Thanks to Bryan and Dave for making the trek down, and for keeping my eyes on the prize.

Company's Coming!

2011-02-26T11:47:00.004-05:00

Once again the Railwire Field Service has dispatched another team of skilled craftsman to unleash their talents on the N Scale Western Maryland. Traveling from points all over the globe, including upper Delaware, they will be descending (or is it ascending?) on my attic to help me make the final push to get a train running fully from Point A to Point B.

Of course, this means several critical things have to take place today. First, the beer fridge will need to be properly stocked. Everyone knows that a machine works better when well lubricated...

Second, I'll need to get a rake and a dumpster to clear the aisles so we can actually move about in the room to get things done. This will be no small task. Since there are wiring projects to do, much of the junque that's stowed beneath the layout has to be pulled out. At the same time, there will be carpentry and track work going on above decks, so there's a need for floor space.

Somewhere amid all this confusion, hopefully we'll be able to check off the items on the "to do" list. These include:

Adjusting and wiring the staging yard turnouts (hopefully I can get this done tonight, but don't hold your breath)
Building the necessary supports to carry the new yard platform.
Installing the remaining 24 feet or so of track to tie the two ends of the railroad together. (Maybe I should have some champagne on hand to go with the beer!)
Then putting in the gazillion wire drops that will be necessary to make the whole mess work.

We've only got a few hours to work with, but based on previous experiences, I'm hopeful... confident even, that we will be able to accomplish great things in the time allotted.

The Slippery Slope...

2011-02-22T23:10:00.004-05:00

I do this all the time... I've got a pile of projects that HAVE to be done, but I get myself all wrapped around stuff that I'd rather do. You know the feeling. There's that pesky turnout machine that requires about 10 minutes of laying on your back under the benchwork to make a 1/16th of an inch adjustment, but wouldnt' it be more fun to play with track to lay out the yard throat?

There's also screening to staple up around the helix to keep derailments from hitting the floor, or becoming eternally lost in the storage tubs that will live in the nether regions below the railroad, but that's not fun! Running trains up and down the helix, now THAT's fun!

With helpers, no less! I justify this goofing off with the idea that the helix should be well tested before I close it all up. But really, it's just goofing off.

Despite it all, it's still productive to do these things. I've got the crew coming down this weekend to help finish up a temporary connection so I can run the full circuit around the layout, so there are things that should be in place when they arrive, such as the panel that will carry the yard throat over the helix. And of course, you can't cut the panel to the appropriate size until you layout the track for the yard throat... So that's what I did tonight, even though it might be months before I actually build the yard. (Somehow I doubt that.)

There's still plenty to do, but it's pretty satisfying to get this piece of business out of the way. Tomorrow I promise I'll wire those switch machines. Honest.

Closing in on a Milepost.

2011-02-11T18:59:00.004-05:00

Well, it's just over a year since the reconstruction of the Western Maryland Western Lines began, and I'm actually pretty pleased with the volume of progress I've made thus far.

Last night I made a significant advance by installing the 32" diameter helix I constructed over the course of a week. It goes in the corner, and will carry the Connellsville line down to the staging yard under Ridgeley. At this moment, there's about five feet of railroad to build to make this connection, which should be complete over the weekend.

The beginnings of the west yard throat will be just above this monster eventually, but I think I'm going to cheat a little and run a temporary track around there to make a connection to North Junction and on to east staging. This will afford me the opportunity to run trains in earnest for the first time in about year.

Like the initial section of the layout over by the paper mill, I constructed the bulk of the helix off-site (at the kitchen table to be precise) to make it easier to align the track, do the wiring, and otherwise try to get it right. Once completed, I hauled it up the steps to the attic. Amazingly, the vertical dimensions worked out to within 1/8", which was easily handled by the leveling screws on the legs. I secured it to the wall to eliminate any wobble.

The outer track on the twist has a radius of 16", and the inner 14.5" Ascending trains will have the wider berth to reduce friction as much as possible. It will be interesting to test to see how long a train can reasonably manage the climb. The overall rise goes from 31.5" to 38.75" in two and a quarter turns. Not sure how the math works out on that, but I'm sure it won't be long before someone chips in with that calculation. It doesn't look like more than a brace of SD40's can handle. I'm hoping I can maintain my projected train length of 30 cars.

Anyway, that's all for now. Stay tuned for further developments.

The Contemplative Process

2011-01-27T21:47:00.005-05:00

As I forge ahead with my seemingly endless endeavor to rebuild my N scale empire, I'm discovering that the various phases of the project generally proceed along the same basic sequence.

First, I find myself standing in the train room, usually in my pajamas with a coffee cup in my hand, staring obliquely at whatever the current obstacle is that's confronting me. This process can be repeated for several days, or over the course of several weeks or even months. Usually these silent vigils take place in increments of about 10 minutes to an hour. It depends on how hungry I am.

During these periods, my mind will alternately slip in and out of gear. At the more productive moments, it's envisioning the finished scene, or the complex turnout linkage, or fully lit grouping of structures and vehicles. These thoughts are quickly replaced by a spell where I just stare blankly at the framework, as I go over the "to do" list that will be required to get from what I'm looking at right now, to what I fantasized about a moment earlier.

Next, I heave a sigh, scratch my head, then take a sip from my coffee cup, which has gone stone cold during the elapsed time.

If it's my day off, I may swing into action and start to tackle the list that will nudge me ever closer to the goal. This list may include actual model railroading activities, such as plugging in the soldering pencil, or moving some rolling stock out of harm's way, but usually it starts with such mundane activities as getting dressed so I can head out to the garage to find a piece of lumber or a box of screws. If my wife isn't home, I may bypass the whole getting dressed thing, and just put on my slippers for the trek across the driveway. (These are usually my least productive outings.)

The first trip to the garage is generally an assessment of the inventory at hand, which may lead to a safari to the lumberyard or hardware to fill in any missing gaps. There's so much stuff stockpiled, though, that this is rarely needed.

Returning to the train room, which is in the attic, a full three flights of stairs from the garage, I quickly realize that a critical tool or piece of material has been left down on the workbench. This scenario will be repeated throughout the day, and this constitutes the extent of my physical fitness regimen.

Another recurring theme in my layout construction is the law of "One Step Forward Requires Two Steps Back." This means that before any real forward progress can be recorded, some hastily concocted shortcut will have to be undone. Most recently, this involved the relocation of a turnout that I had installed to close up the long siding on the Connellsville Sub.

That's it there in the middle of the shot. When I did this, my main concern was keeping the turnout on the "fixed" portion of the layout, and not on the removable section I have to install in front of the window. I had neglected to verify that this location would provide the desired minimum train length of 30 cars, plus 2-3 locomotives and a caboose. Once the glue dried and everything was in place, I checked this, and was disappointed to see that I was stuck at around 28 cars.

I walked away, and resumed the ritual with the pajamas etc. for several weeks.

The other night, I resolved to work on the removable section, which involved re-working an existing module so that it would fit in the space, span the window, and provide the base elevations so I could make the final adjustments on the previous work, and set the grades for the sections beyond the window to the right. This was fun, and led me to a solution on the Connellsville Sub siding issue.

You can see the turnout will now appear on the removable section, which will require additional wiring connections, but I'll work that out. The worst part will be digging in to the old scenery, and making a hole in the plywood deck to make room for the Tortoise switch machine that will run the turnout. Not impossible, to be sure, but it will take a bit of head scratching.

So next time we chat, odds are I'll be in my pajamas clutching a coffee cup and staring blankly at a hole drilled in a bit of plywood.

And so it goes.

Holiday Progress

2011-01-04T19:58:00.004-05:00

Here we are, the first post of the new year (2011). I was fortunate enough to have a few days off over the holidays, and took advantage of that time to press ahead with a couple of key projects. First, I continued to flesh out the scenery around Thomas, West Virginia, closing up the chasm between the yard there and the masonite fascia. This also included finishing out the base scenery along the Connellsville line on the lower level along the river bank.

This also involved completing the highway bridge leading out of Thomas. I used an old Atlas Warren Truss bridge as the basic component, and tricked it out with some Evergreen H beams and a styrene deck, then added some road striping with a yellow pencil. Finally, for the sake of the safety of my N scale motorists, I added some guardrails using Evergreen strip stock.

All that's left to do in Thomas is to construct the iconic brick station building, a couple of more company houses, and then work on detailing out the post and frame foundations. I have a stand in for the lumber mill operation, and a kit to bash to finish it, and of course, some trees, figures vehicles and so forth.

Next, I moved around the corner to start roughing in the framework for Cumberland, which will be my urban section. Since the benchwork is fairly deep at this area, I have to work from the back wall out, as I won't be able to easily reach the far sections once the mainline is installed through town. The Thomas Sub line to the helix runs behind Cumberland, and parallels my version of US 40 into the Narrows, a scene showcased in our last installment. Working forward from Route 40, I'm creating a typical highway commercial scene, replete with billboard signs, gasoline stations and fast food joints. So far things are just slapped in "for placement only" consideration, but I'll be refining this area in the coming weeks.

My time frame is around 1970, and I've been told that there wasn't a Pizza Hut in Cumberland until 1972, but I'll take that under advisement. The Pizza Hut got a "snow" job when I used it on a slap-dash Christmas Garden a few years ago, so I'll need to be repainting that. I'll also add some more details to the roof and landscape to make it look a little less Plasticville. Either that or I'll build a proper road side greasy spoon, but for now we'll stick with pizza. In the background you can see the larger buildings of Cumberland's main thoroughfare, Baltimore Street.

I'll be using some DPM structures, and kitbashing a few others to get the downtown feel here. I've also seen some Japanese Tomix buildings that look like they might work for the newer buildings that were constructed in the 1950's and '60's. We'll see what the budget allows for in the coming months.

As we proceed back toward the aisle, we pick up the segment of the mainline through town where the Western Maryland Station is to be located. I've been working on a scratchbuild of the station for some time, and this will give me the motivation to try to finish it.

The station scene will represent how the building looked in the early 1970's, with the middle platform removed. Baltimore Street crosses the tracks just to the left of the station, and there will be an interchange track for the B&O just to the right like the prototype. The panel in the foreground will be the stream bed for Wills Creek, which in this area is enclosed in a concrete flood control channel, as shown in the map below.

View Larger Map

The challenge for me will be to patiently work on these background scenes and get them to a level of completeness so I can confidently finish running Wills Creek from the back to the front, and then install the remainder of the main line. Usually I'm too impatient to do things in the proper order, and I end up regretting it later. I'm already struggling with myself on this one, as I really want to get the track installed in front of the station. Somehow I'll manage, I'm sure.

Making the Scene...

2010-12-03T22:24:00.006-05:00

Been cobbling together some more scenery.

Here's some highlights:

Wills Creek, west of Cumberland. That would be US 40 there. This runs along the back edge of the layout, and will be difficult to access once I construct the main line through Cumberland, so I'm trying to tease out as complete a scene as I can before I close up the hole in the bench work.

Looking the other way. Once the scenery is closed up, the state highway department assures me that this will be a less dangerous curve...

High bridge over the Casselman River. This scene might seem confusing if you consider that the high bridge is on the Thomas Sub in West Virginia, while the low line is somewhere between Deal and Meyersdale in Pennsylvania. Ah the joys of selective compression!

Another view. The scene remains incomplete, I need to add the walkway on the near side of the bridge. The engine is a Walther's 0-8-0 into which I recently installed a decoder. It currently resides in Minnesota. I like this photo angle... More trees will do just the right trick.

Thomas, West Virginia. I've been working on the company town housing along the ridge. I'm happy with the way the town is coming together. I'm working my way from the skyboard out to the fascia, gradually filling in the peninsula. You can see the Wills Creek scene just above the Cool Whip tub I use to mix up my Sculptamold. The big factory in the back is Kingsford Charcoal.

Detail of a "Company House" duplex, abandoned, and gradually returning to nature. That was kind of fun to do!

As you may have guessed, building out the scenery is my favorite part of the hobby. I regard tracklaying and wiring as necessary evils, but once they're done, I'm slinging mud and planting trees and other details. I'll try to keep you updated on progress as it happens. I'm going to try to finish out the Thomas scene in the next week or so, then I'll be making the push to get the business district along US 40 done. After that, I can get back to the dull stuff to get Cumberland operational.

The Missing Link

2010-11-16T23:55:00.003-05:00

I looked forward to receiving my author's copy of N Scale magazine with much fervor. I had worked pretty hard to get all the shots in it together, and really hard on the cover shot... Well, David K. Smith did most of that work, but still.

When it arrived, I eagerly thumbed through to the article, and enjoyed seeing my work in print. The layout of the article wasn't quite what I had envisioned, but overall it was well done. But as I got to the final page, I noticed a critical element was missing.

You see, the article was written more or less as a time line describing the history of Casselman Crossing, a fictitious location on the WM that's featured on my layout. I started with a photo of a steam train pulling passengers, then proceeded to shots of some coal trains and fast freights in the early transition era, and on into the 1960's and early '70's. There's a picture of a Chessie engine in one of the lash-ups, which could have been captioned "There Goes the Neighborhood", then I described in the article how the line was ultimately abandoned by the Chessie System (I always preferred to call it Chessie the Knife), and the coup de gras was to be a photo that I painstakingly staged, showing the bridge as part of a hiking trail in the current era, with a CSX freight rumbling by in the background.

But somehow, it got lost in the shuffle and didn't appear in the article. So I provide it here, dear reader, as a public service.

I've got lots of work to update you on, but the hour is late, and the land of Counterpane beckons... More next time.

Everything Old is New Again!

2010-09-25T00:04:00.006-04:00

Back in ought one, or whenever it was that I first discovered the interwebs, I quickly recognized that there was an opportunity to learn from other model railroaders, and maybe show off a little of the stuff that I was doing. Apart from a few awkwardly run e-mail groups, the first real forum I wandered into was the Atlas board. If you've ever been there, you know it's a pretty good forum, peopled by a lot of regulars. There's a few that are kind of "out there", but there are also some really solid modelers who are quick to share their work, and advice to help even the most bumbling novice find his way to satisfaction in the hobby.

When I first got involved with the forum, I saw the photos that people were putting up, and I started thinking about how I could be a part of the fun. The first challenge was the very real problem that I didn't have a layout at the time! But I had a plan.

So I picked what I thought would be a good place to start, and... well, started. This piece was to be the spine of the peninsula I had planned, providing not only a nice mountain for a view block, but also a cool switch back to a coal mine, modeled loosely after the WM's Chaffee branch. This is where the Big Six operated, which was the last Shay type locomotive built in the US.

Anyway, I had gotten a digital camera for my job, so I started firing away out in the garage as this pile of foam evolved into something worthwhile. It started to attract a bit of an audience, and I really enjoyed the positive feedback I got from my fellow forumers.

Long story short, I got the Chaffee Branch section, which was about 30" wide x 8' long, to within about 15% of completion, including ballasted track, structures, and even figures on the porch of the structures. For a long time it sat up in the attic serving as a photo background. (A big, heavy photo background!) It was enjoyable, and it was nice to get back into constructing a layout, or even just a part of one, after many years of moving around in pursuit of a career.

Finally the day came when I could get the main portion of my dream plan installed in the attic. The room was renovated, including wiring and new lighting. To make room for the new benchwork, though, I had to displace the Chaffee Branch. This was partly to keep it from getting damaged as the rest of the construction was going on, but mainly because it was just so damn big that I could no longer work around it! You may recall that once the room was renovated, I had to temporarily share the space with Andy, my son, so the room was also occupied by his menagerie of Legos, his desk and his bed. Something had to give.

So, back out to the garage it went, getting placed up above some power tools on a precarious shelf. It was high enough up that the cats couldn't get to it, and out of the way now. The idea remained to ultimately install it as part of the layout.

This was probably five years ago.

It came to pass that Andy moved into his own room, the layout got some temporary construction to allow me to at least run some trains, and finally, I started having some friends down for regular operating sessions. These sessions were very instructive as far as how screwed up my dream plan was. The staging was set up all wrong, and way too small. The yard was too small and in the wrong place... etc. etc. etc. Then there was the big one... The aisles proposed in the "Dream Plan" were way too narrow! Model Railroaders in general are not known for their athleticism. The die was cast... I had to redesign the layout; and not just a little bit.

Which is why we're here now! The good news is that all the good work on the Chaffee Branch wasn't for naught. The other night, wielding an array of artillery, I cut a big chunk of mountain off, and carried the organs up to the attic for transplanting on the layout.

Part of this is due to the fact that I'm cheap. Here was some perfectly good Styrofoam, coated with perfectly good Sculptamold, and tricked out with perfectly good puffball trees! Why waste any of that!? I pulled back the canopy of puff balls, and put the old Chaffee branch cliff up against the new skyboard. I then worked some newspapers and what not into the joint between the new new work and the old new work, and made with the Sculptamold. I use a mixture tinted with craft acrylic paints, usually black and some sort of brown.

There's still a bit of blending to do, and some more "real" trees to add to the scene to really cinch it, but it looks like the rest of the Chaffee Branch will be an invaluable asset to finishing out the scenery on the peninsula that was supposed to be its home in the first place.

Just Shoot Me...

2010-09-10T23:06:00.005-04:00

I'm pretty excited. Once again, Pam Clapp at N Scale Magazine has exhausted every possible alternative, and pulled my submitted article out of her wastebasket to run in the November/December 2010 issue. To soften the blow for her readers, she's asked me to re-shoot one of the images to use as a cover shot. This way, the readers will lower their expectations before they purchase the issue, and subscribers will have the opportunity to toss the magazine on the burn pile as soon as it arrives in the mail. (What, Me Worry?)

Anyway, just to keep things interesting, the particular composition she wants me to re-shoot is smack dab in the middle of the reconstruction project. So over the last few evenings I've scurried up to the attic after work to repair the damage and perform the necessary reconstructive surgery.

I carved foam, I smeared Sculptamold, and planted trees. Last night I re-applied gloss medium to the river and touched up the waterfall, and it's all coming together nicely. Except, of course, the whole camera situation. I'm still working with a very sub-par point n' shoot, so I'm scrambling to get some help.

So, Sunday I'm expecting a visit from David K. Smith, the multiple published author, photographer and model railroading bon vivant, who is bringing his DSLR, a bag full of smoke and mirrors, and 1,000 watts of studio lighting. All the way from New Joisey, and all of this for a chicken dinner.

Now, I'm not going to spill the beans on the content of the article, you'll have to pick a copy up when it gets published. (I'm sure you'll hear about when that happens here...) But I can assure you that the cover photo will likely raise your expectations for the article, because the honorable DKS has a reputation for making objects in your mirror appear much closer than they actually are.

Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-11T17:38:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a few weeks, hasn't it?

Temperatures around here have been in the high 90's, accompanied by that legendary Mid Atlantic humidity. Thus, my attentions have been diverted elsewhere. I've pecked away at a couple of little things on the layout, but the big leaps and bounds have come to a halt for the moment.

I am catching up on the aforementioned decoder work, and I managed to get one box out the door today after a terribly long delay (Sorry, Chris! Let me know when they get there!). Also, things are starting to pick up at my day job, and above all else, my beloved Orioles are in the midst of a 7-1 hot streak after mouldering in the cellar all summer long.

A cold beer on the patio by the radio trumps a hot attic work bench any time!

But don't worry, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the layout. I'm gradually stacking up the pennies I'll need to get the decoders and servos I want to use on the Yard. I've been sitting at the computer working out train schedules and power assignments for the Thomas Sub, and I've been planning a "Scenery Play Group" in the next couple of weeks, wherein the Crew will help me lay in the basic land forms now that the track work is more or less done on the Peninsula.

But tonight, the O's are in Cleveland, and looks to be another easy kill. (Sorry again, Chris!) So if you'll excuse me, Mr. Yuengling is calling from the patio...

Advancing on Many Fronts

2010-07-19T11:22:00.003-04:00

Operations-wise, I've built the switching area at Thomas, including a new industry switch for Kingsford Charcoal. Kingsford wasn't actually located in Thomas, but at Parsons a few miles down the hill. But it will add some interesting rolling stock to the subdivision, having used the WM's fleet of 60' cushion framed boxcars.

There's also a home for the old Meyersdale Farmer's coop from the previous track plan, plus a team track ramp, and of course, the big coal tipple. I've got two more switch throws to install, and some wiring drops to hang from the switchback, but otherwise this section is complete and ready for paint and scenery.

In the trackwork department, I extended the western frontier of the Connellsville line, which is the two-track line that comes in at the left and then arches over the staging yard. This will eventually extend across the front wall to a helix, and thence down to the west end staging. With that bit of benchwork constructed, I could add the most visual feature of the new work to date:

...the curved skyboard that will provide the backdrop for Cumberland's urban scene, and which conceals the helix on the Thomas Sub. Naturally, after weeks of running trains up and down the helix without a problem, as soon as I installed this, I had one train suffer a derailment, and another a random uncoupling, inside the corkscrew, of course. Hopefully I won't live to regret this design compromise...

I think in both cases the problem was related to a stalling locomotive, so I sent the MOW crew up and down a few times with the track cleaning car. Hopefully that will prevent, or at least minimize, future problems.

The Bridge Department has all the materials needed to finish the High Bridge east of Thomas, I just need to take some time to sit down and build the last 80' girder span, then fabricate some bridge feet.

Electrically, I installed my first accessory decoder to run a pair of turnouts on the Thomas Sub. This is a major breakthrough for me. The decoder was certainly cheap enough, and it's an absolute delight to stand on one side of the layout and throw a switch without having to dive to a control panel on the other side of the room. There will be more of these installed, I assure you!

Things on the peninsula are really shaping up, and I expect I'll be cutting some foam and sculpting out the landscape shortly.

Take Me to the River

2010-07-08T17:55:00.005-04:00

Since the last time we chatted, I've made some significant headway on some basic scenic elements in the new section. I had started working on the dull stuff, wiring switch machines, mostly, when I decided (with the help of my adult ADD)to switch gears and work on something else.

Since the Casselman Crossing scene on the original layout turned out so well, my thoughts turned to the extension of the river into the new section. With the sweeping curve of the new Connellsville Line on the right, and the lofty, cliff hanging Thomas Sub high above on the left, this area promises to be a good spot for railfanning.

So off to the garage I went, in search of odds and ends to help me get started. First I needed something for the riverbed. I have a ton of plywood, homasote, and masonite out there, but for this purpose I chose a chunk of broken ceiling tile I had scavenged from somewhere. The river will step down in another falls near the new Connellsville line tunnel, so it can drop down to a level lower than that line's right of way. A little further along, and it will drop through some rapids reminiscent of the big hook in the Youghiougheny near Ohiopyle State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania.

This visual will help create a scene that will remind viewers of Ohiopyle, as the Thomas Sub will cross this gorge on a high, gently curving steel bridge at this location.

In addition to the river bed, I obtained a 12" door panel that has been pressed into service as a skyboard, which splits the new peninsula into two distinct scenes. On the left side of the view block is this river gorge. There are virtually no switching opportunities here, and it's designed to be the scenic "signature" of the railroad. On the other side, the peninsula is lousy with switching, with Thomas on the upper level with its sawmill and coal loaders, and just around the corner, Cumberland with its industrial districts. With the addition of the skyboard divider, the railroad is really beginning to take shape in this area.
I've also been steady working on the high bridge, and thanks to the contribution of a couple of Micro Engineering bridges from Daryl Kruse, we're moving right along with that project. I've been casting bridge piers from Plaster of Paris, which will allow me to really begin to get the scenery moving along in this area. All of the wiring under the river is more or less complete, which will also permit me to charge ahead with this phase of the project.

Once the bridge is completed, I can go back to that dull wiring business.

All the way to Elkins!

2010-07-01T00:52:00.003-04:00

All that's left now is to wire the Tortoise switch machines to operate from the Elkins panel. Using a little help from a 9v battery, I was able to stage a train from Maryland Jct. all the way into the Elkins Yard, and then reciprocate with another train headed back. Here's the evidence...

Enjoy!

First Train...

2010-06-29T09:15:00.002-04:00

There's always a certain thrill you get when the benchwork is in place, the roadbed is built and the track is all laid, and it's finally time to test the track. Last night, with the aid of some alligator clips and extension wires, I was able to run a train from the siding at Maryland Junction up the Thomas Subdivision almost to the Elkins Yard.

I've got a bit more wiring to do to make the switches on the sidings functional, and then lay all the industrial tracks at Thomas, which will give me the opportunity to run trains up and down the hill with purpose!

Anyway, I thought I'd share...

A Little Help From My Friends

2010-06-26T22:31:00.006-04:00

Phil Hoffman and the "Coon Ass Grass Master" ready to apply some detail to the river scene.

One of the things that I really enjoy about this hobby is the opportunity I have to share it with some really great people. I'm almost hesitant to refer to the railroad up in the attic as "my" layout, because so many people have had a hand in it. David K. Smith was kind enough to use his many talents to create the track plan based on a few sketchy notes that I provided him. Brian Fons and Jerry Britton both decided that my effort was worthy of a couple of sizable contributions of track and turnouts.

When I throw out a request for some oddball bit or piece, there always seems to be someone out there who's willing to help me out, either with an outright gift, or with a significant discount to help me over the hump. Anything from a $2 electrical connector to a loaner $2000 camera has been offered, and gratefully accepted.

Then there's the consultants... Ed Kapuscinski, Dave Foxx, John Berger, Steve Hanlon, and many others have all offered advice and suggestions that will help the layout look more realistic, operate more smoothly, and just generally be better.

As the reconstruction has progressed, it's the worker bees who have really kicked it into high gear, and helped me to really start bringing the project to life. Back in February, Phil Hoffman and Dave Foxx braved one of our notorious snow storms (a light dusting was predicted) to help get the west end staging yard built and installed.

And today, Dave, Brian Carhart, Tim Alder and Gary Hinshaw braved beach traffic and tropical heat to help me make a big push on building the lines that will one day let the Western Maryland Railway hustle those black diamonds and Alpha Jets around my attic. (Phil would have been here, too, but he's an oceanographer, and a Louisiana native, so he's been called down to deal with the big BP oil mess).

Not only do these guys take time away from their families and their own trains, they drive up to two hours to get here, they bring along tools, materials and even a few beers, and they do an absolutely fantastic job. (I'm proud to say that part of my installation was performed by a NASA engineer!) Then, if that weren't enough, they even take me out for lunch.

There are guys out there that declare themselves "Lone Wolf" model railroaders. To me, that's too bad. They're missing out on some really good times building, detailing and running their railroads with other guys who share their interest.

I'm glad to know that my enjoyment of the hobby is infectious enough to attract the caliber of people I've come to know as a result, and I'm especially looking forward to returning a LOT of favors!

Phase 2 Begins

2010-06-23T10:51:00.004-04:00

Last night I re-wired the staging yard to account for the reverse loop. I still have to add a few drops, and the eastbound throat needs rebuilt, but we're not too far away from having the staging tuned up and ready to be buried. I test drove a 4 axle, then a 6 axle, then the big 4-8-4, and so far so good. The only problems that turned up were in the old section that I already knew about.

Next, this morning I rebuilt the area around Shaw. This is where the original section of the layout joined the temporary section, and the benchwork was a scabbed together mess. I needed to change the elevation, since the grade would be ascending here now, instead of descending as the temp loop had it. I also wanted to replace the subroadbed with proper 1/2" plywood, instead of the 1/4" paneling/3/4" foam sandwich I used originally. Here's what it was:
You can see pretty clearly that the engine is headed down grade. The point where the locomotive is in that picture is now about a full inch and a quarter higher than it was.

You can also see that I've made provision to add a Tortoise to run the siding at Shaw. There will be two short passing tracks on the Thomas sub, on either side of the scenic divider. Probably long enough to handle about 15 cars, or 20 55-T hoppers. I'm going to put the controls for both at the end of the peninsula so one tower operator can control movements on both sides. The switch into the truck dump at Shaw will remain manually operated by the train crew.

This shot reveals that the alignment will remain the same through the junction, just at a higher elevation.

The grade change has put the truss bridge at just about level. Compare this to the old view:

The bridge originally dropped about 3/8" from left to right, which was to accommodate the original track plan. I grew weary of having to adjust photos to compensate for the stiff grade, and I'm glad to be rid of it. Now I just have to build up the center pier, which now will have room for proper bridge feet.

Here's the track to the Shaw truck dump. I think I'm going to re-purpose this siding as a sand load out. There was a source for silica sand near Shaw that was shipped to PPG in Cumberland in two-bay covered hoppers... I sure have a lot of them, and this will put them to good use. I'll carefully relocate the truck dump over to Thomas on the other side of the peninsula. You can see in the picture that I filled the void left by the grade change with some HO scale ballast I have laying around. I use this a lot for filler. I just dump it through the track, brush it out so it's all below the ties, then apply my glue soup to it. Once it sets up, I go back over it with N scale ballast and scenic materials, and when it's done, it'll be nice and blended in.

I'll have to get some of those clip strips for the Tortoise here, because it's located smack dab over the staging yard, and there's no way I'll be able to wire it from underneath. This will also be the first pairing of machines that will get the decoder experiment. I'd also like to apply some simple signaling here. (open-green, closed red) probably as fascia indicators since the Thomas Sub was TO/TT territory. A working TO signal would be fun to have at Shaw, too, and this is where the lighted TO stand from Williamsport Jct. will likely end up.

I'm trying to get all the connection elevations set so when the crew comes down for a work day all the math is already done.

Success!

2010-06-20T23:04:00.004-04:00

My clean up effort was delayed until after dinner due to another project (for pay) that I had been procrastinating... but that got far enough along that I could grab the broom and dust pan and trudge up to tackle the Blob.
After about two hours of sorting, sifting and sweeping, I finally got to the point where I could turn around in the room without knocking anything over. Behold! The Floor exists! There's still a few piles of junk to go through, but they are now the exception rather than the rule. At least in the train room... The Blob lives on in the workshop area now...

Oh well... it may be on the move, but at least it's getting smaller. I figure in an evening's time, I can get all this crap sorted and either put away, or bundled off for the dust man. Either way, I can start plotting the next push on the benchwork now, and yes, sleep a little more peacefully!

Panic! Finding a Way Out of Gridlock.

2010-06-19T22:17:00.005-04:00

I spent a lovely, relaxing day on the Choptank River today, enjoying the company (and the boat) of a couple in our neighborhood who invited us out for a pre-Father's Day junket. The weather was perfect, the river calm, and the beer was cold. The best part was laying on the bench up in the boat's flying bridge and reading "Beautiful Swimmers" and drifting in an out of a breezy nap while the kids played in the water.

When I got home this evening, my thoughts turned once again to the action up in the train room. I opened the door, and was suddenly overcome with a sense of dread. The room is a disaster area. The bones of the old layout sections are everywhere, furniture is at all angles, and the floor looks like a hobby store walked into a hardware store, then blew itself up.

The re-construction project itself is moving along at a decent clip, and I even took the time to add the guard rails to the staging yard. Then I stepped back (not very far for fear of tripping on an extension cord or a pile of shipping peanuts), and pondered what the next move should be.

There's the helix on the Thomas Sub that needs to be A) connected to the rest of the layout, B) outfitted with some fiberglass screening to prevent cars from falling to the floor should something bad happen, or C) be enclosed in a masonite back drop, which would by necessity include a curved hatch that would allow easy access to reach the cars that are safely cradled in the screen safety net, again, should something bad happen in the twist.

Too complex a project to take on in my present state of mind. So that won't do. How about building the skyboard that will divide the peninsula? Well, I should finish building the peninsula first. So strike that.

There's a couple of wiring projects I could tackle. The big one will be to rewire the back half of the staging yard, which is now part of a big reverse loop, and therefore creates a dead short. This won't be too hard to do, but it will require crawling around under the layout, and I'm not wired for that just now...

As I stepped over a stack of old magazines that appeared out of nowhere, it dawned on me. Before I turn another screw, or cut another board, I have to clean the room up. I at least have to get it into some semblance of order. The chaos all around me is causing my whole thinking about the layout to be chaotic. So, there it is. That's my plan.

Tomorrow when I get home from church, I'm going to head up there and put the shoulder to the wheel. Last weekend Andy and I were able to wrestle his room from the grip of the junk monster, so now I have to do the same thing for myself. Otherwise I'll keep looking at the mountain in front of me, instead of building it!

Track!

2010-06-19T02:07:00.005-04:00

Well, it's after 1 a.m. here in the east, and I'm just now emerging from the lab. We're supposed to go on a boat ride with the neighbors tomorrow, so I wanted to get some headway in before taking a nice break. I think my wife is actually looking forward to seeing me!

Anyway, here's tonight's... ahem... this morning's update:

I splurged and bought myself some cork and track so I could work on the staging loop. And work on the loop I did...

It turned out that between the new track I bought and the flex that I stripped from the
old yard, I had enough to close three of the loops! I need about 3 more pieces to finish the fourth. The hardest part was tying into the old staging tracks, because the connection is smack dab under the riverbed, and there's only about 3" clearance at that point. But thanks to some bent needle nose pliers, some yellow construction glue and a cleverly concocted clamp, all went smoothly.

That's right. A half-filled water bottle. What I did was schmear a bit of yellow glue on the cork, then carefully positioned the new piece of track, sliding the rail joiners into place with the pliers. Once I was confident I had it aligned properly, I'd roll the water bottle into place, wedging it between the track and the 1x2 joist that holds the river bed. Once the glue was set, I'd roll it out and do the next piece of track. This took quite a while to do all 8 tracks by this method... Once all the tracks were poking out into the open, I started making the alignments needed to get around the big bend.

Of course, the resultant triangle where the balloon comes together just begs for a little something...

I call this "The Loneliest Job on the Railroad"...

Well, the sheer magnitude of the accomplishment wasn't enough to satisfy me for the night, so I pulled out a box of loose freight cars to check the capacity of this new facility... I'm amazed at what we can now get away with...

The outer loop is long enough now to hold two 25 car trains. That's right. I've gone from barely being able to hold one train with 15 cars, to now being able to not only run longer trains, but more of them.

The picture actually shows two trains of 30 cars each, but this doesn't leave enough room for the three diesels each that would be required to lug the damn things up the twist to North Jct. But now you see why it was so important to fix that grade on the drop bridge! The best part is that the second train into the loop will have a visual cue when to stop to stay in the clear of the train ahead of it. I can make a cut out in the fascia right where the balloon reaches its widest point, and the engines of a 25 car train would need to stop when they appear in that window. Likewise, I'll put a lamp below decks so the operator can peek in and verify that the track ahead is clear, and if it is, he can proceed until he sees either his engines reach the overpass of the twist, or until his caboose is in the location shown in the photo above.

Ideally, I'd install some real detection, but given the continuing financial drama around my house, I'm glad to know that by dumb luck or design, I don't have to right away.

Oh, and for good measure, I pulled out a bunch of coal hoppers, too... Track three can handle two 25 car trains of 70 tonners with three diesels each with plenty of elbow room. With all this capacity, I can now dedicate two tracks to Lurgan trains, and two tracks to Baltimore trains. (Before I had a maximum of 4 tracks at about 16 cars to deal with all of it, because the West end had to stage in here, too.)

I figure the middle track can serve as the run through track, and during ops sessions, can be the destination of the Union Bridge local, which can now be a more realistic 20 car train with coal and cement hoppers, plus some covered hoppers and boxes for the other switches along the way.

So, now I have to re-wire the whole yard down there, because I just created a big old reverse loop. I have a circuit board to make it work, and I think what I'll do is make the outbound lead up the helix into the reversing section.

Next, I'm building the frame for the skyboard that will divide the peninsula.

See ya next time, same bat time, same bat channel...

Lee

Coming together...

2010-06-18T08:36:00.003-04:00

I got to work on the layout some more last night, adding the sub roadbed for the staging yard, and installing the small helix to help the Thomas Sub reach the Elkins yard up on the top level (50").

Once I get the track laid in the staging yard, (and wired and tested...) I can start covering that area up. I've left ample access from below, so hopefully any "operator errors" will be able to be cleared from underneath.

The helix, well, that's another story. It's fairly tight, 24" x 30" at it's widest point, so it's a steep climb. I've already tested it, and a couple of diesels can pull a 20 car train of empty hoppers with reasonable dispatch. My Bachmann Consolidation steamer can also make the grade. Unfortunately, my K-2 Pacific can not... The tender binds on the engine cab.

Next time I get a decoder job on a Model Power Pacific I'll give that a whirl. Maybe there's another kitbash in my future.

Obviously, I won't be sending my 6-axle diesels and 89' pig flats up there... the Thomas Sub was known for coal and timber and short wheelbase engines grinding up steep, twisting rails. So even though it barely fits, the helix still fits. I'm hoping it adds to the operating interest of that part of the railroad. To make sure it doesn't detract from it, I'm working out a safety net made from fiberglass screening to make sure that any derailments in there don't ended up dropping 4' to the floor.

Making Progress...

2010-06-17T10:30:00.004-04:00

Enough about philosophy. Let's get out the tools and start making some noise.

Over the past few days, I've moved the workbench out of the train room, torn down all of the temporary structure that had supported the layout up to this point, and started clearing the debris out to make room for some work to get done. Here's where we are as of this morning:

First, I raised the remaining part of the layout by 1/2". Doesn't sound like a lot, but it's made a big difference in how trains will emerge from the staging yard. It cut the grade down to half of what it was, which will help the longer trains I'm anticipating get up the hill to North Junction.

Next, I set about the business of leveling everything up, and getting started on the new bench work that will support Cumberland. I used my table saw to rip some 2x4 down into two 1x3's and one 1x2 from each. This gave me enough to make some L girders, and have enough left over to use for joists and risers later. Last night I got the basic L girder frame and legs assembled and leveled up.
I had previously built the little 24" x 30" helix, which will carry the Thomas Sub up to Elkins on the second level. It will actually be positioned about 6" to the left and about a foot higher once all the framing is in.

The next job is to add the joists and start cutting the plywood sub roadbed. I also have to build the framing to extend the peninsula another 2' from where it was previously. At that point, I can begin connecting the dots with the staging and three main line runs that will be crossing this section.

To help you visualize what I'm talking about, I've got the track plans posted. Here's the main and upper levels, and this is the lower staging level.

There's still a little bit of tweaking going on, but for all intents and purposes, this is what the railroad will look like going forward. I'm pretty excited about it.

Stay tuned for more updates.

It's All a Matter of Process...

2010-06-15T19:22:00.003-04:00

Have you ever noticed that when you have it in your mind to something, usually something simple, that it quickly becomes apparent that there are a whole lot of complex, time consuming things you have to do before you can even start?

So it's been on the reconstruction of the Western Maryland Western Lines. The first phase of this project involves reconstructing the staging yard under the main part of the layout. I'm replacing a straight line thru staging yard with a 4 track "balloon" yard, which will allow trains to be turned back on themselves to return to the layout going back the same way they left.

Trouble is, this part of the layout is partially buried under a scenic section that is not being changed...

The other trouble is, the area where the balloon track will fold back hasn't been built yet, and in fact, until last night, the space was occupied by my work bench. So, before I could work on the yard area, I had to move the work bench.

So.... Before I could move the workbench, I had to clear it off. Which meant going through the rubble one piece... one tiny N scale coupler spring... at a time. You see, when you're a model railroader, you don't just sweep the debris into the trash can. There might be a cast-pewter air horn that's less than an 1/8th of an inch long, or a little slip of brass that you'll need for an electrical pick up in there with the sawdust and cat hair.

Well, after 4 hours of that kind of fun, I was finally ready. Andy came in, and we manhandled the 8' x 2' piece of old kitchen counter that serves as my workbench, into the next room. (This area of the attic had been Andy's bedroom, so we had another whole day of moving all his junk around to make room for the workbench! I tell ya, Everything is a process...!

The good news is that now I have the opportunity to go through my accumulation of modeling supplies and get it a little more organized, and once that's done, I've got a nice big empty space next to what's left of the layout to begin building the new bench for the new and improved track plan.

I've found the key to success is to boil down the project to the one piece where it's logical to start (there's usually only one of those) then peel everything else back until you can get that accomplished. Don't be afraid to tear down what will be in the way. If it's in the way in the beginning, it will slow you down the whole way. If there's track (which ain't cheap), take your time and carefully salvage it, but once that's gone, it's just a matter of backing out screws and piling up the materials. Don't worry about messing something up that you wanted to keep... you can always go back and touch up.

The other hint I can give you is find a way to make a little progress every day. Even if you just go in and move one piece of debris from where it is to where it belongs. Make a little progress.

Right now, I'm taking time to go through my parts boxes and getting them organized. My workbench is typically notoriously messy, so this is a good opportunity to catch up on some old goals. As such, time to push back from the keyboard, and get back to the process...

Thoughts on Deconstruction

2010-06-11T12:38:00.005-04:00

I confess, I'm a pack rat. I don't throw anything away that has even the tiniest chance of being re-used. This is true in my house, which is over 100 years old. My garage is chock a block with old light fixtures, plumbing parts, pieces of lumber and scraps of drywall. Any of which might become the cornerstone of some project critical to the improvement of our lives.

This is also true in my work. I'm the manager of a soon to open Habitat for Humanity ReStore. We specialize in collecting donated building materials and home improvement wares that are cast aside by builders, retailers and homeowners, then tidying them up and re-selling them at a discount to raise money to build houses. This is a great job to have if you're a scavenger like me.

And of course, the reason you're here, this is a key component of my life as a model railroader. Last night I began the process of "deconstructing" a large part of my layout. Naturally, this meant getting reacquainted with some old friends.

Like the plywood curves that I originally cut in 1989 for my original Laurel Valley layout. And the old phone jack that once connected a lift out section to the main electrical system of my mid-90's vintage work. There's the cat-5 cable that I purloined from my old office, and the dozens of drywall screws that I've driven in, then out again, over the course of four or five different layouts.

The grand daddy of them all, though, is the hunk of Homasote that has been a part of different layouts I've built dating back to the early 1980's. Underneath the current tangle of switches and rail, ballast and ground foam, are shadows of numerous previous track plans. Today it's down to a roughly 18" triangle that supported the Williamsport Jct. area. It started out as a 4' x 7' panel, which was itself salvaged from a previous life as an office partition. When I was in high school, I worked in the Candler Building in Baltimore, which at the time was a big loft industrial building. It housed large commercial printers, a men's clothier's sewing plant, and a variety of other warehouse and office functions. My job was to help clear old tenants' stuff out of the way to provide a clear space for new tenants. As my colleagues tore into the floors and work stations with their crowbars, there I was with a Phillips head screw driver and a small pry bar, carefully dismantling this partition, eager to lay it out flat and start planning a model railroad.

My plan was to hang it on the wall in the garage, so it could be folded up and out of the way should the Old Man ever decide that the LeSabre should spend the night indoors. I don't have any record of the track plan, but I remember it being pretty cool, and set up for a modest amount of operations. The 4' wide thing ended up being its demise, since there was an important crossover that I just couldn't reach. Well, that and I went away to college.

Before I left, I cut the Homasote into 2'x 4' panels, with one 1'x4' piece left over. My plan was to build a modular, or rather, sectional layout in my room. Lots of sketches exist, but nothing ever came of them. I did take one of the 2'x4' pieces and whipped up a fun little Christmas garden after I got married. I held on to the other pieces, of course. When we finally moved into our first proper house, I had a spare room to work with, so I erected a tidy little layout that used the Christmas garden as the basis of it, then I used the other pieces to add a branch line and a small yard. That didn't last long, though, as it was determined that Daughter #2, newly arrived in 1991, would require the train room to be "re-purposed."

A few years later, we moved into a house with a proper basement, which turned into a bonanza! There was a family room and laundry room, so I commandeered the wall that separated the two. I built my detailed city scape and yards in the laundry room, which could be closed off to the little urchlings my wife tended to in her daycare. On the family room side, a dramatic scene of the Allegheny Mountains was planned, and partially executed. In the end, the house (which was rented) was sold out from under us, and again, the now ever smaller bits of Homasote were pulled up and packed into a box.

Parts of this old reliable panel were included in the Western Maryland Ry. Historical Society's N scale layout that I worked on back in the late 80's as well. Some of it ended up in at least one friend's layout. I used one piece as a base for a school science project, another shimmed up the leg of a wobbly table. It has served long and well.

I'm sure I'll have a place for it in this new plan somewhere, even if it's just a block to hold up a tunnel portal.

And So It Begins...

2010-06-10T08:12:00.003-04:00

At 10:54 p.m. EDT, Western Maryland Extra train #25 left Maryland Jct. pulling a train of four gondolas and two flat cars toward Williamsport Junction. The work crew aboard has dismantled the hardware from the track, including switch machines, signal stands, and the train order stand at Williamsport. The train circled back around, pulling hardware along the Thomas Sub between Williamsport Jct. and Shaw, then proceeded back to Maryland Jct., and onto the Connellsville sub, dismantling hardware from the mouth of Knobley Tunnel through Meyersdale to Casselman Crossing. The diverging route from Williamsport Jct. to Ridgeley Yard has been embargoed for about 6 months, since Ridgeley Yard was closed for major upgrades to improve traffic flow. This track will also be removed in favor of a superior alignment, according to WM's engineering department.

The forests in these areas have been leveled, and only a few abandoned buildings remain along the right of way. Tomorrow track gangs will be deployed to salvage rail and ties along both of these same lines. Once these lines are cleared, there will be substantial earth moving activities underway, as phase 1 of the Western Maryland's improvement program gets underway. This will involve deconstructing much of the peninsula area to gain access to the original staging yard, approximately 200 yards below the surface of the earth. The yard will be reconfigured to allow trains to smoothly loop around to return to North Junction. This activity will also significantly improve the capacity of the railroad, creating four through tracks that can accommodate trains of up to 40 cars. At present, trains are restricted to less than 20 car lengths.

This project will also include replacing the current eastbound yard throat in staging. It is currently laid out with #6 Peco turnouts, which have proven to be too sharp and unreliable, and will be replaced with Peco #8, or long streamline switches. This will improve safety for the WM's crews, and reduce transit times to and from points along the east coast.

Once completed, work will begin on the new alignment of the Connellsville Subdivision from Casselman Crossing westward to Connellsville. The railroad regrets that in the process of this work, the communities of Williamsport Jct. and Meyersdale will forthwith be wiped from the face of the earth, however, new development opportunities will exist once the Queen City of the Potomac, Cumberland, Maryland, is installed sometime in the near future. Until further notice, shippers located west of Maryland Jct. will be served by local trucks. We apologize for this dreadful inconvenience.

Stay tuned for further developments as they happen!

The Potomac Project

2010-05-14T23:25:00.002-04:00

No, this isn't some CIA mission to secure the nation's capital, it's my attempt to create the illusion of a WM Potomac 4-8-4 using a Bachmann Northern as the basis for a kitbash. I've got a million projects started in the train room, so I thought it would be a good time to start another one! I got a great deal on the engine from a guy over on Scale Rails Online that got it in a train set, but found it to be too big for his little layout. This is a reprise of a project I built for the WMRHS layout about 25 years ago, but the locomotive of course was a terrible runner, and I only did some modest cosmetics on the front end. I must have done something right, though, because someone thought enough of it to steal it.

Here's the beast we're going to try to create.

And here's the model we're starting with:

It's the newest version with the smoother drive and blackened hardware. The shell, on the other hand, is the same old same old that's been produced since the late 60's, replete with cast on everything, and a rectangular boiler profile below the belt line. I'm going to see how these problems might be fixed.

The first step is to lose the oil bunker. I had picked up an old Rivarossi Berkshire tender in anticipation of this project last year. I went ahead and painted the top of the tender Oxide Red, but left it there. I'll need to have some decals made to properly finish it.

I've prepped the tender to handle DCC, adding wipers to the trucks, and cutting down the frame to make room for the decoder. There looks to be room for a sound chip and a speaker, which I might add down the road.

The drive looks to be pretty easy to convert, with friction tabs being the only connection between the motor and the frame. These can be easily insulated to allow for separate connections to the decoder. I'll need to dig a trench up the spine of the frame to get the lighting wires installed, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

The other modification I made was to the drawbar on the tender. I had to cut it back a bit, and drill some new holes to bring the spacing between the engine and tender to a more realistic dimension.

I drilled two holes in the metal Rivarossi drawbar to be able to adjust the coupling distance. The shorter hole turned out to work fine with the 15" minimum main line curve on the layout, so that will be the permanent setting when I get to that point.

After drilling out the draw bar, I fabricated a new pin from a bit of sprue left over from a pack of MT 1015 couplers. I trimmed off the smaller arms, and filed the shaft smooth. It fits snugly into the hole left by the stock pin, with the drawbar resting on the tab that I left in place. Once the painting and other body work is done, I'll use a soldering pencil to melt a "rivet" on the top of the pin to secure it permanently to the engine.

Here's the engineer's side renovation plan. I want to get brass overlays etched to simulate the all-weather cab, and I'll have to rework the walk board into a single level from front to back. The ladders will also have to be modified, and I want to add new separately applied grabs down the length of the boiler. On the front of the smoke box, I'll need to relocate the headlight to the top of the box, and move the bell over to the right. The rest of the modifications will be on the pilot, similar to the 2-8-0 with the addition of a Z scale 905 coupler and a plow, plus a few other details.

The next step will be wiring in the decoder... as soon as I can get my hands on one!

See you next time.

Keeping it Real: The Thoughts Behind the Models

2010-05-10T08:07:00.003-04:00

This topic came up on the Model Railroader Forum, and I thought it would be useful to cross post here. It pretty well sums up my general philosophy toward model railroading.

What tips and scene-composition / layout-composition techniques could you contribute to someone who is just beginning to learn about the concepts?
1. Observe nature (and pictures of nature). All of your questions about color, texture, juxtaposition, road numbers, locomotive details, weathering patterns and other modeling content can pretty much be answered with a short trip to the local rail line, or a quick google image search of your topic.

2. Don't hide behind "There's a Prototype for Everything" Yes, there probably is. However, it is in modeling the mundane, day to day reality that makes our modeling look more realistic.

While this bridge is certainly spectacular, this next one might look a little more appropriate on your 4x8...

3. Try to visualize your scenery WHILE you're designing your track plan. Too often we get the tracks to do what we want them to do, but we leave too little room to create a realistic scene. This leads to multiple passes through the same scene, turns that are too tight, industries that look too small to warrant rail service, and a whole other myriad of sins. I'm certainly guilty of this one myself.

While I'm generally able to disguise these things in my photography, actually operating in these situations can be a challenge...

FYI, the peninsula in the foreground is currently undergoing a significant reconstruction to solve the problems created by the original track plan.
4. Don't be afraid of a little "Theater". In the end, you're building a model railroad. As such, the logical stars of the show are your trains. The supporting cast would be the scenery elements that are served by those trains. This is where your focus should be. I frequently read questions such as "What is the appropriate radius of a highway exit ramp?" or "How many parking spaces per square foot of retail space in Tuscaloosa, Alabama?" or some other such minutae that is totally irrelevant to the model railroad. To dwell on these ancillary details will leave you with a layout that might be technically perfect, but in the end is stark and odd looking. The more important questions would be, "How much of that exit ramp will be seen from the viewing angle that highlights the railroad?" and therefore, how much of that exit ramp do you really need to model? Or, "I've got a 6" x 12" area where I'd like to include a parking lot, how can I lay it out so it looks like a busy parking lot from the railroad? Or, what view blocks and details can I include to suggest a larger lot than I actually have room for?"

This scene was about 12" deep, but using the 3-D flats and 2D images on the back drop, some changes in elevation, and the highway bridge, which tapers from wide to narrow as it approaches the wall, create the illusion of a much larger scene. All of those background elements merely provide a stage for the trains to run through, so whether or not everything is perfectly in scale is immaterial.
Viewing angle is the key to what is and isn't important. It's okay to pinch a roadway down to nothing behind a clump of trees if you're never going to see that from a typical viewing angle.

5. Sweat the Details that Matter. This is the corollary to No. 4. While there are some things that just fade to the back ground (and should), there are others that demand, and when done properly, command your attention. Elements that contribute to the realism of the railroad itself. The track infrastructure is one element that I believe makes or breaks a layout's appearance. Unballasted snap track ain't going to cut it in my world. Nor will any of the pre-fab track systems with the big plastic roadbed already attached. I know there's a lot of folks that swear by the stuff, but as I stated previously, I'm very visually oriented, and there's just too many compromises for me to use that stuff.

Same with bridges. It doesn't take much effort to look closely at a prototype to figure out what proper support looks like, or to determine what type of bridge is appropriate for a particular location. I covered this in a previous post.
Railroad-oriented structures should also carry their own weight. Again, this doesn't mean you need to model brick for brick or inch for inch to scale. But you should strive for a level of detail that exceeds the general level of the layout. After all, this is where the drama of your railroad is played out.

It doesn't require an "over the top" approach, either. Of course, an urban setting will require more attention than the more rural scenes above, bet even there, it's important leave some room for "nothing" between the focal points.

Finally,
6. Find a Theme and Follow it with Gusto! Building a layout is not a project that provides instant gratification. In fact, it can take years and years of work, usually being woven in and out of the other activities of life. Our interest can vary from fleeting moments dedicated to quick projects like weathering a few freight cars, to intense periods of major construction of benchwork, or installation of a new wiring system or signals. Given this long term commitment, we often find our interests drifting in and out of focus.
There are a lot of guys out there for whom this isn't an issue. Their main interest is in modeling passenger trains, so they are perfectly content to have the Broadway Limited pulled by a GG-1 running around the same track plan as the Empire Builder. That's fine, and serves the modeler's purpose. But unless the layout is based around a major terminal hub, it's hard for the casual viewer to fully appreciate the collection. Rod Stewart's urban terminal layout comes to mind. In the article, Rod confesses to being a passenger train fan, and makes no apologies for the eclectic collection he runs. But the setting in the big, busy city quickly conveys to a visitor the joy he finds in running the trains.
For others, a theme might be established following a particular prototypical line, or maybe a fictional route of an actual railroad. Others may dream up a free-lanced railroad that combines favorite elements of a few railroads, or just expresses an interest in a particular type of traffic in a particular region, like an Appalachian coal road, or a Midwestern grainger.

So there aren't any hard and fast rules about HOW to follow a theme, or even what theme to follow. But as a general principal, it's a good idea to have something in mind to guide your track planning, scenery choices, and rolling stock purchases.
You'll also find that as you drill deeper into your chosen theme, there's all kinds of subtle details you can add that enhance the realism of your layout. On my Western Maryland themed layout, I started with an idea of what parts of the operation I wanted to emulate, what types of rolling stock I would need, and the kinds of engines I would want to run.

From there, I started learning more about the railroad's architecture, traffic patterns, interchanges, and other details I never imagined. I was able to take this newly gained knowledge and come up with projects that would help really cement the time and place of my layout.

To sum up, don't be afraid to push the boundaries of your comfort zone. If what you built was really good, look at it again, and see what it would take to make it really great! There's a tremendous amount of pleasure to be gained from learning a new skill, or trying something different. If you're content where you are, well, that's fine. But if you see other layouts that really strike a chord with you, get busy! Start small, work on a small corner of your layout and finish it. Move on to the next section, and see if you can do better than you did on the first section.
You can create a scene that has a powerful visual impact, defines your locale and era, and impresses the operator, casual visitor, and photographer...

Now get to work!
Lee

Begin at the End: The Line to Elkins

2010-05-06T18:39:00.004-04:00

It is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For my expansion/reconstruction project, the first step was to build what will ultimately be the most remote part of the railroad, a small yard representing Elkins, West Virginia.

The yard is located on this rather austere looking shelf, which is composed of a 12" wide hollow core door (graciously donated to the cause by Dave Foxx) that is cut back to about 4'8" long. Since my new plan involves some considerable grade changing acrobatics, I wanted to make sure I knew where the highest elevation point would be, and this would be it. The Elkins yard deck sits at 50" above the floor, about a foot higher than the main level.

The real Elkins was a compact yard by most railroad standards, even when compared to other WM facilities at Knobmount or Hagerstown, but it was still too big to model comprehensively in the space I have available. In addition to the yard functions, Elkins also hosted the WM's primary car shops, caboose shops, and a 17-stall roundhouse. My original plan hoped to include tracks to represent many of these functions, but the re-draw forced me to do away with most of it. Now, Elkins is represented with a simple five track stub yard, a two stall engine house, and an Arrival/Departure track that will adequately launch trains of roughly 20 cars.

To attain this level of elevation, I needed to devise a simple three-turn helix, which was made not-so-simple by the fact that the layout resides in my attic. As such, I had more room for the bottom turn than the top! Since the Thomas Sub to Elkins on the real WM was a twisting, steep railroad, equipment was limited to short wheelbase locomotives, and relatively small cars, I was content to make the helix of a relatively tight radius and steep grade. The WM's fleet of 34' 55-ton hoppers survived well into the 1970's due to this geography, as did its relatively ancient stable of RS-3's and F-7's.

The top turn has a track center diameter of roughly 24". The middle is an oval, 24" x 27", and the bottom rounds out at 24" x 30". The ever widening dimension tucks back under the sloped ceiling.

(Pardon the blurry image... I shot this with a camera whose manual has thus far evaded my eyes). To connect the two pieces, the yard and the helix, I built two narrow shelf modules to cross the window that occupies the center of the room's main vertical wall... These comprise the long passing siding that serves as the A/D tracks. I've included a crossover in the middle of the siding, which adds a bit of flexibility when setting up outbound trains, and juggling switching duties with an incoming drag of empties.

The siding is... or rather will be... controlled from this small panel that I stuck into a highway embankment.

The switches at the east and west end of Kerens are operated by yet-to-be-wired Tortoise switch machines, while the yard entrance and the west end of Elkins are manual. There are a quite a few steps to take before this work is connected to the main layout, primarily the relocation of my workbench to the other side of the room. Once that's done, I can construct the benchwork for Cumberland, which will in turn permanently support the Thomas Sub helix. Until then, I can goof around setting up trains and running them in and out of the yard.

Simple things for simple minds!

Staging: The Alpha and the Omega of a Model Railroad.

2010-05-05T20:07:00.004-04:00

Back in February, two of my regular crew braved the threat (and ultimately the onset) of a blizzard, and came down to help me construct and install the base for the first phase of the expansion project. It consisted of a large staging yard, configured as a "balloon" track, which basically forms a reverse loop so trains that exit the modeled part of the railroad can return from the same direction. This is the biggest improvement I'm making to the layout, and actually is the driving force behind many of the other changes.

The operating schematic of the railroad is basically an extended "X" shape. The two legs to the east are represented by a single staging yard, while the two legs to the west are divided into two separate routes. The northerly route suggests the WM's Connellsville Sub, extending from Ridgeley Yard (my on-scene working yard) to Connellsville, PA, represented by the new staging loop. The southerly route represents the Thomas Sub, which originated most of the coal hauled by the WM. This route also extends from Ridgeley, then splits from the main at Maryland Junction, then on to Elkins, West Virginia. Elkins is represented by a small active yard where operators will be kept busy marshalling coal loads for various destinations in the east and midwest.

Anyway, one of the key objectives of this project was to improve the staging I had available. I had included eight through tracks in the original plan, and even built it out, but this quickly proved to be an issue. First, eastbound trains would leave the layout going east to destinations such as Baltimore or Lurgan, but in the original plan, they would arrive back on the layout at the west end from originations like Pittsburgh, Toledo, or Chicago. Okay, that would be easy enough to fix by writing the car cards and waybills carefully. The problem became power swaps. The WM was notorious for its run-through agreements, and at Hagerstown on any given day, you could see engines from 5 or more different railroads. Even this isn't that bad, just mix it up, right?

Wrong. Reading Company power would come to Hagerstown from the east, then go back to the east. N&W engines would come in from the west, and either go back the way it came, or switch over and head south on the Shenandoah Valley line to Roanoke. B&O power would arrive from Cherry Run, west of Hagerstown, but wouldn't show up on WM rails west of there. So you see the dilemma. I couldn't very well have a train with Reading power appear on the layout at Connellsville, nor would a Norfolk and Western unit grace the rails east of the yard. Balloon staging solves this. What goes east, comes back from the east, and likewise to and from the west. It also makes writing waybills a lot more logical.

The biggest advantage to the new configuration will be the huge increase in capacity the railroad will now enjoy. Before I had eight staging tracks, with an average capacity of 16 car trains. Now I'll have upwards of 20 staging tracks, with the through tracks able to handle 30 cars or more. This means I can schedule more trains that are longer, and cover more destinations. It also means I have to expand the capacity of the active yard to handle more and longer cuts of cars bound for a broader range of destinations. Working on improving the yard at Ridgeley will be a whole other topic!

But enough about me. If you don't think you need staging to enjoy your railroad more, I'm going to politely suggest that you're dead wrong. Even the smallest roundy roundy can benefit from a switch and a few tracks off to the side that provide a place for traffic to come from and then go to. A simple shelf switching layout is really dead in the water unless you can push the outbound cars "off stage" to make room for switching cars that are in the scene. It just makes your model trains work more like a model transportation system. Granted, my staging needs are a bit elaborate, but that's based on the traffic patterns supported by the railroad I model. But staging doesn't have to be.

So sharpen your pencil, and see if there's not a way to tuck a few sidings out of the way to give your trains someplace to go.

WM Westernlines 2.0

2010-05-04T21:06:00.001-04:00

After 5 years or so of running the N Scale Western Maryland Western Lines layout in it's "temporary" configuration, it's finally time to start the process of building the new improved track plan. This seemed as good a time as any to open up a new blog to share the progress of the work as it happens.
For the past few years, I had an ongoing thread about the layout on Scale Rails Online, a model railroading forum that covers the broad spectrum of the hobby. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2010, the site was hacked, and all the layout progress blogs, including mine, got lost in the ether.
So here we are then.

To bring you up to speed, around 2001, I started designing a layout to fit in a spare room in my attic. The N scale plan was designed to represent the Western Maryland Railway's west end, from the major terminal at Hagerstown, Maryland, through Maryland Junction where the line splits with the main line continuing on to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and the Thomas Sub branch to Elkins, West Virginia. In retrospect, the plan was a mess:

In a nutshell, some of the grades were unworkable, the staging was impractical, and the aisles were way too narrow. But I didn't know any of this at the time, so I plunged headlong into building the first major part of the layout, believing that I could work out the kinks as I went along. So off to the garage I went, and over the course of a year, I built the section in the lower left, including the Westvaco Paper mill at Luke. The construction process is covered here:

The basic frame came from a former layout, and I started with a staging yard, then added the upper, scenic level. Once this section reached a state of completion, and the room it was going in was ready to receive it, I recruited my neighbor Tom to help me load it up the steps.

Once this step was taken, I realized that I absolutely positively had to figure out a way to run trains. Thus, a temporary set of loops was built to close up a circuit. Well, one thing led to another, and soon I had scabbed together some scenery, a connecting line that tied the paper mill scene to the staging yard below it, as well as a working yard and engine terminal... all of it temporary. This little slide show covers much of the temporary sections, including the paper mill scene:

It all seemed to work pretty well, so I began hosting some operation sessions, inviting some members of the Railwire Forum community to try it out. We had a lot of fun with it, and that led me to prepare an article for publication in N Scale Magazine. This appeared in the September/October 2009 edition.

Despite the fun we had, the operating sessions revealed some serious problems with the temporary track plan, and also raised some concerns about how the original track plan would work, particularly in regards to staging. So, in 2009, I began working on a major revision of the plan to address these problems. And that's where we are now. The new track plan is posted on the layout website. I've changed the staging to "balloon" style tracks at the east and west ends, I moved Elkins to an upper level away from the Ridgeley Yard, and added a couple of helixes to add some operating distance, and help with the grade separations. There's still a few kinks I'll need to work out, but I think I solved most of the operational problems.

In future posts I'll be featuring the deconstruction of the temporary loops, and the re-construction of the yard, engine terminal and the peninsula where it all will come together.

Stay tuned for future developments!