How-to tips and much more in every story!
ModelRailroads
GREAT
2016
®
Holiday 2015
inspiring layouts All-new information for HO, N, O, and S scalers
Realistic operation on this scenic mid-size layout p. 46 Pete and Jane Clarke model the narrow gauge East Broad Top RR.
PLUS Famous O scale layouts live on as one p. 18 New England railroading under catenary p. 38 N scale ‘mushroom’ layout set in Canada p. 28
AL L-N
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28 SPECIAL ISSUE
ModelRailroads
GREAT
2016
®
8 Trains along the mighty Mississippi HO
The steam-to-diesel transition is in full swing on this Milwaukee Road layout By Stephen Brudlos
18 One layout built from three famous pieces
72
O
Parts of John Armstrong’s model railroad and others are preserved By David Vaughn
28 Developing a mushroom layout set in Canada N Product-design techniques influenced the Columbia & Western layout By Mark Dance
38 Building a “what if” railroad under catenary S A transition-era Northeastern line focuses on heavy electric power By Dick Karnes
46 Preserving Pennsylvania’s East Broad Top HOn3 A tourist-train ride led to research and a prototypical coal-hauling layout By Paul J. Dolkos
56 Modeling a prototype right here in River City
HO
A Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry. layout focuses exclusively on Mason City, Iowa By Clark Propst
64 Southern Pacific along the Shasta route HO
ON OUR WEBSITE
Steam and diesel locomotives climb through four signature California scenes By Tex Copsetta
72 Conrail terminal operations in the Motor City HO WATCH VIDEOS of some of the layouts in this issue of Great Model Railroads by going to www.ModelRailroader.com and following the links.
LEARN MORE about efforts to preserve the East Broad Top RR by following a link on www.ModelRailroader.com. DOWNLOAD 10 inspiring layout photos,
A contemporary urban branch line provides plenty of switching on two decks By Brian Searles
80 Merging two layouts into one - literally
On30
A crane was used to bring two Appalachian narrow gauge lines together By Paul J. Dolkos
88 The Burlington Route along Route 66 S A transition-era layout modeling the Q from Chicago toward St. Louis By Bob Werre
each available in three screen resolutions, for use as wallpaper on your computer.
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Great Model Railroads 2016
ON THE COVER This steel bridge crossing is one of several prototypical scenes on Pete and Jane Clarke’s HOn3 East Broad Top RR layout. Photo by Paul J. Dolkos
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ModelRailroads
GREAT
2016
®
Creativity, inspiration, and determination GREAT MODEL RAILROADS is Model Railroader magazine’s annual salute to hobbyists who have achieved the ultimate goal of our hobby, the “complete” model railroad. We have to put that word in quotation marks because it’s the rare layout builder who thinks there’s nothing more to do or nowhere left to go with what looks to most of us like a finished layout. Looking over the offerings in this issue of GMR, I’m once again struck by the sheer creativity, inspiration, and determination of so many model railroaders. These are people with the vision to see what they want to accomplish and the drive to get it done. Some work mostly on their own, most rely on friendships and cooperative effort, and this issue even includes one husband-and-wifeteam (far from our first or only such pairing). However they do it, they find a way to realize the railroad passions of their imagination. The railroad on our cover is Jane and Pete Clarke’s HOn3 East Broad Top system. They were inspired to re-create this heavy-duty coal-hauling short line when attending one of the EBT’s Fall Steam Spectaculars. These were weekend railfan events conducted to promote the preservation of the historic railroad, including the landmark shops, roundhouse, and station at Orbisonia, Pa. The Clarkes not only preserve the EBT’s memory in their model railroad, they became active in the Friends of the East Broad Top preservation organization. I had the pleasure of attending one of these Fall Spectaculars myself, and recall standing at the full-size version of the grade crossing shown on pages 54 and 55 while three Mikados timed by Editor Art Director Editorial staff
Graphic Designers Illustrators
Andy Sperandeo Thomas G. Danneman Neil Besougloff Hal Miller Cody Grivno Jim Hediger Dana Kawala Steven Otte Eric White Drew Halverson Scott Krall Rick Johnson Kellie Jaeger Roen Kelly
Kalmbach Publishing Co. President Charles R. Croft Sr. Vice President Sales & Marketing Daniel R. Lance Vice President Editorial Kevin P. Keefe Vice President Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire Corporate Advertising Director Scott Bong Corporate Art Director Maureen M. Schimmel Managing Art Director Michael Soliday
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Great Model Railroads 2016
rare Southern valve gear steamed about their business. As a prototype modeler myself, I get a special thrill from seeing a model scene so well rendered that I can say, “I was there.” But there’s satisfaction in realistic free-lance modeling, too. Dick Karnes’ station scene on pages 38 and 39 is a great example of that. As a passenger train fan who always wants to walk out to the end of the platforms to see what’s doing, I get the feeling that I’ve done exactly that on Dick’s New York, Westchester & Boston. The catenary system overhead adds just the right industrial clutter for a mood-setting “establishing shot.” And now you tell me there really was no New York, Westchester & Boston RR. Are you sure? Whether re-creating the railroad world as it was, or an alternate reality showing how it might have been, our Great Model Railroads layout builders have used their hobby creations to share their vision of reality. They’re all distinctive in their own ways, and they all represent impressive combinations of skill and imagination. I hope you’ll enjoy visiting them as much as I’ve enjoyed my part in bringing them to you.
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7
ALONG THE
The steam-to-diesel transition is in full swing on this HO scale Milwaukee Road layout
MIGHTY
By Stephen Brudlos Photos by Cody Grivno
A
fter retiring from a 35-year career as a professional railroader, I knew that I’d need something to keep me occupied during the years ahead. I’d dabbled in model railroading when I was growing up, so the concept of building a model railroad wasn’t new to me. Besides, given my career (and coming from a long line of railroaders), I figured 8
Great Model Railroads 2016
I knew something about railroading. The trouble was, my house in the Twin Cities wasn’t suitable for building the layout I had in mind. This problem was solved when my wife wished to move back to LaCrosse, Wis., to care for her aging father. Our new house had a 30 x 60-foot basement. I quickly took over a 14 x 40-foot chunk of it to build my dream layout. After the usual preparations – new flooring, drywall, and additional lighting – I was ready to get started.
There was never a doubt in my mind exactly what I planned to model. I was going to model the Milwaukee Road River Subdivision as it was in early autumn 1950. I chose the River Sub, which follows the west bank of the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minn., to LaCrosse, because I thought it to be the most beautiful portion of the railroad. It was also my home division, and I could recapture, in my mind, the good times I had working the line as a conductor in the early days of my railroad career.
MISSISSIPPI Train No. 6, the Morning Hiawatha, cruises along the west bank of the Mississippi River on Stephen Brudlos’ Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific River Subdivision. The HO scale layout is set in early autumn 1950 in eastern Minnesota.
1
FROM DREAM TO REALITY My plan was to build a freestanding single-deck layout along two basement walls with a central peninsula. A six-track staging yard split by a double-track mainline with a helix on each end would allow east- and westbound trains to reach the upper level, which would contain the scenery. I realized that I couldn’t re-create the entire River Sub mile for mile, so I concentrated my efforts on the territory between Red Wing and Winona, Minn., specifically
the communities of Lake City, Reads Landing, and Wabasha. I chose the year 1950 because it allowed me to operate steam locomotives, firstgeneration diesels, and a fleet of passenger trains. The railroad was to be double-track Rule 251 territory with semaphores. [Rule 251 means trains operate on signal indication in the direction of travel established for the track. – Ed.] I wasn’t going to break new ground starting the construction process. I installed a
backdrop of 1 ⁄8" tempered hardboard secured to the walls behind the layout. I sealed the hardboard with oil-based paints and then painted the backdrop light blue. I built the benchwork using L-girder and T-girder construction. The subroadbed is 1 ⁄2" plywood cut to shape and supported on risers spaced 16" apart on 1 x 4 joists. I also used some open-grid benchwork where towns and yards would be. I turned to Woodland Scenics TrackBed for the roadbed. I secured it to the www.ModelRailroader.com
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Helix down
NSP substation
Tennant & Hoyt Flour Mill U.S. Highway 63
Gas station
State Highway 5
Nursery crossing
Addington Spur
A Bloom Scrap
Farmers Union Independent 5 Depot Freight house Elevator Elevator Lyon Water tank Builders Supply Lake City City Fuels Avenue 1 U.S. Highway 61 4 U.S. Highway 61 ippi R iv er Mississ Lake Pepin
Reads Landing
8
9 2 Conwed U.S. Highway 61
NSP Steam Plant
Agri Services Big Jo Flour Mill U.S. Highway 61 Mississippi River Gamlin Street
Coal tower Church U.S. Highway 61 Depot RIP track 7 Quarry Grant 3 Freight Enginehouse Maintenance- Wabasha School Boulevard Cemetery of-way shed house
Barn Bluff Mississippi River U.S. Highway 63
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific River Subdivision
Red Wing
6
Water heater
HO scale (1:87.1) Layout size: 30 x 60 feet Scale of plan: 3⁄16" = 1'-0", 48" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Rick Johnson and Roen Kelly Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Furnace
East loop CGW staging track
St. Paul (East Yard staging. Eight tracks for Milwaukee Road, one track for Chicago Great Western) 49" Duckunder
A Helix up
Six-track staging yard under Lake City (West Yard, LaCrosse, Wis., and Chicago)
subroadbed with DAP Dynaflex 230 sealant. I used Peco code 83 flextrack for the mainline and Micro Engineering code 70 flextrack for sidings, yards, and industry tracks. The turnouts are mainly Micro Engineering no. 6 code 70 and code 83. I again used the DAP sealant to secure the track and turnouts to the roadbed. I was careful to keep the sealant away from the working parts of the turnout. The turnouts are controlled by Circuitron Tortoise slow-motion switch motors and fascia-mounted toggle switches. 10
Great Model Railroads 2016
West loop
BUILDING THE BLUFFS Since I was modeling the bluffs along the Mississippi River in eastern Minnesota, I needed vertical scenery and lots of it. I started by using plywood armatures to support a web of cardboard strips. Then I covered the cardboard with newspapers and plaster cloth. After the plaster dried, I painted it with flat brown latex paint. I carved the rock faces for the river bluffs from Hydrocal and colored them with oil paint washes.
The MR Video Plus crew tagged along for the photo shoot at Stephen’s layout. Subscribers to MRVP can see their footage at www.MRVideoPlus.com.
The towering bluffs along the Mississippi River also serve as view blocks on Stephen’s layout. Reads Landing and U.S. Highway 61 is to the left and Lake City is to the right.
2
Archer Daniels Midland Potter Street Simmons Elevator Plum Street LaGrange Mill LaGrange Elevator Bush Street Fleischmann Malting Co.
Turntable Standard Oil Winona Oil
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE
Red Wing Potteries Central Lumber
Riverside Park Depot Broad Street Freight house
Depot
Maintenanceof-way shed
Stairs up
Red Wing Malting Co.
Grocers Warehouse
Red Wing pumping station
Passenger main Freight house Freight main Desjarlais Scrap Red Wing Sewer Pipe Co. Building B Red Wing Sewer Pipe Co. Building R Jackson Street U.S. Highway 61 Robson Lumber Robson Millwright Automatic Block Signaling (MILW) Centralized Traffic Control (MILW)
CGW Milwaukee Road/Chicago Great Western interchange
NAME: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific River Subdivision SCALE: HO (1:87.1) SIZE: 30 x 60 feet LOCALE: Eastern Minnesota along the Mississippi River PERIOD: Early fall 1950 STYLE: walkaround MAINLINE RUN: 195 feet (per westbound and eastbound tracks) MINIMUM RADIUS: 36" MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 6 MAXIMUM GRADE: 2 percent (in helix) BENCHWORK: L girder, open grid, and plywood shelf HEIGHT: 49" to 511 ⁄ 2" (lower staging, 391 ⁄ 2") ROADBED: Woodland Scenics Track-Bed TRACK: Peco code 83 flextrack (main), Micro Engineering code 70 flextrack (sidings, yards, and spurs) SCENERY: cardboard lattice covered with plaster gauze BACKDROP: 1 ⁄ 8" tempered hardboard CONTROL: Digitrax Digital Command Control
Laundry area 10'-6"
With the basic landforms in place, I began adding grass, shrubs, and trees. I started the process by applying static grass over undiluted white glue using the Noch Gras-Master tool. I used Scenic Express 6mm autumn static grass as a base, and shorter fibers in various shades of green for lawns and parks. While the fibers stood upright fairly well, I aided the process with gentle suction from a shop vacuum. I re-created the thousands of trees covering the high river bluffs using Micro-Mark
black poly fiber covered with Woodland Scenics light green and burnt grass coarse ground foam. I secured the finished “puffball” trees to the landforms in a random pattern with hot glue. Next, I scenicked the area between the puffball trees and autumn static grass with a band of low shrubs and small trees typical of those found along the edge of a forest. I’ve found that Woodland Scenic light green Fine-Leaf Foliage makes a convincing transition between the static grass and the forest. www.ModelRailroader.com
11
The steam-to-diesel transition was in full swing on the Milwaukee Road in early autumn 1950. In this scene near Wabasha, Minn., a 2-8-2 heavy Mikado meets the diesel-powered westbound Morning Hiawatha.
3
Milwaukee Road class L2b Mikado no. 436 leads train No. 91 along the Mississippi River toward Lake City, Minn. Stephen used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to model the water on his layout.
4
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Great Model Railroads 2016
The wayfreight conductor is inside the depot to get switch lists from the Lake City, Minn., agent. The Southwestern style depot replaced the more traditionally styled depot that burned in the early 1900s.
5
the water material from leaking out. Then I painted the shoreline a light tan color, which I transitioned to a brownish green for the river bottom. After the caulk and paint had dried, I poured an 1 ⁄8" layer of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. I let the first layer dry for 24 hours before applying a second layer. I stippled the second layer with a 1"-wide fine paint brush while the water material was drying. This was pretty tedious and took a couple of hours. The stippling made the water look like it was a windy, wild day. I applied one more coat of Realistic Water to turn the choppy water into a gently flowing river.
TRACKING THE PAST
I applied the Fine-Leaf Foliage to the static grass areas with carpenter’s wood glue. This glue grabs much better than white glue, especially when applying ground cover to vertical areas.
LAKES AND RIVERS Once I was happy with the landforms, I began to add the water features. Since the real railroad followed the Mississippi River, it was necessary to model some portions of Lake Pepin, a wide area in the river, and the river itself. The first step was to seal the edges of the water areas with a clear caulk to prevent
When I needed a break from working on the benchwork, track, and scenery, I turned my attention to structures. Since I was trying to stay faithful to the prototype, it quickly became apparent that I’d have to scratchbuild or kitbash most of the structures to accurately capture the 1950s look of each location. Since many of the buildings no longer existed, I searched the Internet for period photos at various state historical and archive websites. This process became a rather enjoyable and interesting hobby unto itself. Accurate structures were just part of making the layout look correct for 1950. Having appropriate locomotives and rolling stock was the other. The steam locomotives on the layout are from Bachmann, Broadway Limited Imports, MTH Electric Trains, Sunset, and United. I modified the models to more closely resemble Milwaukee Road prototypes. I upgraded the brass locomotives
with can motors, flywheels, and SoundTraxx sound decoders. The first-generation diesel locomotives are by Athearn, Bowser, Kato, and Wm. K. Walthers Inc. All of the locomotives have sound decoders. The rolling stock is from a variety of manufacturers, including Accurail, Athearn, Bachmann, Bowser, Kadee, Tichy Train Group, and Walthers. The passenger equipment is also from Walthers. I’m a strong proponent of standardization, so all freight equipment has Kadee no. 58 scale couplers and InterMountain semi-scale 33" metal wheels. If some equipment isn’t weathered, it’s only because I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
OPERATIONS When my wife and I moved back to LaCrosse, I didn’t know anyone in the city interested in model railroading. As I started the layout building process, I was purchasing supplies from a local hobby shop. Finally, after a few months, the store owner asked me what I was building. I showed him some photos of the early stages of the layout, and he suggested that I get in touch with members of RiverRail, a local model railroading group. [Learn more about the group at www.riverrail.org. – Ed.] After contacting the group, I was invited to an operating session, which I found extremely enjoyable. I knew about model www.ModelRailroader.com
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The Afternoon Hiawatha glides into Red Wing, Minn., around Barn Bluff and under the Mississippi River bridge. The westbound train, which originated in Chicago, is being led by a pair of Electro-Motive Division E7s.
6
The Wabasha yard crew spots empty ballast hoppers at the Wabasha Pit for loading. Most of the ballast laid between LaCrosse, Wis., and the Twin Cities during the late 1940s and early 1950s came from this gravel quarry.
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Great Model Railroads 2016
6 tips for realistic backdrops
Stephen Brudlos used artists oils to paint this bluff scene on a tempered hardboard backdrop. He used colors similar to those in the foreground scenery materials.
BACKDROP PAINTING has been covered many times in magazine articles and has also been the subject of several books. However, there are many modelers still afraid to give backdrop painting a try. Here are seven tips I’ve followed when painting backdrops on my layout:
railroad operations from reading about it in the hobby press, but I never had the chance to participate in a session. This was an aspect of the hobby that I’d been missing. My RiverRail friends knew I was building a layout and prompted me to host operating sessions. After months of preparation, I held my first session in early 2012 with five operators, consisting of a yard foreman and engineer at Wabasha, a conductor and engineer on the way freight, and one person to operate the freight and passenger trains. Later that year, I hosted three operating sessions during the biennial RiverRail Invitational. Shortly thereafter, I held a session during which somebody took a look through a doorway into the other half of the basement. I was soon descended upon by what I came to call the “Gang of Five”. The gang wanted me to expand and build more railroad so
1 CREATE A HORIZON LINE. This should be about eye level for the average viewer. Some of the backdrop scenery will be above the line, and some will be below it. 2 USE VANISHING POINTS. Even natural vistas have vanishing points. Lines of sight converge on these points and determine the size of near and distant objects relative to each other. 3 CHOOSE COLORS CAREFULLY. Use a color palette on the backdrop that’s similar to the colors of the foreground scenery. 4 WHERE IS THE SUN? You must decide where the sun is located. This could be most brightly lit area of your layout. The sun will, of course, cause one side of an object to be brightly illuminated and the opposite side to be in partial shade. Carry this light and shade concept onto the backdrop. 5 USE AERIAL PERSPECTIVE. Objects will appear smaller as distance increases. Closer objects should be more pronounced and distinct than distant objects. The color hue and color saturation of objects will also become less distinct as the distance increases, fading toward a bluish-gray color. 6 DON’T BE TOO REALISTIC. This may sound strange, but you don’t want the backdrop to take center stage over what is happening in the foreground. Sometimes a simple gray line of low hills with little scenery definition behind a line of foreground trees is the most effective backdrop. Anyone can create a suitable backdrop for their layout. Backdrops don’t have to be a work of art. As with many things in life, the more you do it, the better you become. The same holds true for painting backdrops. So, get going and you’ll soon see how easy, fun, and satisfying is can be to make your own backdrops. – S.B.
more people could operate on the layout. Bowing to overwhelming pressure, I prepared another room and began building Red Wing, Minn. In 1950, Red Wing hosted two railroads, the Milwaukee Road and Chicago Great Western (CGW). The CGW was above and behind the Milwaukee Road along Red Wing’s waterfront. Building both railroads
would allow me to utilize the new room to its fullest. I knew, however, that once I connected Red Wing to the original layout I would lose the east helix with tracks leading down under Lake City into the staging yard. Since the railroad now ran through Red Wing, it would have to continue on somewhere. www.ModelRailroader.com
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Efficient car routing I WAS INITIALLY using car cards and waybills for car routing on my layout. I added a twist, however. The cards and waybills went along with the train as usual and were set out and picked up at stations worked by the train. But now, each train also carried a train consist list departing the initial station. The list showed the conductor all the cars in his train in proper sequence plus the destination stations at which cars were to be set out along the line. Switch lists were also prepared for yard crews showing them the work to be Here is an example of the paperwork done in their yard. This proved a lot of that Stephen uses during operating work for me, since I had to hand write all sessions. Prior to using the Java Model the information on all the lists. Railroad Interface (JMRI) system, he Hand-writing switch lists was fine for used to hand write all of the paperwork. single operating sessions. But when 2014 rolled around and the RiverRail group began preparations for its 2014 Invitational, I realized it would be impossible for me to host operating sessions on three consecutive days using hand-written lists (in addition to re-staging the layout between sessions). Fortunately, RiverRail member Dave Waraxa was using JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface, jmri.sourceforge.net), a computer-generated car routing system on his layout. Dave is a big proponent of JMRI and willingly agreed to help install it on my model railroad. We started working in January 2014 and by May we had JMRI up and running. From my perspective, JMRI has a steep learning curve, but once all of the prep work is completed, it’s an amazing system. I was easily able to host three successful operating sessions during RiverRail 2014. Java Model Railroad Interface is essentially my agent. Looking back on my years as a conductor, never once was I allowed to decide on my own where I was to spot or pull a car from an industry. I was always doing the bidding of the customers through the sales, marketing, and clerical departments by way of switch lists provided to me by the agent, clerk, or yardmasters. – S.B.
That somewhere would be on the other side of the concrete block wall that ran down the center of the basement. After a couple months of work I had the Red Wing and the CGW tracks in place, a couple of tunnels through the block wall, and a new eighttrack staging yard with a reversing loop on the end. While finishing this work, I removed the east helix under Lake City and replaced it with a reversing loop. This gave me a pointto-point layout for sessions, plus allowed for
Milwaukee Road Skytop Lounge Cedar Rapids brings up the rear of train No. 101, the Afternoon Hiawatha, as it rolls through Reads Landing, Minn. The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are the next stops for this train.
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IN THE FUTURE
Eastbound time freight No. 264, led today by class L3 2-8-2 no. 317, parallels U.S. Highway 61 between Red Wing and Lake City, Minn. Locomotive 317 was one of 100 heavy Mikados assigned to the Milwaukee Road by the United States Railroad Administration near the end of World War I.
There is still much to do on my model railroad, especially scenery and structures at Red Wing. After I get this area further along, I plan to make another hole through the concrete block wall at the end of Wabasha. Then I’ll bring track off the top loop of the west helix and run it under Wabasha and through the wall. Winona Yards and a new staging yard will be built in the back part of the basement. Then I’ll remove the west helix and retire the staging yard under Lake City. Model railroading truly is a wonderful hobby. Through it I’ve learned new skills,
gained new knowledge, and most importantly, made many new friends and acquaintances. I’m especially grateful to the RiverRail group, whose members have provided encouragement, expertise, and many hours of fun and enjoyment at operating sessions on their individual layouts. I also owe a lot to my wife, Sherry, who has pretty much given up her basement to the layout and puts up with a duckunder to get to the washer and dryer just so I could put up my model railroad.
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continuous running when other guests stopped by to see the model railroad. The layout now requires a 10-person operating crew.
MEET STEPHEN BRUDLOS STEPHEN BRUDLOS LIVES in LaCrosse, Wis., with his wife, Sherry. Stephen and his wife were high school teachers in Albuquerque, N.M., when he hired on as a brakeman for the Milwaukee Road in the summer of 1970. That “summer job” turned into 10 years as a brakeman and conductor on the Milwaukee and 25 years as an operations manager in various capacities for the Milwaukee, Soo Line, and Canadian Pacific. www.ModelRailroader.com
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ONE LAYOUT,
MANY PIECES
A hotshot freight passes a train on the eastward main line at Photographer’s Curve, originally part of John Armstrong’s O scale Canandaigua Southern layout. It and other sections are now part of David Vaughn’s layout “collection.”
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Parts of John Armstrong’s model railroad and others are preserved by this collector of O scale layouts
By David Vaughn Photos by Paul J. Dolkos
This coal mine area was once part of Ted Stepek’s model railroad. John Armstrong, who designed Ted’s layout, named the small, pickle-shaped yard Ogurki, the Polish word for pickle, because Ted was Polish and Armstrong was a fan of pun names.
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S
ome railroad hobbyists collect brass limited-edition locomotives. Others collect dining car china. I collect layouts. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the essence. I’ve acquired, restored, and integrated into a single layout major components from three significant O scale layouts. Smaller components from two other modelers’ layouts are also included. The three larger parts are from John Armstrong’s famous Canandaigua Southern, Ted Stepek’s Pennsylvania RR layout (designed by Armstrong and featured in his book, Creative Layout Design) and Ed Rappe’s original Pennsy layout (the cover feature in the March 2000 Model Railroader). This layout occupies an 18 x 89-foot space.
RESCUE MISSION My drive to rescue these layouts began when I realized most layouts go in the trash when their builders pass away, become disabled, or move. My interest in the particular layouts now in my basement started with an informal Friday night round-robin group of O scalers in the Baltimore-Washington area. Once a month, we would visit each others’ 20
Great Model Railroads 2016
train rooms to run trains, swap stories, and finish up with coffee and cake. This group began meeting in the late 1940s and has continued ever since, although the membership has changed over time. I first encountered the group in 1978 when I was still an HO modeler, but it didn’t take long for me to convert to the larger scale. John and Ted were the leaders of the group from the 1950s through the mid-’90s, and Ed was also a frequent host, so I really got to know and learn from these great modelers and their railroads. John was the father of model railroad track planning. He was a creative thinker and prolific author, publishing over 30 trainrelated books, including Track Planning for Realistic Operation (published by Kalmbach Books and now in its third edition), The Railroad: What it is and What it Does (SimmonsBoardman), and numerous articles and custom track plans. Ted was a graphic artist and draftsman who did a lot of work for Atlas Model Railroad Co. Working with John, he created the company’s series of sectional track plan books. Ted also developed the first Atlas O scale line in the 1970s and did the artwork for the paint schemes on many of Atlas’
A
70"
New York Central
Pence Junction
Diner Gas station
Station
Interlocking tower
Roundhouse Concrete plant
Rail-to-barge transloader
Entrance
A
52" Engine terminal Coal
7 Sand
4
Railway Station Express Agency
52"
West Stepek
Icing platform
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THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: Nickel Plate Road, Kentucky Western Division and Canandaigua Southern RR, Southern Division SCALE: O (1:48) SIZE: 18 x 89 feet PROTOTYPE: Nickel Plate Road and freelanced LOCALE: southern Ohio and western Pennsylvania PERIOD: May 1958 STYLE: walk-in MAINLINE RUN: 1,000 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 64" (main line), 56" (staging loops) MAXIMUM GRADE: 2.5 percent BENCHWORK: various HEIGHT: 28" to 78" ROADBED: mostly Homasote TRACK: mostly handlaid, steel rail on wood ties; some steel rail on Atlas plastic ties SCENERY: various BACKDROP: painted on walls CONTROL: NCE Digital Command Control
Nickel Plate Road/ Canandaigua Southern RR O scale (1:48) Room size: 18 x 89 feet Scale of plan: 1⁄8" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Kellie Jaeger Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
78"
UPPER STAGING West end staging (St. Louis)
C
Tower
Station Enginehouse
1
Rappe (formerly Altoona) 70"
Tower
3
70"
C UPPER LEVEL
Entrance
Chapmanville
Gas station
Coal tower
Lavezzi Junction (formerly Warm River)
Store
6
2
58"
Bentless Trestle
60" 64"
Photographer’s Curve
LOWER LEVEL
70"
3
1
Lake Rippley
Station
East end staging (Buffalo)
Workbench
Ogurki mine Coal mine
5 Roundhouse
Engine terminal
Ninth Street Bridge Pittsburgh Junction (formerly Cattaraugus) 52"
Station Passenger platform
Stepek Armstrong Yard
Lift-out section
Warm River
David runs a train on the upper level of the main room, on a stretch of track taken from Dan Pence’s former layout. The main yard on the deck below is from Ted Stepek’s model railroad. To make the yard fit its new space, David had to flip it end-to-end.
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rolling stock models. Ted and John were good friends, and John designed for Ted a Pennsy prototype layout that Ted, John, and others built. Interestingly, John came to feel the plan he made for Ted was superior to that of his own railroad. Ted got the railroad operational, but never built any scenery. After he died in 1996, I obtained the layout from his estate, agreeing to move it so the basement could be reclaimed for non-train use. The layout was never designed to be moved, and figuring out how to cut up the benchwork so as to
minimize damage and still be small enough to move turned out to be a major undertaking. That process began my heritage layout collection and the project to restore them.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER Resurrecting Ted’s layout began in 2000. I used my 18 x 47 basement – what I now call the “front room” – for most of the layout. I built and borrowed some additional pieces to link the single-deck sections, which had been in a square room, to fit my longer, narrower space. I had to use two decks and
Suspend with wire SUPPORTING UPPER LAYOUT DECKS can be difficult, especially when running heavier O scale equipment. However, wooden supports from below or above are visually distracting. On my layout, the outer edge of the deck above Stepek Yard is suspended from the ceiling joists using small braided wire cable. The top of each cable is looped over a screw driven horizontally into the joists, run through a U clamp, and tightened. The bottom end is attached to the benchwork similarly, through a hole drilled through the benchwork. A row of such cables supports the upper benchwork; balancing the tension on the different cables equalizes the distribution of weight. Where the cables pass through scenery, I disguise them as line poles. A Plastruct styrene tube is scored to represent wood grain, painted and weathered appropriately, and then carefully slit the length of the pole and pushed around the cable. The part of the cable that extends above the pole can be painted blue to match the backdrop. Since the top of the pole is above the trains passing through, viewers following the trains generally don’t notice the cables. The middle and upper levels of the center lobe of the layout in the back room are likewise suspended from the ceiling
stacked staging loops to squeeze it all in. There were bonuses, though; I was able to extend DesMaines Yard (i.e. “the main” yard – Armstong was quite a punster) by 5 feet. I decided to build an addition onto the house to expand the railroad. That’s easier said than done, but from 2005 to 2006, I excavated a 16-foot-long crawlspace out to the edge of the existing foundation and a new 25-foot basement addition beyond. During the expansion, Ed decided to move and build a new, larger layout at his new home. I drew up a plan to use elements
of his previous layout, along with some new construction, in my new space. After John died in 2004, his family made his layout available for preservation and operation. John was a good friend, and I was pleased to incorporate significant pieces of the Canandaigua Southern along with major parts of Ed’s layout. The unanticipated availability of the CSRR required the use of multiple levels and narrow aisles. To combine Ed’s and John’s components with the existing layout, I removed the two smaller stacked staging loops (which have been recycled yet again in the layout of another friend) from the ends of the layout in the front room and extended the multideck configuration into the new area. There’s a double-track main line, almost all of which is on multiple levels, with staging loops at the upper and lower ends – an extended, folded and stacked dogbone.
To minimize intrusive supports on the layout below, David supported some of the upper deck’s outer edges with steel wire attached to joists above. Plastic tubing detailed to resemble line poles make the wires unobtrusive.
joists. Sections along the walls are suspended from threaded rods attached to brackets on the ceiling joists, passed through the benchwork, and adjusted on the bottom with nuts and lock washers. – David Vaughn
The lower staging loop and layover tracks are 28" from the floor. The upper “sky” loop and layover tracks are 78" off the floor; operators and visitors walk under them. Parts of the layout, including the entire center lobe in the back room and the sky loop, are hung from the ceiling by brackets and threaded rods, so there are few supports from the lower levels to the upper levels of the layout. Other upper deck sections are supported with cables disguised as utility poles (see “Suspend with wire” above). Most of the track is handlaid steel rail on stained wood ties with individual tieplates, using four spikes per tie, the original work having been done by John, Ted, and earlier members of the round-robin group. Curves are superelevated with easements to provide a smooth flow. The layout has been converted from outside third rail on the Armstrong layout sections and DC on the other layout www.ModelRailroader.com
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The layout is set in May 1958, just two months before the Nickel Plate ceased operating mainline steam, so the clean Geeps at the West Stepek engine terminal are relatively new. The control panel for this location had to be installed upside-down to match the flipped layout.
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sections to Digital Command Control (DCC). Track is appropriately gapped and divided into power districts; frogs are powered. It takes about 35 minutes for a train to traverse the entire layout at reasonable speed. In most places, only one scene at a time can be viewed on each level. Much of the layout is 60 to 70 inches high, allowing eye-level viewing of trains. This also leaves space below the benchwork for storing extra rolling stock, kits, parts, and tools – the “basement hobby shop” long-time modelers tend to acquire. There are a number of platform steps on which operators and visitors may stand to see better. Mirrors and closed-circuit cameras provide views of hidden track in the upper staging loop. 24
Great Model Railroads 2016
MAKING IT WORK TOGETHER The integrated layout pieces now represent a freelanced component of the Nickel Plate Road running between St. Louis (represented by staging) and Pittsburgh Junction, where it connects with the west end of the Canandaigua Southern, which then proceeds toward Buffalo (also staging). The two railroads are operated as part of an imaginary “alphabet route,” similar to the prototype Nickel Plate/Pittsburgh & West Virginia/ Western Maryland route that inspired John on his original CSRR. Most trains run through without changing motive power. The railroad is set in May 1958. All the engines, rolling stock, operations, structures, and vehicles are historically correct for the time period. The primary NKP motive power remains S-1 through S-4 Berkshires, a mix of Overland and U.S. Hobbies brass models, with H-5 and H-6 Mikados, L-1 Hudsons, and U-2 and U-3 0-8-0 switchers as additional steam power. The diesels are Alco PA-1s (the
famed “Bluebirds”), Geeps, RSD-12s, RS-11s, S-2s, and SW units. Four original CSRR locomotives (2-10-4 no. 1206, 2-8-0 no. 337, a scratchbuilt 4-8-4, and 0-8-0 no. 59) provide power for the Canandaigua Southern portion of the layout, along with NKP engines operating under trackage rights. Rolling stock is a mix of brass, plastic, and resin, both ready-to-run and kits, with a heavy emphasis on NKP and other Midwestern roads. John Armstrong never developed his home road freight car roster very far, so I took the liberty of having decals produced and models built to approximate what CSRR would have run. Midland Fruit Express, which is jointly owned by NKP, CSRR, and Tony Koester’s former fictional Allegheny Midland RR, operates fruit and produce refrigerator service. Modest passenger service is also provided. Nickel Plate trains powered by PAs are overshadowed by the Allegheny Route passenger service operated jointly by the Canandaigua Southern, New York Central, and
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The City of Everywhere departs from Armstrong’s Cattaraugus passenger station. This location was featured on the July 1996 cover of Model Railroader.
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A gas station and country store are the basis of a detailed scene at Chapmanville. The structures are from Howard Zane and Menards.
other roads. Original CSRR equipment is included. John’s Allegheny Route service has been expanded to include equipment from the late Lorell Joiner’s fictional O scale Great Southern RR. The combined equipment operates as the City of Everywhere. All locomotives are equipped with DCC and sound using NCE throttles and Protocraft Tsunami decoders. Rewiring the Armstrong locomotives for DCC was challenging, as they had been configured for outside third-rail pickup.
A CONTINUING LEGACY Working with and integrating the different layouts and pieces, each built in a different era and to different standards, has been challenging. My emphasis has been on developing and maintaining reliable trackwork and wiring, and upgrading them to accommodate DCC. A working signal system, such as John Armstrong installed on CSRR, is far in the future. Scenery has generally taken a back seat to more practical work. However,
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On one portion of Armstrong’s railroad there was an alternate mainline route without tunnels and clearance restrictions, but with steeper grades that required helpers. David has yet to install these sections on his layout.
Preserving and moving layouts THERE COMES A TIME in the life of every layout in which disassembly and removal is required. Most model railroads ultimately end up in the trash. Though some sections, like engine terminals or detailed structures, are easily removed and may be worth saving, there’s generally little or no market value in in-place layouts. The determination of whether a layout or its components can and should be saved starts with the question of whether someone is willing to take the layout pieces and able to do the tedious disassembly, moving, and reassembly work required. Other judgment calls include the practicality of cutting up the layout and moving it from its present space, as well as whether there is space to install the pieces in a new home. Reassembling layouts after moving them is made more difficult by nonstandard benchwork, wiring, or trackwork. One way to simplify assembly is to strip old benchwork from plywood subroadbed and install new, standardized benchwork underneath.
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Great Model Railroads 2016
This rail-to-barge coal transfer station trackage was a feature on Ted Stepek’s PRR layout, but that part of the layout had never been scenicked. David extended the scene into the aisle to make room for the water and barge.
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This photo shows the Photographer’s Curve section of John Armstrong’s layout below, Ed Rappe’s former Altoona Yard in the middle, and concealed behind the blue-painted fascia above that, the west end staging loop representing St. Louis.
Another tip (used by Rick Sester when first assembling Ted Stepek’s layout): Install new wiring and switch machines with the layout sections upside down, before securing them to the walls and layout legs. Working this way not only makes it easier to see what you’re doing, but will also reduce the risk of hot solder dripping from overhead. – D.V.
nothing focuses the minds of ballast and scenery crews like an upcoming open house or photo shoot. Operation is primitive but evolving. At the present time, it is essentially running trains in sequential order. Trains up to 60 cars long are operated regularly, providing interesting train handling challenges up and down the grades. A 60-car coal train powered by sound-equipped RSD-12s has considerable entertainment value, even without the benefit of timetable operation or switching. Progress on the layout has been accomplished using many helpers. Some were friends before working on the layout; others
became friends through that exercise. I want to thank Jorge Medrano, Rick Sester, Paul Maynard, Carl Siefert, my brother Jim Vaughn, Bob Chapman, Steve Van Metre, Fred Schirrmacher, Terry Terrance, Bob Lavezzi, and many others from the Friday night group and others who have also provided volunteer help. It has taken a village to move this very large project along. To be sure, it would have been easier, quicker, and cheaper to build a layout from the ground up. I might have even produced a more cohesive track plan, since integrating the different layouts and shoehorning them in forced many compromises. I’ve been asked, especially with respect to John’s sections, whether I should have left the component layouts as they were. Though I’m operating my own model railroad, not a museum, I respect the history of these important layouts. Adapting and preserving the
original layouts as much as possible honors the craftsmanship and memory of their builders, and has been well worth the added effort. For example, the distinctive cliffs from Photographer’s Curve on John’s layout were not long enough for the new location, and some parts were damaged, so Bob Chapman made rubber molds of the rock work and cast and installed new pieces. His wife, Shar, painted the new castings to match the old, and the transitions are undetectable. As with most layouts, work on this one will likely never be completed. However, steady progress continues, encouraged by monthly group operating sessions, periodic open houses, and a stream of visitors from all over the world. Advance notice and permission is required, but it’s my hope to continue to provide visitors with the opportunity to see and operate these well-known layouts from the golden age of O scale.
MEET DAVID VAUGHN DAVID WORKS as an arbitrator and mediator of labor disputes, including work in the railroad industry. He previously practiced law and taught labor and employment law. David grew up in the Midwest alongside the New York Central and Ann Arbor railroads and remembers the last days of steam operations on the Nickel Plate Road. He was recently named National Director of the Nickel Plate Historical and Technical Society (www.nkphts.org) and serves on the board of the O Scale Kings, a group that promotes two-rail O scale modeling (www.osk. org). He lives in Clarksville, Md.
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A westbound breakdown train is about to enter snow shed no. 1 on Mark Dance’s N scale Columbia & Western model railroad. The snow shed was built using bents laser cut from CAD drawings.
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DEVELOPING AN N SCALE
‘MUSHROOM’ LAYOUT 28
Great Model Railroads 2016
Product design techniques from the business world helped design this Canadian layout By Mark Dance Photos by Timothy Horton I’VE BEEN A MODEL RAILROADER for more than 40 years. Nine years ago I was fortunate to find myself with the time and energy to build my first significant layout, the N scale Columbia & Western. I’m interested in the Canadian Pacific’s southern main line across the Monashee, Rocky, and Coastal mountains of British Columbia, not far from my Vancouver home. I’ve collected prototype information and made a couple of cycling trips across the old rail grades, most of which had been active lines only 10 or 20 years earlier. The beauty of the region, the spectacular nature of the engineering works, and the tales of the railroaders’ battles against the elements inspired me to re-create this area in miniature.
We weren’t using our stand-alone, insulated and heated two-car garage, since our family car can sit outside all year in Vancouver’s temperate climate. This gave me a 9-foot-high, 16 x 20-foot space for the model railroad.
THE DESIGN PROCESS Planning began with detailed pencil sketches and evolved to full Computer-Aided Design (CAD) drawings. The CAD files proved invaluable in figuring out lines of sight, backdrops, framing, lighting, and even the compression and support for the many large bridges. The C&W would have been very difficult to build without this CAD work, which permitted construction to
proceed quickly. This planning meant I could confidently build and complete the benchwork for the entire railroad all at once, followed by all the trunk wiring, then all the track and feeder wiring, then the backdrops, and so on. Two prototype features were very important to me: the steep grades to Farron summit and the Slocan Lake train barge. Replicating these two elements enabled optimal use of the vertical space available, and a fourdeck layout design emerged. Four decks sounds much worse than it is, as most of the layout is double-decked as it circles the exterior walls. In the center of the room, a hollow peninsula takes a mushroom configuration – in www.ModelRailroader.com
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Continuous run connection up to Cascade
3.5 turns down helix to storage level Stub tracks, 1.5 turns down East staging 42"
42" 5 Mile Creek
Ore dump Oil dealership
A
Kootenay Anderson Lake Creek
Troup Junction
Kootenay Forest Products sawmill complex
2
52"
45" 2 turns up to Shields
48"
Triangle Pacific Forest Products sawmill
Celgar kraft pulp mill Slocan Lake
Kraft
42"
Slocan City
8-foot, 8-track transfer table storage yard under Kraft and Robson West
43"
3
Department of Public Works
Lemon Creek
Maintenanceof-Way Sand Slocan River
A
Run-through
A diesel house
Movable barge to Rosebery (upper deck)
Swamp
Pennisula cross section
RIP track
Nelson
Valican
Cottonwood Creek
Robson West
Car shops Log reloading
Pope & Talbot sawmill complex
Selkirk Paving
Ramp 4 Team track Freight house
Castlegar
Depot Freight house
Swing gate 3
Clean out tracks Diesel oil Fuel dealership Kootenay River
6
South Slocan/Fraine
Slocan River
42"
42"
Swing gate 1
30"
BC Hydro Yard
Lower deck
Storage level reversing loop Canadian Propane
42" to 43" main line
South Nelson Crew lounge
Two tracks for Trail staging (for Cominco smelter and fertilizer plants) Mitchell Lumber Spiral helix down to storage
BN Spokane staging
Columbia & Western Ry. In Southeastern British Columbia N scale (1:160) Room size: 19'-6" x 20'-10" Scale of plan: 3⁄8" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Jay Smith and Rick Johnson Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
This photo from the end of the northwest aisle shows Cascade on the upper deck and Kraft below. The traversing train-storage drawer is under Kraft.
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3 turns down to continuous run 7 turns down to storage level
MOW
53"
Stub track, 1.5 turns down
Porcupine Creek
West staging McCormack Creek
Shields Lower Arrow Lake
Farron
5 Down to Kraft
63" MOW
Brooklyn Creek
2
A
Ore reload
Bulldog Tunnel
Step slides under Slocan City benchwork when not in use
Farr Creek (Fire Creek)
Log reload Pup Creek
59" Cascade McRae Creek Potato warehouse BN Republic staging
Pull-out step
1
Barr Creek (Bear Creek)
A
A Pennisula cross section
Kettle River Snowshed No. 1
59" Lift gate Grass Creek
Coykendahl
4 7 Sandner Brothers lumber reload
Caminco limestone tipple
Fife/Lafferty Gravel pit
Slide Bridge
Snowshed No. 2
60"
Swing gate 2
Middle deck 51 to 64 51" 64" m main ain liline ne
fact, a double mushroom. The peninsula’s single outward-facing deck models the lonely eastern slope climb to Farron. This deck is sandwiched between two inward-facing decks that host the physically isolated Slocan and Kaslo subdivisions, respectively. This arrangement is quite effective in re-creating the feeling of that isolation; the crew member who draws the Nakusp turn inside the mushroom can often disappear (and be forgotten!) for a whole operating session. The lowest deck of the layout is used for storage and restaging, not in operations. So
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: Columbia & Western SCALE: N (1:160) SIZE: 16'-6" x 20'-0" PROTOTYPE: Canadian Pacific LOCALE: southern British Columbia PERIOD: 1970 STYLE: multi-deck walkaround with doublemushroom peninsula MAINLINE RUN: 230 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 18" (main), 14" (branch line)
MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 5 MAXIMUM GRADE: 2.5 percent BENCHWORK: open grid HEIGHT: 30" to 76" ROADBED: 3 ⁄4" plywood TRACK: Peco code 55 flextrack SCENERY: plaster gauze shell BACKDROP: hand-painted linoleum CONTROL: Digitrax Digital Command Control with JMRI/PanelPro control
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Denver Canyon (hidden staging)
Upper Arrow Lake
Texaco dealership
“New” Nakusp
Shell dealership
Upper inside valance
B. J. Carney Pole Mill 74"
Columbia River Shake Mill
Dock track
Rosebery 72" Upper deck 72"
Upper Arrow Lake
Middle deck 54"
“Old” Nakusp
Lower inside valance
Bell Pole Mill
72"
A
MOW Tie reload Freighthouse
Summit Lake
Rosebery
Pennisula cross section
54"
Lower deck Pull-out step with 7" and 14" levels
76"
Hills
Coykendahl
Slocan River
Slocan City 42" A
Outside valance
Slocan Lake Floor
Peninsula cross-section AA Movable barge to Slocan City (lower deck)
Bush Mill
Upper deck
72" to 76" inside peninsula
The most recent addition to the layout is the massive Celgar kraft process pulp mill just west of Castlegar on the lower deck. This industry, which produces pulp used in the manufacture of rayon, ships and receives more than 25 carloads per operating session.
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while the layout has track on four decks, it operates more like a double-deck layout. To build this admittedly complex design, I employed a variety of mechanisms, including four drop and swing gates, two helixes, an indexing table for storing and fiddling complete trains between sessions, and a pullout floor to stand on when operating the Kaslo sub on the top deck.
My initial objective had been simply to re-create the prototype and share it with other modelers familiar with the region. This extended to re-creating the types of trains run and the industries they served. I created line diagrams of train movements as the design progressed to check on things like the number of operators the layout would need, staging requirements, and traffic congestion points (both human and train). Up to this point in my life, I had no hands-on experience with model railroad operations. I simply assumed it was switching cars and running trains to and from those switching locations. Local operators took pity on me and kindly invited me to their operating sessions. There I was exposed not only to the fascinating operations side of the hobby, but also to the social aspect of these operations. My focus began to shift from modeling the prototype to building a layout that would be reliable, intuitive, and fun for its operators. Delivering consistently enjoyable operating experiences had become the paramount objective of the C&W’s journey.
MINIMALLY VIABLE JOBS My professional background is in product development, specifically electromechanical devices, so it’s to be expected that this background crept into my approach to my
Mark operates the Slocan Division inside the layout’s central doublemushroom peninsula. Visible at the top of the entrance is the lift gate that links Coykendahl to Shields, in its up position. Behind Mark are the pull-out steps that make it easier to see and operate the Kaslo Division on the upper deck.
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hobby. One of the core principles of current product development philosophy is to get a new product into customers’ hands as fast as possible, rather than trying to perfect it before release. This way you can involve your customers in the development, get feedback fast, and correct what needs to be corrected rather than trying to improve something that may be solving the wrong problem. One method is launching with a Minimally Viable Product (MVP) – a product with the minimum features necessary for a customer to use and test it. Development then proceeds in a series of “spirals” where changes are made, functionality is layered on top, and the product is repeatedly released to customers for testing and feedback. For me, the customers would be the C&W’s operators, and the minimally viable product would be a layout providing enough jobs to keep four or five operators busy. In an operating session, jobs would run more or less simultaneously. But I could test each job independently with a single operator, so in a sense, each was a mini-MVP. These included the Nakusp/Slocan job, the Boundary way freights, the Kraft switch job that switches the pulp mill at Castlegar,
ON THE WEB For videos of the Columbia & Western’s design, construction and operation, see our User Videos page:
mrr.trains.com/community/user-videos For more photographs of the C&W, please see: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjqN8fVQ
Extra 4104 East traverses the deck truss bridge over McCormack Creek near Shields, B.C. After the long down grade, it will perform its second thermal test at Shields, the first having been done at Coykendahl to the west.
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Extra 4236 East, the hotshot freight from the Cominco smelter and fertilizer plants near Trail, runs across the Kootenay River just 5 miles west of the division point of Nelson.
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and the Nelson Yard jobs. To make these mini-MVPs viable, I needed working and reliable track appropriately identified for industry locations, a simple car forwarding system to direct cars to those industries, track power and control, and sufficient rolling stock. I tested the jobs first by myself, then in short sessions with one or two other operators while I observed. As soon as someone 34
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else was involved, I learned that basic documentation was required to help the operator learn the job, and that this documentation needed testing, too! These tests gave me a lot of feedback. Generally, the track designs and operating concepts for the jobs proved workable, and usability was pretty good. The tethered throttles weren’t ideal, but they got things going quickly and could be swapped for wireless throttles in the future. Some of the control panels for the powered switches (principally those on the upper decks) weren’t easy to read or intuitive to use. Rebuilding four of the seven panels was a
priority before I could hold my first full session. In the end, the design of these control panels would go through several revisions. Finally, testing had shown that the lower deck staging concept was far from ideal. The setup forced long hidden runs down the helixes and the need to pull an indexing drawer out into a crowded aisle before a train could terminate. I reworked this by adding staging tracks just out of sight of the visible mainline and separating staging from storage functions. I would also need a lot more rolling stock to run all the jobs simultaneously. But I could start with my generic fleet and
Future directions for the C&W BY 1970, THE CANADIAN PACIFIC no longer ran trains westward across the Boundary Subdivision to the coast. This sub was instead operated as a long branch line, with all departing traffic flowing east through Nelson, B.C., to Cranbrook, B.C. In a quest to increase operating interest, the Columbia & Western reinstated ore trains from Phoenix, B.C., just west of Grand Forks, B.C., even though the prototype traffic ceased in the 1920s. With an ore train and way freight in each direction, four trains a day now run over Farron Hill, with pusher, plow, and work extras possible if desired. We’re now wondering if re-establishing through traffic to the coast would increase the play value of the layout even more. The benefit would be more trains to dispatch and run, while the downside might be a reduction in the laid-back feel of the operating sessions (not to mention more bodies crowding the aisles). I talked over the idea with the crew, and their comments were mixed, but they were agreeable to mocking up this operation for a session or two to see how it worked. – Mark Dance
replace items with more appropriate equipment later – for example, by increasing the number of Fairbanks-Morse locomotives and 40-foot CP boxcars on the layout. Another principle of product improvement is memorably expressed as a metaphor: When faced with a pond full of rocks, first remove the biggest rock sticking above the surface. The water level will drop, exposing more rocks to be removed. Remove the second biggest, then the next and the next, until the water surface is smooth. So the first big “rocks” to be removed were fixing staging, rebuilding control panels, and collecting enough rolling stock for
an operating session. Once these were done and each of the major train jobs were tested, it was time to plan the first operating session.
OPERATION BEGINS The second iteration in my development spiral wouldn’t be as simple as just running all those disparate jobs at once. The jobs needed to be coordinated with each other, which would likely require a fast clock and timetable, or at least an operating sequence. All three were put in place and the C&W was made ready. The first full operating session was in September 2008, three years and two months
after the first piece of wood had been cut. Six operators, each intimately familiar with the prototype, traveled to Vancouver to attend the session. Success! The layout ran well and a good time was had by all. Feedback from the crew led to several small changes to the track plan to add a few more industry spots and to better model the prototype. But no major revision of the track plan was necessary, thank goodness. Regular sessions with a local crew continued for a year before I set my eyes on the next big challenge, the upcoming bi-annual Vanrail operating event: three days of backto-back operations that would expose the layout to dozens of experienced operators from all over North America. The C&W crew, many of whom had hosted Vanrail sessions on their own layouts, were pushing me toward implementing Timetable and Train Order (TT&TO) authority. Admittedly, this was the system www.ModelRailroader.com
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Modeling (and maintaining) a snow scene I CHOSE CANADIAN PACIFIC’S southern British Columbia main line to model partly to pay homage to the railroaders and builders who battled the harsh conditions of the Rocky Mountains. Of their challenges, none was greater than the snows of winter. Farron Summit was a helper station situated at the peak of the grades over the southern Monashee mountains. Each winter, crews stationed there battled to move freights through 30-foot snowfalls and perilous slides of snow and rock. Thus, a snow scene around Farron was an imperative for the C&W. The snow scene was made using techniques described by modeler Mike Extra 4236 glides into the station at Dannemann. [See “How Mike models Farron summit while a plow extra idles snow” on page 59 of the December 2011 on the wye’s tail track. Mark modeled Model Railroader. –Ed.] This includes sifted the winter scene here as a tribute to the plaster snow – in my case, Woodland Sce- crews who battled severe mountain nics Lightweight Hydrocal – and Arizona winters to keep trains moving on the Rock & Mineral marble dust for the snow Canadian Pacific. between the rails. Advance planning came to the rescue here again. I built the entire roadbed for several feet on either side of Farron to be removable. This let me lay the track, install and adjust the switch motors, and wire and debug the track as an independent unit. I then reinstalled the section into the railroad and ran operating sessions over it for several years. When the time came to scenic the area, Farron came back out, and I ballasted the track with marble dust. It was a very good thing that this track was removable. Not only did it make the ballasting much easier, but it also let me fix a problem that cropped up. When I glued down the marble dust, it took on a very brown tinge, as Mike had warned might happen. It took five coats of gesso to cover the marble dust and bring it back to an acceptable level of whiteness. I wouldn’t have been able to do this and have the track remain functional if the track had not been removable. The snow scene has been in place since 2010, and its whiteness has held up well. If any discoloration does occur, which has been very rare, a quick brush of dilute gesso brings the white back. Care does need to be taken with rail cleaning so as not to leave any black streaks on the white snow. – M.D.
the CPR used in my target era, and it would provide a more satisfactory approach to resolving train conflicts than just looking over the next hill. However, I was not convinced I was personally interested in implementing the minutiae of TT&TO operation.
TRAIN ORDERS The challenges to implementing TT&TO, which at that point had become the biggest rock in the pond, centered on the question of what to do with the train order operator roles: the workers who relayed orders from 36
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the dispatcher to train crews and recorded each train’s passing on their train sheet. I’d given no thought to this role when the layout was designed. There was no space left for them or their working areas and no communications systems for them to use. In the end, I chose not to implement the operator role. Instead, I focused solely on the throttle-carrying engineers, who were then responsible for dealing directly with the dispatcher. Shoehorning in TT&TO as an afterthought required the development of several mechanisms to replace the agent/operator
The westbound Boundary Subdivision way freight is braking hard as it enters Lafferty. In the layout’s era of 1970, many of the steam-era enclosed water tanks still stood, though their spouts had been removed.
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role, all of which have been previously covered in published articles and shown on the C&W’s YouTube site [see “On the Web,” page 33], but the result has been quite workable. The Vanrail sessions arrived in September 2011, and I played host to 24 visiting operators over three days of sessions. The combined knowledge and experience – not to mention the downright friendliness – of the visiting operators was wonderful. Their insight added a few more things for me to consider, but the implementation of TT&TO passed muster and enhanced the “play value” of the C&W tremendously. Two years later at Vanrail 2013, the experience was happily repeated, with another 24 visiting operators and more ideas and insights gained. As a side
benefit, I also increased my collection of operators to bounce ideas off of.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT We always end every session on the C&W with a “debriefing” to uncover what went wrong and what can be improved. I think this is a pretty common approach that hosts use to improve their layout. I take it seriously, as I don’t like to miss any opportunity to get valuable feedback. We create an exhaustive list of everything the crew thinks should be addressed, and I add it to what I observed. Interestingly, I often see more than the crew does, as they have a habit of overlooking – or politely forgetting – small issues in the midst of the operations. Between sessions, I diligently address items on this list before moving back to whatever new projects I have in progress. While the rocks that have surfaced and been removed following crew feedback are numerous, I think a few bear special
mention. Feedback from the crews, often via e-mail between op sessions, has led me to: • Evaluate different approaches to reducing the control panel confusion. • Select different designs for compressed bridges that still retain the prototype’s flavor. • Institute additional trains in the schedule, including pusher operations. • Change car-forwarding schemes. • Alternate formal TT&TO sessions and informal dispatcher-less sessions. • Institute rear-end protection on trains passing Train Order stations (Rule 91A). The experienced crew has become the single largest asset in aiding the C&W and me on the journey, and the pond’s surface is generally smooth now. At a recent session, we reached a very important milestone, as the largest problem identified was the lack of places for operators to put their drinks! Now that 10 more cup holders have been bolted to the fascia, I wonder what the next largest “rock in the pond” will be?
MEET MARK DANCE Mark lives in Vancouver, B.C., with his wife, Christiane, and their two children. He has been modeling in N scale for more than 40 years; the Columbia & Western Ry. is his fifth model railroad, but as he puts it, his “first one of any significance.” Mark has a degree in mechanical engineering and has spent the last 30 years in the technology industry as a product designer, inventor, manager, and, most recently, as an educator. Mark would like to thank the Vancouver-area operations group and his regular monthly operating crew for their ideas, encouragement and inspiration.
www.ModelRailroader.com
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PLAYING
‘WHAT IF’ IN S SCALE
A second crack at a layout results in a transition-era New England line under catenary By Dick Karnes Photos by the author
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y previous model railroad was a 25 x 25-foot L shape with a double-track main line that looped around twice. It had two freight yards, two staging yards, and a small locomotive-change yard, but no industries. Operation consisted of making up trains and running them around the main line. I never got around to scenery. One day my wife asked me for part of the train room – the part with windows – to convert to a guest room. I pretended not to hear her until, in exchange, she offered me
the game room next to the other end of the space. This would give me a 12 x 39-foot footprint. Of course, I jumped at it! This was my chance to avoid all the mistakes of the old layout – and make new ones instead.
MAKING A PLAN We quickly dismantled the layout, built the new guest room, and sold the ping-pong table. Then I spent the next two years figuring out what I really wanted in a new layout. I devoured John Armstrong’s Layout Design for Realistic Operation. Armstrong
became my design guru; I internalized and used about every major idea in his book. One of his primary teachings: Take ample time to figure out what you really want – your “givens and druthers” – regardless of layout size and room configuration. Once I’d compiled my list (see “Givens and Druthers” on page 42), I incorporated it into the new layout’s design. My model railroad is based on an alternate history in which it’s 1955 and the New York, Westchester & Boston RR still exists. (The real NYW&B was bought and parted out by the New York, New Haven & Hartford
The north- and southbound Grand Isle Limiteds pose for the railroad’s official photographer at Troy Union Station on Dick Karnes’ S scale New York, Westchester & Boston. Heavy electric operation was a given for Dick’s layout.
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53" 59" Tower
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641⁄2"
Putnam Hills
Creamery
Station
Federal Whey 50" 563⁄4"
Streetcar line
Caboose track
Troy
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Freight arrival/departure track
Tower 541⁄2"
Milk platform 551⁄4" REA track
Union Station Commissary
Yard lead
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Coach yard
Tower
Coal Oil dealer Motor shop
Tower
Double-slip
Apartments
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Station
Cornwall Bridge
Tower
585⁄8" 641⁄2"
New York, Westchester & Boston S scale (1:64) Room size: 12 x 39 feet Scale of plan: 3⁄8" = 1'-0", 24" grid
Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Kellie Jaeger and Roen Kelly Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
The New Haven’s northbound New Englander pulls out of the Cornwall Bridge passenger terminal. The DL-109 locomotive was built from an American Hi-Rail shell atop a lengthened Omnicon Alco PA chassis.
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in the 1920s before it ever got out of Westchester County, N.Y.) My NYW&B would have anthracite steam service between Westchester County and Springfield, Mass., and electric service from there to Boston. There would be a multi-track electrified Westchester Connecting Line division between Westchester County and Kings Point, Brooklyn, analogous to the real New York Connecting RR. The NYW&B would also have an electrified line between New Haven and Montreal, and some branch lines. Also included is an electrified NYC/B&A between Troy, N.Y., and Springfield, Mass., the end of the B&A. This provides a rationale for the NYC to provide trackage rights to they NYW&B from Troy to Springfield and for the NYW&B to reciprocate for NYC trains to Boston, with trains of both railroads operating on both portions. Additionally, the New Haven has trackage rights to run New York-to-Boston passenger trains on the NYW&B between New York and Springfield as well as between New Haven and Troy.
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59" Tower
Springfield Junction Station
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State Line Tunnel
Switch lead Ice platform 573⁄4"
57" Refinery Dummy oil track
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Stock pen
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Mirror
Dummy spur
Car float
Port Hudson
Ilzeb Wine & Produce Tower
Woolworth’s
Milk platform Railway Express Agency Lift-out bridge 561⁄2"
The modeled portion of my imagineered prototype is located in a small chunk of western Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern New York. No attempt has been made to replicate real-life structures along these routes; in fact, the only city names on the layout that have real-life equivalents are Troy and Cornwall Bridge. Port Hudson is roughly analogous to Hudson, N.Y., and Burnham is similar to Chatham, N.Y.
TRACKWORK Although S scale is blessed with several quality track manufacturers, I’ve always been a handlaid trackwork nut. I was particularly intrigued by Model Railroader trackwork articles by Robert F. Cushman, who in the 1950s provided simple techniques that saved me a lot of time and effort. Even as a teenager, I loved building my own turnouts using his methods. I still build my own turnouts and crossings. I use HomaBed roadbed, which comes
in split halves, so it’s really easy to glue the roadbed to follow track centerlines drawn on the subroadbed. I build the track where the centerlines tell me to. Thus I squeezed a complete double throat into my Troy terminal area in about 4 feet, maximizing the capacity of my terminal and yard tracks. Main, branch, and passenger terminal rail is code 100 (which in S scale approximates 110-pound rail). Freight yards and most spurs are code 83 (90-pound); one spur is code 70 (70-pound). I paint all my rails after installation. This has the advantage of also coloring the spike heads, and if I carefully drag my paintbrush along the rail web, I leave a narrow color band on the ties, simulating tie plates. Alas, my track-building days are over. The track on the NYW&B is all laid, and this is my last layout, period.
SCENERY The reason I never scenicked my first layout is because I’m a structural engineer.
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: New York, Westchester & Boston SCALE: S (1:64) SIZE: 12 x 39 feet PROTOTYPE: alternate history New York, Westchester & Boston LOCALE: New England PERIOD: 1955 STYLE: around-the-walls with peninsula MAINLINE RUN: 120 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 42" (visible), 36" (hidden) MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 6 MAXIMUM GRADE: 2.5 percent (main), 3 percent (branch), 4 percent (down only) BENCHWORK: open grid HEIGHT: 58" to 64" ROADBED: HomaBed TRACK: hand-laid code 100, 83, and 70 SCENERY: plaster cloth over cardboard grid; some extruded-foam insulation board BACKDROP: tempered hardboard CONTROL: Digital Command Control
www.ModelRailroader.com
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Two electric multiple-unit (MU) trains get ready to depart Cornwall Bridge for New Haven. The stub-ended MU terminal sits between the two through passenger tracks (behind the fence) and the elevated ramp that connects the motor shop to the station complex.
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Givens and Druthers ONE OF TRACK PLANNING GURU John Armstrong’s tools was the “givens and druthers,” the list of conditions the layout owner has to work with (givens) and the features he’d rather (“druther”) have if possible. Here’s Dick’s list: • Lots of freight switching • Heavy electric operation with catenary • Major passenger operations • Freight yard • Ample staging
• Point-to-point operation • Continuous-run option • Passenger terminal and coach yard • Branch lines as well as main line • Float yard for interchange • Northeastern U.S. flavor • Partial trackage rights for NYC and NYNH&H trains • Minimal engine servicing terminal
Take a ride on the Westchester IT’S 3:59 P.M. and I’ve just boarded New York, Westchester & Boston Train No. 44 at Springfield Junction, the location of the NYW&B’s company offices. Train No. 44, the daily New York & Northeastern Division local between Boston and New York, is an example of the fabled “milk run.” It’s been picking up cans of raw milk left by dairy farmers at the many milk platforms along its route. Train No. 44, a combination passenger local Their ultimate destination – and milk train, leaves the electrified district at and today, mine as well – is PU Junction while a northbound freight led by an Putnam Hills, site of the electric motor passes on the adjacent track. Quaker Hill Creamery. One of these platforms is across the tracks from the Springfield Junction station, so No. 44 has made a five-minute stop to load milk cans before pulling ahead another few yards to let us board. After leaving Springfield Junction, we encounter the NYW&B way freight parked on the northbound main at North Cornwall and waiting for us to pass before continuing its switching chores. The loaned New York Central RS-1 will have to wait a bit more as we stop at another milk platform at North Cornwall. It’s 4:14 p.m. when we make our next stop at Cornwall Bridge, Conn. On the track next to us is the northbound Grand Isle Limited, which has just had its NYW&B electric locomotive swapped out for a Canadian National FPA-2 that will take it the rest of the way to Montreal. Our next stop is the South Cornwall milk platform. Once the milk cans are loaded, we leave the electrified main at PU Junction, taking the single-track NY&NE division toward New York as a northbound freight passes by us on the adjacent New Haven & Northern division. Now we wait while our locomotive sets our milk car out at the Quaker Hills Creamery and picks up a reefer full of cheese and processed milk destined for New York. Finally, at 4:47 p.m., we pull into the small stone station at Putnam Hills. I get off along with some other riders, and other passengers board. Our train leaves Putnam Hills and plunges into a tunnel on its way to New York. – Dick Karnes
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Therefore, I have an aversion to modeling random, non-deterministic features like those found in nature. My last scenicking attempt was 60 years ago in my parents’ home. The visible portion of that layout, just 2 x 12 feet, consisted of painted plaster, retaining walls, and one lonely tree. Now, I was faced with a major motivator: I had to finish my scenery before I could begin constructing catenary. And by golly, I was going to have catenary! I’m fortunate that fellow S scale modelers and scenery experts Bob Christopherson and Roger Nulton lived nearby. Bob spent one day a week for half a year teaching me how
to install sky boards, fascia, and land forms. After Bob moved to Minnesota, Roger Nulton stepped in for another half year. Roger showed me how to effectively model texture, vegetation, and trees. Thanks to these two gentlemen, I’m now quite comfortable building scenery. At this point the scenery on my layout is complete – trees, hills, people, structures, signage, general detritus, and more. And of course the catenary is complete, too. The overhead on the layout is built from Model Memories span wires together with homemade insulators and about 160 catenary bridges scratchbuilt from steel rail.
LAYOUT FEATURES The layout includes Troy, N.Y., points south including Cornwall Bridge, Conn., plus staging representing Boston, New York, and New Haven. Also, a small portion of an electrified NYC/B&A line is modeled, over which Troy-to-Boston trains operate to Springfield, and then on to Boston via NYW&B tracks. This last feature provides me a rationale to operate one of my favorite passenger trains, the Maine Central/B&M Flying Yankee, between Troy and Bangor, Maine. Hypothetically, it heads north at Springfield to White River Junction, Vt., then east to Bangor. www.ModelRailroader.com
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Laying intricate trackwork REGARDLESS OF YOUR trackwork skills, there’s a trick you can use to simplify your track routing in congested areas, and that’s to run a track right across a turnout. This requires neither gauges nor spikes. First, install your turnout, then remove the tie strip from your flextrack where it will cross the turnout. Mark both the turnout rails and the flextrack rails where they will cross. Using a motor tool with a cut-off disk, cut a slot halfway down through the turnout rails where marked, just a tad wider than the railhead (see the diagram). Turn your crossing flextrack upside down and cut a slot through each rail base where marked, halfway through the rail, as wide as the rail base. Test-fit the flextrack over the turnout and trim away any interference until your railheads are all level and even with each other. You can attach guardrails and wing rails with cyanoacrylate adhesive (CA) to represent prototype practice, but these aren’t required for reliable model operation. Now you need to fill the rail slots with solder, then file the solder flat. (Melt your ties? Cover the damage with ballast.) Then cut flangeways in the flextrack railheads where needed. Finally, with a hacksaw blade, file flangeways in the solder. You’ll need gaps for electrical purposes, as well as devices to provide the proper electrical phase/polarity for the various routes through the maze you’ve just created. I use DCC autoreversers, and I never have any polarity problems. – D.K.
Dick handlaid an intricate network of turnouts and crossings at the throat of Troy Yard. Similarly complex arrangements can be built with factory-made turnouts and flextrack.
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Troy Terminal’s passenger facilities include an elevated union station, a threetrack passenger terminal, three-track coach yard, commissary for diner resupply, and a Railway Express Agency track. Troy’s freight yard includes an arrival/ departure track, four classification tracks, and a caboose track. There are locomotive escape crossovers at the far ends of both the freight and passenger arrival tracks; these connect to a track leading to servicing. There are also a two-track locomotive servicing area and separate switch leads for the freight and coach yards. Tracks from Troy feed into two throats, one for eastbound (railroad “northbound”) trains to Boston, and one for southbounds to New Haven and New York. These throats join the double-track main line to form a wye.
OPERATION
A Boston-bound through freight, hauled by NYW&B Class M-5a electric no. 1276, is about to plunge into State Line Tunnel east of Troy, N.Y. Dick kitbashed the locomotive from an American Models Pennsylvania RR GG-1.
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The layout is designed so that when you face any portion of the layout from an aisle, you’re looking east. North is always to the left, south to the right – except for Troy, which can be viewed from both sides. During operating sessions the wye is used only for turning single-ended locomotives
MEET DICK KARNES DICK KARNES GREW UP a couple of blocks from the New York Central’s West Shore line in Teaneck, N.J. He’s been into S scale since receiving an American Flyer set for his 10th birthday. Dick has edited a number of S scale special interest publications and written many columns and articles for the hobby press. Dick retired from his career at Boeing in 1998. He and his wife, Ilze, live in Mercer Island, Wash.
and specialized equipment, such as observation cars and the Flying Yankee. Although the NYW&B runs trains between Troy and Montreal, there is no Montreal staging. In fact, there are no Montreal-bound tracks out of Troy Union Station. Here’s how we get around this: At the beginning of each operating session, the southbound Grand Isle Limited from Montreal is already waiting at Troy to take on passengers and head south to New Haven. At the end of each session, the northbound Grand Isle Limited stops at Troy with the intent to head to Montreal, but – sorry, folks – the operating session is over! Cornwall Bridge is a busy division point. It hosts the northern end of commuter operation as well as the road’s motor shop. The Cornwall Bridge trainmaster, a busy fellow, handles 16 commuter and through passenger trains a day. Passenger trains to and from Montreal also undergo a locomotive change here – Canadian National diesel to the north, electric to the south. Freight trains bypass Cornwall Bridge. Operating sessions include the way freight, Port Hudson float yard switching, a transfer run between Troy and the Port Hudson float yard, manifest freights entering and leaving Troy, freight yard operation, locomotive changes, passenger-train makeup and break-up, and coach yard operation. Let me share something I’ve learned hosting monthly operating sessions, as I have for five years: Other operators will not operate the trains the way you do. They’ll back through tracks where you have only run forward. Their unusual running can cause
A New York Central FT A-B set, a River Raisin Models brass import, has just arrived at Troy with a Boston-bound freight. Dick kitbashed Troy Union Station from two Walthers HO scale Bailey Savings & Loan kits. It sits atop a platform of Atlas bridge girders supported by Central Valley latticed columns.
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unanticipated electrical shorts. They’ll attempt to climb that 4 percent mainline grade that’s supposed to be used only in the downhill direction. If you have any couplerheight problems or wheel or track gauge problems, they’ll find those, too. The good news is that fixing these things between operating sessions gradually makes your layout and equipment absolutely fool-
proof. The bad news is that this takes a lot of time away from other modeling activities that you may prefer over making repairs. It’s up to you to figure out whether hosting operating sessions is a net positive. In between operating sessions, I enjoy just running trains. That’s when the two mainline wye tracks are used for simple continuous running. www.ModelRailroader.com
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PRESERVING THE
EAST BROAD TOP
A ride on a tourist train spurred the creation of this HOn3 model railroad By Paul J. Dolkos Photos by the author
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The morning miners’ train has dropped its passengers at Robertsdale Station and pulled forward to switch the mines on Pete and Jane Clarke’s HOn3 East Broad Top RR. A tourist train ride introduced the Clarkes to the prototype.
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hough most of us are more familiar with the 4'-81 ⁄2" standard gauge track used by most North American prototype railroads, many modelers find the scenic settings of 3-foot narrow gauge railroads appealing. That was the case for Pete and Jane Clarke when they visited the East Broad Top RR in central Pennsylvania. The Clarkes already had a small, freelanced HO layout along one wall of their basement. Though they enjoyed it, they were ready to move on to something else. After seeing an advertisement for EBT tourist operations on a restaurant placemat, they visited the railroad for its annual Fall Spectacular Weekend. As so many modelers who visit narrow gauge prototypes do, they decided to model it. As luck would have it, about this time, Hallmark Models was importing brass HOn3 models of EBT steam locomotives (2-8-2s and a 2-6-2) as well as a gas-electric “Doodlebug.” Those locomotives made modeling the road possible. Pete and Jane read all the books they could find about the EBT. They visited the railroad often and joined the Friends of the East Broad Top, a fan group devoted to the railroad’s preservation and restoration. The group gave them an up-close look at the prototype, access that can be difficult or impossible for modelers of other railroads. (See “Back to the past” on page 50.) The road’s appeal grew on the Clarkes. Operating as a heavy-duty coal railroad in the 20th century, it had the flourishing look and feel of a mid-sized standard-gauge railroad. Its 2-8-2s were scaled-down versions of standard-gauge Baldwin locomotives. The road maintained a fleet of almost 300 steel hoppers, some with 40-ton capacity, that ran in trains of more than 20 cars. There was also a sprinkling of boxcars, flatcars, and tanks on the roster. www.ModelRailroader.com
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THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: East Broad Top RR SCALE: HOn3 (1:87, 3-foot-gauge track) SIZE: 15'-8" x 19'-8" PROTOTYPE: East Broad Top RR LOCALE: south-central Pennsylvania PERIOD: 1926 STYLE: walk-in MAINLINE RUN: 110 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 18" MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 6 MAXIMUM GRADE: 4 percent BENCHWORK: L-girder HEIGHT: 48" to 52" ROADBED: Homasote on plywood TRACK: Micro Engineering code 70 flextrack, Shinohara and Micro Engineering turnouts SCENERY: plaster cloth or paper towels dipped in Hydrocal, supported by screen wire or crumpled paper BACKDROP: tempered hardboard, Foamcore CONTROL: Digitrax Digital Command Control
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Track workers repair the furnace coal track in Orbisonia Yard, having arrived in the M-3 rail speeder with tool trailer. The Clarkes’ friend Bill Adams built the speeder.
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The miners’ train crosses the four-arch concrete bridge at Aughwick Mills. Built before the days of rebar, the prototype pouredconcrete bridge is reinforced with rail. Jane scratchbuilt the model.
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Black Log Creek Duckunder
Coal and slag dump
Houses
Access hidden by hill
7 Station
Scale house Roundhouse
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Rockhill Furnace
48" Iron furnace
Coal crusher
Orbisonia
Water Kimmel station
49"
Locomotive shop
Station 48"
Shirleysburg Station
Sand
Engine shed Hidden loop represents Shade Gap, Booher branches
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5 51"
Pogue Coles Bridge station
Freight house
Narrow gauge Dual gauge Standard gauge
Company houses Company store
Augwick Creek
48"
HOn3 (1:87.1, 3-foot-gauge track) Size: 15'-8" x 19'-8" Scale of plan: 3⁄8" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Kellie Jaeger and Rick Johnson Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Car shop
Saltillo
51"
East Broad Top RR
Stock house
50"
Loads out, empties in tracks
Station 48"
Robertsdale
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6
Mine No. 1 Water
Mine No. 5 52"
50"
Station 52" 50" Augwick Bridge
3 Augwick Creek
Houses Timber Transfer
Mount Union Turntable Coal cleaning plant
48"
Coal unloading shed NARCO brick plant NARCO warehouse
PLANNING THE LAYOUT Pete started developing a track plan in 1990. He first listed all the places and scenes that best defined the EBT for him. He studied the prototype track plans to learn the purpose of each track. If the function wasn’t obvious, he asked some of the railroad’s former employees about how the railroad was operated. This helped him make educated decisions on which tracks could be eliminated or compressed and which needed to stay in the plan.
Pete says the resulting track configuration has stood the test of time. He hasn’t altered the track arrangement in the modeled towns of Robertsdale and Orbisonia since laying it more than 20 years ago. What worked for the prototype often works as well in model form. However, because of space issues, Pete had to depart from his prototype-based approach for the town of Mount Union, where the EBT met the Pennsylvania RR. Mount Union is at the end of a peninsula on Pete’s layout. Pete wanted a loads-in,
empties-out arrangement at the coal cleaning plant (see “Loads in, empties out” on page 53). That necessitated placing the plant at the end of the peninsula, even though the prototype was in the middle of the yard. So Pete squeezed in various Mount Union industries where he could, even if they were in the wrong place or wrong relative position to each other. Regretting that decision, he rebuilt the town twice, each time moving the layout’s track arrangement closer to the prototype’s. Finally, he added a small extension www.ModelRailroader.com
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A hostler checks the tender before moving no. 15 into the roundhouse at Orbisonia. Faced with a choice of altering track arrangements or shrinking the prototype-based structure to make it fit, the Clarkes chose to cut two stalls from the enginehouse.
Back to the past WHEN MODELERS decide to replicate the past they turn to books, photos, and the Internet. Sometimes, they can talk to veteran railroaders. But in a perfect world, we’d like to have a time machine to take us back to the time and place we wanted to model. You can almost do that along the EBT in Pennsylvania. When operations shut down in 1956, the EBT’s owners dropped the fires and turned off the lights. Except for some short branch spurs, no track was torn up or equipment scrapped. Four years later a few miles of track were cleared for operation of tourist trains, which ran until 2011. The property remains largely intact today, and a new group hopes to purchase it and resume operations. This is a real bonus for a modeler. One can follow the line easily and see 50
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The shop complex at Orbisonia, while not in use, is a wonderful example of early 20th century industrial facilities worthy of close study by modelers.
many of the settings much like they were in the 1950s. A few structures along the line have been demolished or have fallen down, but there has been little or no real estate development in the more remote areas. If the operations resume, the railroad’s property may open up to visitors again. There are few places where one can take advantage of a prototype time warp as along the EBT. – Paul J. Dolkos
to the peninsula that allowed Mount Union to function like it did for the prototype EBT. Another issue was that the prototype yard tracks at Mount Union were mostly dual gauge to accommodate the PRR. Modeling that requires additional space. A Shinohara no. 6 HOn3 turnout is 83 ⁄4" long, but a dualgauge no. 6 turnout requires 11 to 12 inches. This difference becomes even more significant when the yard needs six such turnouts end-to-end. Pete decided to model the yard using only the shorter, narrow gauge turnouts. He did include a couple of dual-gauge tracks without turnouts, though.
CONSTRUCTION The layout is set in 1926, but the Clarkes have reached farther back in history to augment the coal traffic. The Rockhill iron furnace in Orbisonia was closed in 1908, but Pete took the liberty of including it in the modeled town. The structures in that industry aren’t yet complete, but the track is operational, so the industry creates a switch job
A train of empty hoppers heads to the mines across the bridge at Pogue. The white flags on the 2-8-2 locomotive’s boiler mark it as an extra, dispatched to handle a buildup of excess empties.
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Gas-electric motor car M-1, which normally handles passenger and mail service on weekends, has been pressed into service today after a locomotive breakdown. The wooden deck between the tracks here at Robertsdale keeps passengers from falling into the scale pit.
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handling flatcars of pig iron, boxcars of parts and supplies, and hoppers of limestone, iron ore, coal, and coke. Without the iron works, operation would largely be mine runs. Jane built most of the scenery and structures on the layout. She makes every effort to build accurate structures. This was a bit of a problem when it came time to construct the Orbisonia roundhouse and passenger station. Scale mock-ups based on prototype plans showed that both buildings were too large for the allotted space.
Jane suggested Pete revise the Orbisonia track layout to accommodate the structures, but he took exception to that. They ended up using selective compression to shrink the buildings slightly. The roundhouse Jane built has two fewer stalls than the prototype, and the station is also shorter. The layout is equipped with a Digital Command Control system. Jane disliked the toggle switch-controlled block system on their previous layout. But with DCC, she’s gone from being a spectator to an operator.
Loads in, empties out THERE’S MORE TO the coal-mining business than just digging the black gold out of the ground and transporting it to customers. “Run-of-mine” coal, as it’s called when first dug up, is usually washed to eliminate rocks and soil, crushed, and sorted by size. This is done at preparation facilities, or prep plants, which are sometimes at the mine but often located at a central site where coal from many mines is processed. This is how coal was handled on the EBT, making it feasible for the narrow gauge line to continue operations until 1956. It really didn’t matter that the coal was moved to the cleaning plant in Mount Union in small narrow gauge hoppers instead of standard gauge cars. After being cleaned and sized, it was loaded into standard gauge Pennsylvania RR hoppers to be hauled to market. Since the coal was going to be unloaded at the cleaning plant anyway, the difference in track gauges between the EBT and PRR didn’t require any extra handling. This process has been integrated into the Clarkes’ operating scheme with a two-track, loads-in, empties-out arrangement. Loaded narrow gauge hoppers are delivered to the prep plant’s unloading shed on the left-hand track. This inner track curves around the end of the benchwork peninsula and connects with the
Pete says he’s glad they went with DCC from the beginning on this layout. Now Jane participates in every facet of model railroading.
EBT OPERATIONS The Clarkes enjoy having guests run the layout. The railroad can support six trains, and they like to see it run to its full capacity. Pete’s advice for modelers is to plan your railroad for operation even if that’s not your primary interest. “Operation is what keeps a railroad alive and interesting,” he says.
The Clarkes have followed a common progression of operating schemes. At first, they would simply tell guest operators what to do, but this quickly got old for both host and guests. The next idea was written switch lists. This required a lot of work to set up a session, so they moved to car cards and waybills. Then they learned about timetable-andtrain-order operation and how it could be used on their railroad. Now, operators get a packet of information for their train (maximum cars allowed, any limit on car types for this train, orders, clearance forms, and timetable). The railroad is run using a 4:1 fast clock with software from Stan’s Trains (www.stanstrains.com). An article by Andy Sperandeo in the December 2013 Model Railroader convinced them to add a dispatcher. The Clarkes have since hosted many operating sessions with a
The Clarkes’ East Broad Top ships run-of-mine coal to Mount Union, where it’s cleaned, sized, and loaded into standard gauge hoppers for transfer to the Pennsy. The narrow gauge tracks in the unloading shed at right connect in a loads-in, empties-out system to Mine No. 5 in Robertsdale.
coal mine loader at Robertsdale on the other side of the backdrop. This permits the loads under the cleaning plant shed to be picked up at Robertsdale by northbound trains running from the mines to Mount Union. Empties brought into Robertsdale to the mines are shoved onto the outer track beside mine no 5. This second track runs downhill into Mount Union. The empty hoppers coast down into the cleaning plant’s unloading shed ready for the next cycle, so this arrangement is self-staging. – P.J.D.
EBT bibliography SEVERAL BOOKS have been published that provide extensive coverage of the East Broad Top. Previously owned copies can often be found through eBay, Amazon.com, or www.abebooks.com. • East Broad Top by Lee Rainey & Frank Kyper 1982 • Along the East Broad Top by Donald Heimburger 1987 • East Broad Top, Slim Gauge Survivor by Deane Mellander 1995 • East Broad Top, To the Mines & Back by Ross Grenard & Frederick Kramer, 1980 • Colorful East Broad Top by Mallory Hope Ferrell 1993
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MEET PETE & JANE CLARKE THE CLARKES LIVE IN MARYLAND just 100 miles from the East Broad Top. They enjoy exploring valleys on trains and mountains on skis. They are also dedicated tandem bicycle riders.
dispatcher, and they enjoy watching their miniature EBT working as the prototype did for many years in the 20th century.
PRESERVING HISTORY The prototype EBT was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964. This gem of the industrial age is endangered, but enthusiasts are seeking a way to bring it back to life after it ceased tourist operations in 2011. The East Broad Top Preservation Association is buying and refurbishing portions of the railroad piecemeal, hoping to use freight revenue to purchase more of the road. The group hopes to someday buy the entire railroad and restore steam passenger service on the narrow gauge portion. So while the group works to resume prototype East Broad Top operations, the Clarkes’ model railroad continues to celebrate its history and heritage. The Clarkes would like to thank the following for their great help through the years: Bill Adams, Lee Anderson, Dean Ebner, Steve King, Bob Johnson, Steve Sherrill, and all the operating crews who have made their EBT come alive. Paul Dolkos is a frequent contributor to Model Railroader and its special issues. He currently models Baltimore’s Harbor District in HO scale.
Now on ModelRailroader.com The Friends of the East Broad Top is a railfan organization active in the preservation and restoration of the railroad. Find the link to its website in the Online Extras box at www.ModelRailroader.com.
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The miners’ train makes a stop at Orbisonia station. One of two towns on the layout patterned after prototype track arrangements, the Clarkes’ model of Orbisonia has lasted 20 years without any revisions to the track.
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RIGHT HERE
IN RIVER CITY
Based on a town made famous by a Broadway musical, this HO layout was built in 6 months By Clark Propst Photos by Andy Sperandeo
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Train 96 is eastbound on the Willow Creek bridge on its way to Middle Yard on Clark Propst’s HO scale River City layout. The model railroad is based on the Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry. in Clark’s childhood home of Mason City, Iowa, which was called “River City” in Meredith Willson’s musical “The Music Man.”
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M
y father was an engineer on the Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry., a railroad best described as an upper Midwestern granger bridge route. The M&StL’s claim to fame was fast freights that ran between the Twin Cities and the
Peoria Gateways, bypassing the congestion of Chicago. It merged into the Chicago & North Western on Oct. 1, 1960. My father got the afternoon switch job in Mason City, Iowa, so we moved from Marshalltown, Iowa, to a home a stone’s throw from the tracks in Mason City when I was in third grade. So you’d think modeling the M&StL would be a shoo-in, but that
just wasn’t the case. It took a very long time for the stars to align.
CONCEPT I was bitten by the prototype modeling bug in the early ’90s when I started assembling craftsman-style freight car kits. Once the models were built, though, they just accumulated dust on a display shelf. I ran www.ModelRailroader.com
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THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: River City SCALE: HO (1:87.1) SIZE: 13 x 23 feet PROTOTYPE: Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry. LOCALE: Mason City, Iowa PERIOD: first week of May 1954 STYLE: walkaround MAINLINE RUN: 90 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 18" MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 5 MAXIMUM GRADE: none BENCHWORK: open frame HEIGHT: 42" ROADBED: Homasote on plywood TRACK: Peco code 75 (main), Micro Engineering code 70 and 55 (yards) SCENERY: extruded-foam insulation board BACKDROP: painted on wood veneer and 1 ⁄ 8" tempered hardboard CONTROL: Digitrax Digital Command Control
like selective deletion. My layout is the result of a process of elimination – whittling down the concept from what I wanted to what I had room for. The end result is just one town, River City. Since I prefer to follow the prototype, it had to be a re-creation of the real Mason City. At that time I wasn’t into operation, my mindset was toward building models. So my whole focus was on building a model that represented the railroad through this one town. The idea was to build a layout that would be easily recognized by anyone familiar with the area. I wanted to focus on what diesel guys call “spotting features.”
RESEARCH The local job switches industries surrounding what used to be called North Yard. This area has the typical rural customers found in most Midwestern towns: a lumberyard, co-op elevator, feed mill, and oil dealer, among others.
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them only on portable display layouts I’d helped build. We had just liquidated our last portable layout when I learned that the Chicago & North Western Historical Society was going to hold its annual convention “right here in River City,” as the song goes. (River City is 58
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the name Meredith Willson used for Mason City in his musical The Music Man.) I volunteered to host a layout open house for the event – even though, at the time, I had no layout. This gave me the impetus to get out of the armchair and build something permanent in my basement. The meet was scheduled for May 2004. I started on the layout right after Thanksgiving 2003. What could I build that would fit in my available space? We’ve heard the term selective compression. In my case, it was more
Building a layout based on a prototype is different than building a model. A layout is a living entity, if you will. You need to know more than just dimensions in order to build an accurate representation of a real location. I needed to find out the track arrangements, what the trackside industries shipped and received in what kind of cars, and what their buildings looked like. Even though the rails hadn’t seen a steel wheel since the 1980s, many of the tracks are still in place, along with a few of the buildings from the time I wanted to model. I was also able to solicit information from retired railroad employees and the local library’s archives. Gene Green provided track diagrams and information about Mason City
Switch lead
Chicago Great Western main
Can storage Decker’s warehouse storage Cattle tracks M.C. pens Lumber Decker’s plant painted on view block
5 Decker’s
plant leads
Water works track
Cement plant spurs
Andrews Concrete
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Builder’s supply
Enginehouse
Milwaukee Road
Milwaukee Road Mason City Foundry
River City
Loading ramp
MILW interchange
HO scale (1:87.1) Room size: 13x 23 feet Scale of plan: 7⁄16" = 1'-0", 12" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Roen Kelly Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Team track Home Insulation
Midland Co-op
4 Queal Distributing Red Star
3 Farmer’s Elevator complex Track scale
Depot Middle Yard
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Mason City & Clear Lake RR
Stewart Chemical
Freight house
MC&CL interchange tracks
Farmer’s Elevator corn storage
Northwestern Distributing
Cleanout area
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E.G. Morse Poultry Willow Creek
Switch lead
Chicago & North Western Swift fertilizer plant
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Clark’s prototype research found that an industry like Farmers Elevator receives more than grain. The industry also handles coal, oyster shells (a calcium supplement for chicken feed), and boxcar grain doors, like the ones just delivered by the Soo Line car seen here.
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from the M&StL archives. Now that I was armed with knowledge, drawings, and photos, I was dangerous. It’s important for a prototype layout builder to narrow his time frame down as much as possible. Living in a railroader’s household, I knew I wanted to model the railroad in the happy times when the M&StL was under the leadership of Lucian Sprague. Sprague was ousted in a nasty proxy battle in May 1954. I chose the first week of May 1954 to model.
CONSTRUCTION The Minneapolis & St. Louis trackage through Mason City ran north-south on the east side of town. Customers were spread out in groups, and the yard limit signs were nearly 5 miles apart. At the north end of town were two cement plants. The J.E. Decker (Armour) meat packing plant was southeast of these plants. The yard area by the depot was just north of the center of town, while just south of the centerline was Middle Yard and interchanges with the Milwaukee Road and the Mason City & Clear Lake electric line. Farthest south was the Swift fertilizer plant. 60
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Being a prototype modeler, I saw no need to draw a track plan. I’d just lay my track to match what was there. Scale dimensions are paramount to building an accurate model. Layouts have to rely on visual impact, because most often there just isn’t space to build to scale. My useable space is approximately 13 x 23 feet. The challenge was to fit the various focal points into my space without condensing them into oblivion. This would require using selective compression. I’ve always thought that term was a bit negative. I decided “proportioning” sounded more upbeat. I did make some compromises. Two items on my want list were a continuous running option and a staging yard to hold through trains and a local. These functions forced me to give up on my prototype track arrangement by adding turnouts that weren’t there. The useable space available after adding my want list priorities forced me to leave out the important Middle Yard. I thought I could substitute this yard’s functions for through train setouts and pickups and terminate the local to other sidings. I decided I wanted to draw attention to the center of town where the depot was and let the rest
grow out from there. I ended up with the cement plant’s yard and Decker’s on benchwork attached to one short wall and the depot area spread out along benchwork attached to the long wall. The interchanges and Swift plant along with the double-ended staging tracks were laid out back-to-back, separated by a low backdrop on a freestanding peninsula down the center of the room. I built a lift bridge for the continuousrun loop track so there was no duckunders. I only had six months to build a presentable layout before the open house. To work more efficiently I divided up my tasks into
NOW ON MODELRAILROADER.COM You can see videos of Clark Propst’s HO scale layout in operation in the User Videos section of our website, www.ModelRailroader.com.
two-month milestones. First was the benchwork and track, followed by scratchbuilding structures, with scenery last. I did manage to get the layout to the basic scenery stage with most of the structures built before the historical society open house. Whew!
Car-spotting matrix
STRUCTURES AND SCENERY All structures except those at the oil jobber were scratchbuilt to resemble the actual structures. I stress “resemble,” because even though some of the real buildings still stand, I found I didn’t have the space to build them to scale. In many cases I was only able to get partial photos of structures that are now gone. It was a matter of picking the prominent features and proportioning the buildings so they were easily recognizable, but still fit within the scene. I’m a visual modeler. To me, scenery is allimportant; it’s what brings a layout to life, sets the location and time of year. Scenery is the builder’s fingerprint that sets a layout apart from others. Before starting any project on the layout, I visualize the scene in my mind’s eye in a completed state. So, as I lay out a vignette, I’m thinking of more than just laying track. Often track is an afterthought because I’ve already memorized the prototype arrangement. What I need to know is how the buildings, streets, or other scenic elements will proportion out. When I built the layout, the scenery was conventional for the time – layers of ground foam and weed trees. When I discovered a Yahoo discussion group led by Jim Six and Tom Johnson, the scenery techniques they described were eye-opening. Now my layout has been decorated with static grass, SuperTrees, and photo backdrops.
EQUIPMENT AND CONTROL I was still using the old Choo Choo Pack from my 1956 HO scale Christmas train set at the time of the open house. I did wire the layout with a main bus for Digital Command Control (DCC), though. I temporarily joined some DCC Yahoo groups to learn about the different systems. The general consensus was to use what other model railroaders in my area used – safety in numbers – so I purchased a used Digitrax system. One of the appeals of the M&StL was its “Flying Circus” fleet of 35 Alco RS-1s originally decorated in no less than nine paint schemes, plus variations within them. It’s almost mandatory for M&StL modelers to have all nine. Which I did.
Minneapolis & St. Louis Alco RS-1 no. 546 spots a reefer on the team track by the Farmers Co-Op for icing by the local ice dealer, whose truck is parked nearby. Based on prototype car demand frequency data, Clark developed a matrix to dictate where and when cars should be delivered on his railroad.
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MY CUSTOMER SPOTTING FREQUENCY MATRIX was designed to help me control car movements in a prototypical manner. My matrix has the days of the work week across the top. Customers are listed down the left column, grouped by spotting frequency. The number of cars to be delivered daily is based on documents listing the number of yearly carloads from several of the larger local industries and station records from smaller communities that had the same type of customers Mason City had. The daily numbers are adjusted so the same numbers of cars are moved each session. I’ve seen similar matrices used for individual towns on larger layouts. The logic could be adapted for car card or waybill documentation. – Clark Propst Customer Builders Supply Cement Plants Farmers Elevator Freight house MC&CL transfer NW Distributing Swift Plant Food Andrews Concrete Incline (ramp)
Frequency Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily Every other Every other
Mon. 2 6 2 1 1 3 2 0 1
Tue. 2 5 3 1 1 3 2 1 0
Wed. 1 6 3 1 1 3 2 0 1
Thu. 2 6 3 1 1 3 2 1 0
Fri. 2 6 2 2 1 2 2 0 1
MC Lumber Midland Co-op Waterworks EG Morse Home insulation Red Star Oil Queal Distributing Steward Chemical Total PU = Pick up
Every other Every other Every other Bi-weekly Bi-weekly Bi-weekly Once-weekly Once-weekly
1 1 1 1 PU 0 0 0 22
0 0 0 PU 0 2 1 1 22
1 1 1 1 0 0 PU PU 22
0 0 0 PU 1 2 0 0 22
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 22
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Big industry, little space
Without the space to model the massive Decker meat plant on layout, Clark represented it with three tracks that disappear behind a low backdrop. Requiring engineers to shove cars onto the leads in the order they would have to be switched on the industry spurs makes switching the plant an all-day job.
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EVEN THOUGH THE JACOB E. DECKER meat packing plant was bought by Armour in October 1935, the good citizens of Mason City always called it Decker’s. By the 1950s the plant had eight tracks within plant boundaries coming off two leads. There were also two storage tracks and a spur to its can storage building and cattle pens outside the property fence. I certainly didn’t have room to build all the plant buildings or all eight tracks in the plant. I did have space for the two leads into the plant and the tracks outside the fence. To camouflage the fact that I hadn’t actually built Decker’s, I set a low backdrop behind the property fence. But how could I possibly keep a crew busy for two hours with just the two leads? Reefers and tank cars assigned to meat packing plants had to pass through several workstations during the loading process. First the cars had to be cleaned and inspected, and rejected cars had to be repaired. Reefers needed to be iced; sometimes cars were pre-cooled in the warmer months before being loaded. I decided to combine the spots on the tracks off each lead to just the lead itself. Cars would have to be shoved down the leads in a specific order, just like on the prototype. Having the crew make two shoves per session, simulating morning and afternoon loading, keeps them busy for the allotted time. Modelers who don’t take the time to understand how the businesses their railroad serves really work are missing out on a lot of operating potential. – C.P.
When SoundTraxx made the RS-1’s distinctive 539T engine sound available in its Tsunami line, it was apparent I wasn’t going to be able to justify equipping all those engines with sound. So I sold all but three. I only use two at a time, anyway. I also have a Kato NW2 in the enginehouse. I kept one A-A set of Athearn Genesis F3s simply because they’re such nice models. As I stated earlier, I became a prototype modeler by building freight cars. I choose my freight cars the reverse of other modelers. I operate a terminal layout, which means all 62
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cars are loaded or unloaded at modeled customers. I look at prototype documents for loads that my customers would receive or ship. Then I research the car from these lists. This can be quite a chase! I’ve ended up with a large percentage of my fleet being built from resin kits, kitbashed, or at minimum, custom painted. I doubt any car has remained box-stock.
EVOLUTION Once the basic layout was in place and the open house was over, what would come next?
I wasn’t into operation back in 2004, so I didn’t know how to go about using the layout. Instead, I started to add refinements. Most noticeable was painting the backdrop. One by one, buildings and bridges were completed and any stand-ins replaced. As originally built, the layout had capability for continuous running with staging for mainline trains and a local turn. When I joined the local operators’ group and eventually threw my hat in the ring to be one of the hosts in the rotation, I soon noticed a flaw in my original thinking. I really needed Middle Yard. So in the three weeks between operating sessions, I took on the project of rebuilding a third of the layout. I find throwing down a deadline creates motivation. So I rebuilt the center peninsula, moving it more toward the center of the room to gain aisle width. I also deleted the continuous-run link and staging. I moved the interchanges where the staging side of the peninsula had been and added Middle Yard where the interchanges were. These two back-to-back sections were connected via a turnback curve at the end of the peninsula. Because of the space restrictions, I was forced to use a tight 18" radius on the curve. When I built the layout, I was paranoid about track elevations affecting reliability. I laid all the track on Homasote sheet so it would be as level as possible. But close inspection of the real trackage showed subtle elevation changes between tracks. When laying out my Middle Yard, I elevated the mainline on strips of sheet cork. I’ve also raised a siding and spur to more resemble the distinctive prototype elevations.
OPERATIONS We talked about operations during my interviews with the retired railroaders. Mason City was the second largest traffic generator on the railroad. Three switch jobs worked on weekdays, two day jobs and an afternoon job. One of the day jobs spent its entire day switching Decker’s. The other day job handled the cement traffic and did local work as time permitted. The afternoon job’s first priority was to pull the loads from Decker’s and make up the evening meat train, then perform other local work. Since operating sessions have a set duration, I deleted the afternoon job and combined its responsibilities into the two day jobs. One job works Decker’s, and the other performs all other switching duties. The challenge was to fit those tasks into a twohour timeframe.
Minneapolis & St. Louis no. 1044, an Alco RS-1, is seen through the gap between two industries as it switches the nearby freight house. Most of the structures on the layout are kitbashed or scratchbuilt to more closely resemble their Mason City prototypes.
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At first I considered using car cards to control movements. The big advantage of that system is it allows for perpetual operation, meaning you can stop at any time and pick up again next operating session right where you left off. But I felt handling cards would be unnecessarily cumbersome for a layout as small as mine, so I decided to use switch lists. Working with a one-week timeframe, Monday through Friday, each operating session would represent one day. This enabled me to design a customer spotting frequency matrix. (See “Car-spotting matrix” on page 61.) Each customer is listed along with the number of cars it will receive each day. Cars are assigned to customers requiring that car’s lading and are rotated off and on the layout by the matrix. Cars were brought to and from Mason City by two through freights, one in each direction, plus a turn that worked north from Marshalltown and returned as the DMX (Decker Meat eXpress). The railroad also ran a lot of extras. According to the timetable, the two time freights came through town in late evening or during the night. These would set out and
pick up cars at Middle Yard. Traffic also flowed through the two interchanges. There’s no staging on my layout now, so after I’ve filled out my switch lists using the matrix, the needed cars are simply handplaced from storage shelves either in Middle Yard of one of the interchanges. Cars leaving town are taken from these locations and put back on the shelves. I view operations as performing a sample of the work the prototype did. It’s been particularly challenging trying to replicate the movements of the Decker Job on the layout’s abbreviated trackage and to fit those moves into the two hour time limit. (See “Big industry, little space” on page 62.)
THE FUTURE Research is never ending for the prototype modeler. I’m always trying to refine the layout to better match my first week of May 1954 timeframe. For example, as a consequence of finding photos ever closer to that time period, I’ve repainted one building three times. Even if a layout looks finished, it’s never really done. I’m still redoing track, upgrading structures, and adding details.
MEET CLARK PROPST CLARK RECEIVED A LIONEL TRAIN SET for Christmas when he was just a preschooler, though his father was the one who played with it. He got an HO scale set in grade school and started building HO scale layouts during his junior high school years, completing several by the time he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He built several more before settling on his current layout. Clark is now a retired electrician who with his wife, Eileen, enjoys fishing during the summer months.
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SOUTHERN PACIFIC ALONG THE Rugged steamers and first-generation diesels challenge the California mountains in HO scale By Tex Copsetta Photos by Tommy Holt
T
earing down a model railroad that one has worked on for a long time, exerting a lot of sweat and blood, isn’t a fun task. It can bring a grown man to tears. However, one thing that makes it worthwhile is the thought that the next railroad will be better. In our minds we picture better trackwork, wider curves, longer sidings – the list goes on. What an opportunity! When my family was getting ready to build a new house, a place to build a new railroad was paramount. I ruled out a basement or attic, as both required stairs. Let’s face facts, we’re all getting older. Right now, stairs are no problem, but the time will come where our knees will balk at them. The answer was a separate but attached room. Immediately, I began to plan the model railroad of my dreams. As we all do, I had a list of “druthers” – features that I wanted to include on my new layout. When all was said and done, the only concession I had to make was to reduce my minimum curve radius from 42" to 36." I could live with that.
BENCHWORK Most of the time, when modelers describe building their railroads, the benchwork is usually glossed over rather quickly. However, this is the most crucial part of the railroad;
Led by a 4-8-4 Golden State in Daylight colors, a Southern Pacific passenger train crosses Dry Canyon Viaduct on Tex Copsetta’s HO scale Southern Pacific Shasta Route. The trestle is one of his layout’s signature scenes.
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SHASTA ROUTE
This view down the model railroad’s center aisle shows Dunsmuir to the left, Pioneer and Canyon straight ahead, and Black Butte on the right. Painted on the backdrop is Mount Shasta, the landmark that gives the layout its name.
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it’s literally the foundation of the entire project. No matter how good a model railroad looks on the surface, without a good foundation, it will never last. Try building a nice house on a poor foundation. I used three types of benchwork. First, I used the traditional “open grid” of 1 x 4s screwed together. I used L-girders in curved areas. And I used what I call “T-girder” to support the roadbed. T-girder is a 1 x 2 support oriented vertically beneath 1 ⁄2" waferboard or oriented strand board (OSB) subroadbed. From the end, the subroadbed and 1 x 2 forms a capital letter T. I use this not only on straight track, but also on the curves. I attach the pieces with screws driven from the top to ensure a solid base for my 1 ⁄2" soundboard or Homasote roadbed. This gives a 1" roadbed that will never sag or warp and doesn’t require a lot of supports underneath. Don’t try to save money by using a poor grade of wood. What you may save now won’t make up for the aggravation and money you’ll spend later trying to repair or replace bad lumber. I built the benchwork according to my blueprint, and believe it or not, everything went according to plan. I have one more suggestion to anyone just starting benchwork – don’t build your girders on 16" centers. 66
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Since we don’t have to park our father’s Oldsmobile on top of our benchwork, 24" centers will be strong enough and will allow more space to place switch machines and wiring beneath the surface.
MOUNTAINS I made the mountains with very traditional methods. I built a framework of 1 x 2s and thin strips of 1 ⁄8" tempered hardboard scraps left over from the backdrop. This was then covered with wire screen. In order to give the screen an uneven, natural look, I first crumpled up the screen and then stretched it back flat. That gave me a mountain slope with random variation. The next step was to cover all track under the area with masking tape to protect it from dripping plaster. If you’re as messy as I am, it’s a good idea to cover all the other track in the area, too. Next, I took commercial grade paper towels, such as the “Rags in a Box” found in most hardware stores, and cut them into strips about 6" wide. I then mixed about 2 cups of plaster with water in an old dishpan. I passed the strips of paper towel through the plaster until they were soaked, then laid them across the screen, overlapping the ends until the strips were 3 layers thick. As the plaster began to set up in the bottom of the dishpan, I took an old paintbrush and painted the thickened plaster over the top of the paper towels. Keep a bucket of water nearby to mix with the plaster and to clean the paintbrush with each application. This will then have to dry for about 4 or 5
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: Southern Pacific Shasta Route SCALE: HO (1:87.1) SIZE: 24 x 26 feet PROTOTYPE: Southern Pacific LOCALE: Northern California PERIOD: mid-1950s STYLE: walk-in MAINLINE RUN: 230 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 36" MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 8 (main), no. 6 (yards) MAXIMUM GRADE: 11 ⁄ 2 percent BENCHWORK: open grid and L-girder HEIGHT: 49" to 58" ROADBED: Homasote on T-girder TRACK: Atlas code 83 flextrack with Atlas and Walthers turnouts SCENERY: plaster-soaked paper towels over metal screening BACKDROP: painted tempered hardboard CONTROL: direct current cab control
days, or longer, before it’s ready for paint and texturing. I generally only work an area of about 6 feet at a time because of the amount of moisture this creates in the railroad room.
THE SHASTA ROUTE I’ve always admired Southern Pacific’s rails through northern California, where the tracks fight their way through the Cascade Range into Oregon. Of the hundreds of miles of mainline track from San Francisco to
A
Lower staging (south)
2 49" Cantara Loop
58"
A
Turntable
Roundhouse
3 Mallet house
Dunsmuir 58"
5
53" 49"
Black Butte 58"
Small
50" 58" 56"
Dry Canyon Viaduct
4
49"
Upper staging (north)
Canyon
Pioneer
B
1 58" 54" 58"
58"
B
Southern Pacific Shasta Route HO scale (1:87.1) Room size: 24x 26 feet Scale of plan: 1⁄4" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Rick Johnson Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
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The passenger train passes through Black Butte, while nearby, an A-B set of Electro-Motive Division F units take on sand. Tex followed the prototype’s track arrangements at Dunsmuir as closely as possible.
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Passengers wait for the local at the depot in Black Butte. Tex’s son, Jeffrey Copsetta, built most of the structures and scenery in Black Butte.
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Mountains of trees
Tex makes his own tall conifer tree trunks from dowels with toothpick branches, then covers them with clump foliage.
A MOUNTAINOUS MODEL RAILROAD needs a mountain of trees! For all the smaller
Portland, Ore., I chose to model the 21 miles between Dunsmuir and Black Butte. Most model railroads have sharper curves and more tunnels than would normally appear in reality, so this part of the Shasta Route seemed to fit the bill. This was the most rugged part of the whole route, requiring the largest engines, double heading, and lots of helpers. Since I model the mid-1950s, this was a great opportunity for late steam and early diesels. I resisted the impulse to fill the layout with a lot of towns and yards. I wanted long runs of track through the mountains, with a high ratio of scenery to track. There are four signature scenes that identify my railroad’s location. The first is the Dry Canyon Viaduct, just north of Black Butte. It’s a very long bridge spanning a dry canyon. The second is the yard at Dunsmuir, in which I followed the prototype track plan as closely as possible. Selective compression aside, I think this location captured the
trees in the background and higher up on the mountains, I used Woodland Scenics conifer tree trunks. After shaping them, I spray on 3M Super 77 adhesive and roll the trunk in Woodland Scenics Conifer Green clump foliage. For larger trees, anywhere from 6 to 9 inches, I make trunks from 3 ⁄16" or 1 ⁄4" dowels. First I cut the dowels to length, varying the length as it would in nature. I taper the tops with a pencil sharpener. The next step is to scrape the length of the trunk vertically with a saw blade. This makes rough grooves in the trunk of the tree to simulate bark. It also serves to soften the wood of the dowel for the next step. The next step is to drill holes in the trunk with a 1 ⁄16" drill bit. To make this go faster, I made a small jig with pre-drilled holes to hold the dowel and align the drill bit. After drilling the first row of holes, I give the dowel a quarter turn and pull it slightly out of the jig so the next group of holes will be spaced between the first set. Once the trunks are drilled, I push flat toothpicks into the holes, then cut the ends to the length needed, shorter branches on the top and longer ones on the bottom. The best way is to do these steps like an assembly line, 15 or 20 dowels at a time. Next I stain the trunk with watered-down brown paint. When that’s dry, I spray the tree with 3M Super 77 and roll the tree in a box of clump foliage. After shaking off any excess foliage into another box to reuse, I give the tree a second coat of spray glue and foliage, which gives it a very realistic look. To hold the trees into the holes, I use full-strength brown paint on the base of the trunk. Don’t forget to put a little brown paint at the base of the tree to represent dead needles that are always found under pine trees. – Tex Copsetta
authentic look. The third is Black Butte Mountain, painted on the backdrop. And the fourth is Mount Shasta. Nothing identifies the Shasta Route more than Mount Shasta itself. This landmark towers more than 14,000 feet above sea level and is iceand snow-covered all year. After reading and re-reading John Signor’s books Rails in the
Shadow of Mount Shasta and SP’s Shasta Division, I found a photo of the peak facing the right direction for the area I was modeling. Although this was a major undertaking for a painted backdrop, it turned out to be the most spectacular scene on my railroad. This mountain takes up about 14 feet of the 96 feet of continuous, coved backdrop. www.ModelRailroader.com
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Electro-Motive Division GP9 no. 5463, one of the Southern Pacific’s “Cadillac” fleet, passes behind the depot at Small. The engine is a venerable Athearn model, superdetailed and weathered. The station is a Walthers kit.
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Anyone who models mountainous scenes knows this means many pine trees. I now have about 1,500 conifers on my layout, and I know I need at least 500 more. Each one is hand-built. The smaller trees are made with commercial trunks that must be shaped and covered with foliage by the modeler. The larger ones are scratchbuilt using wooden dowels and toothpicks. (See “Mountains of trees” on page 69.) The deciduous trees are 70
Great Model Railroads 2016
also a combination of commercial and scratchbuilt trunks.
TRACK I used Atlas code 83 flextrack. In the yards, I used Atlas no. 6 turnouts. On the main, I used Walthers turnouts – no. 6 where hidden and no. 8 on the visible main. I secured the track to the roadbed with white glue, tacking it in place with push pins. To make the curves, I made a radius bar from a length of 1 x 2 by drilling a hole at one end for a screw and multiple holes for the various radius curves at the other end. Then all I had to do was trace the curved line with a pencil in the appropriate hole.
I soldered most of the rail joints within each block. The exception was expansion joints at several sections of straight track. Rather than relying on the rail joiners to carry electricity across these gaps, I soldered a jumper wire about 1" from each rail joiner, ran it under the roadbed, and back up to the rail on the other side of the joiner. This is a very important step for electrical continuity. The layout is wired for direct-current cab control. However, I do have some soundequipped engines, so in order to access all their functions, I use Model Rectifier Corp. Black Box controllers. These can trigger many of the sounds of Digital Command Control-equipped locomotives while still
Tracking trains in staging IF YOU HAVE HIDDEN STAGING tracks, you know that without some system of sensors or cameras, it’s impossible to tell when a train is pulled in the right distance. Too far can be as much trouble as not far enough. I needed a simple, foolproof system that fit my budget. The last 3 feet of track on each of my staging sidings is on a separate circuit from the rest of the layout. These tracks Push buttons on Tex’s control panel are energized only when a pushbutton on must be pressed to energize the tracks the control panel is pressed. That way, in hidden staging, ensuring trains are when a train reaches that part of the always staged in the right position. track, the engine automatically stops. The only way to move the train out of that track is to hold down the push button. There’s no chance for operator or dispatcher error, because each button corresponds to only one track. I have these buttons installed on both my upper (northbound) and lower (southbound) staging yards. – T.C.
trains in staging” above.) The staging tracks and sidings at Dunsmuir will allow trains of 45 cars, with two steam engines or four diesels on the point. This isn’t a railroad with a lot of switching. All local freights leave from Black Butte, where some switching is done. Dunsmuir is a large engine service yard complete with a roundhouse, a separate enginehouse for the Cab-Forwards, and a large repair shed. Other than passenger traffic, the only deliveries here are of local goods, such as sand, oil, and repair supplies. I enjoy running long trains, snaking through the mountains at prototypical speeds, and climbing the hard grades. Steam engines have to take on water at Black Butte before continuing north over the Dry Canyon Bridge. controlling your older DC-only engines. I think it’s the best of both worlds.
OPERATION I’m just getting into operating, which is, after all, the fun part of our creation. A model railroad is a simulated transportation system, that is, a way of moving goods or people from one location to another. Since I model the mid-’50s, passenger trains are a must. My son Jeff is my second operator. He also built Black Butte almost by himself. My modeled area is only a short span of a more than 700-mile run. Therefore, I have hidden staging tracks at both ends representing the rest of the rail system. (See “Tracking
MAKING FRIENDS The Shasta Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad has given me, my son, other operators, and many visitors a lot of enjoyment. Even my 6-year-old grandson Logan is beginning to enjoy the hobby. One of the most rewarding things that comes from building a model railroad is the lifelong friends you will most assuredly make. I’ve made too many railroad friends to list here. However, one I must include is Mert Gardner. Although we live 1,700 miles apart, we visit each other every few years, and not a week goes by that we don’t bounce ideas back and forth on the phone.
Like most model railroads, my Shasta Route will probably never be completed. I still have to finish one mountain, the roundhouse, and the turntable. And when those are done, I want to add working signals and people in the passenger cars. I expect those projects to be as enjoyable as running trains. After all, model railroading is fun!
MEET TEX COPSETTA TEX IS A RETIRED PEACE OFFICER who lives with his wife, Dee, on a small horse ranch just outside Burnet, Texas. He’s been building model railroads since he was 12. Tex is sheriff of the Burnet Gunfighters, performing Old West-style shootout re-enactments for the Austin Steam Train Association tourist train on the weekends. He also does volunteer work for the City of Burnet and enjoys riding his horse and his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
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CONRAIL ROLLS ON IN DETROIT
One branch line provides plenty of operation for a double-deck HO scale layout By Brian Searles Photos by Doug Tagsold
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odel railroading has interested me from a young age, but my early efforts as a “lone wolf” modeler were never very satisfying. Then in the early 1990s, I joined the operating crew of a nearby layout, and suddenly understood what I had been missing all of those years. The group also took operating trips. I feel extremely lucky that my first trip was to operate on famed model railroader Allan McClelland’s HO scale Virginian & Ohio layout. Since then, I’ve tried to take two or three trips a year and have operated on many interesting layouts. Along the way I have made some good friends in Michigan and Ohio with whom I operate and travel on a regular basis to this day. The opportunity to meet so many people and operate on so many layouts has been the equivalent to me of attending model railroad college. I’ve learned so much I would never have known otherwise to help me build and operate my own layout. In the mid-1990s, I started building a mid-1970s West Virginia layout. But I was unable to find a satisfactory way to fit the operation that I wanted in the space available. Then I read articles by Jim Senese and Chuck Hitchcock that showed me I could have all the operations I wanted by modeling just a small part of one city without the need for large open spaces. It was time for a change.
DEVELOPING A PLAN I decided to model a modern railroad with terminal operations, lots of industrial switching, and urban scenery. I also wanted to model a prototype. A friend suggested Conrail Shared Assets, so I began to research that railroad. Never heard of Conrail Shared Assets? It started operations in 1999 after CSX and Norfolk Southern jointly purchased Conrail and divided its assets between themselves. Conrail Shared Assets Operations was created to run three small pieces they couldn’t agree what to do with. Conrail Shared Assets
Norfolk Southern, patched-out ex-Conrail, and CSX locomotives line up at North Yard on Brian Searles’ HO scale Conrail Shared Assets layout. Though Conrail was divided between CSX and NS in 1999, three urban terminals are still operated by Conrail Shared Assets.
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43"
Detroit North Yard Branch
Strong Steel Products
HO scale (1:87.1) Layout size: 26'x 42' Scale of plan: ¼" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Roen Kelly Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Conant Street Intermodal Yard
Conrail Terminal East Industrial Track Belt Line
Lower level M.J. Searles Plastics Thyssen Krupp Bud
1 Detroit Edison
Mack Yard
Chrysler Jefferson (auto loading) PVS-Nolwood Chemical Receiving
LaGrasso Bros.
Conant
To helix up Evans Distribution
Smurfit Stone
Beaubien PVS-Nolwood Chemical
43"
Ashland Chemicals Coil Steel Processing
Detroit Appliance
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Woodward
PVS-Nolwood Chemical Shipping
Detroit Iron & Metal Granny B’s Bakery
Faygo
doesn’t own any equipment. Instead, it uses locomotives from CSX and NS. It owns and dispatches track, switches customers, and assembles trains for its parent companies. This turned out to be the ideal prototype for me. One of those shared assets is the Detroit District, which is only a five-hour drive from my home, so I’ve been able to visit the area firsthand. As you might expect, it’s focused mainly on the automotive industry.
Southbound train No. LY23, the Conant Turn, returns to Livernois Yard on Main no. 2. Inland Waters Pollution Control is kitbashed to match an industry served by the prototype.
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North Yard
60"
Morrow Steel (not rail-served)
West Detroit (staging)
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1 A Yard (arrival and CSX/NS classification) B Yard (engine service and locals) Moore & Brown
NORTH YARD
Canadian National Conrail
Upper level Auto loading
43"
Spring Works
4
American
57"
CN General Axle Motors Yard
CN D&M Yard Helix down
Freezer Services of Michigan
60"
GM Hamtramck Plant
Campau 60"
Nathen Logistics Kearsley Express
Read more For more information on the prototype, check out Trains magazine’s October 2012 issue. Call 800-533-6644 to buy this back issue.
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LAST CANADIAN LOGGER LIVES p. 40
Koen Fuel Terminal
IWPC
THE magazine of railroading
CONRAIL the railroad with two masters
p. 20
J.P. King Manufacturing
Vinewood
PLUS
Railroading’s ghosts
p. 32
MAP: MoPac tonnage in 1956 p. 38 SW1 prowls Seattle streets at night p. 50 Murphy Branch leap of faith p. 48
I chose to model the Detroit District’s North Yard Branch. This is a 6.7-mile, double-tracked line that runs north from Control Point (CP) West Detroit to North Yard. I’ve attempted to capture the essence of operations in this area while making some compromises for space. For instance, the prototype Belt Line and Terminal East Industrial Track run east from North Yard, but I modeled them running south on opposite sides of Conrail’s main. I’ve also omitted the Sterling Secondary, which runs beyond North Yard. I’ve modeled most of the actual industries on the branch. To fill out operations, I added several that used to exist in the area and some freelanced customers.
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: Conrail Shared Assets, Detroit North Yard Branch SCALE: HO (1:87.1) SIZE: 26 x 42 feet PROTOTYPE: Conrail Shared Assets LOCALE: Detroit, Michigan ERA: modern (2005) STYLE: double-deck walkaround MAINLINE RUN: 230 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 28" (main), 24" (industry) MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 6 (main), no.5 (industry)
MAXIMUM GRADE: 2 percent BENCHWORK: L-girder HEIGHT: 42" (lower deck), 60" (upper) ROADBED: cork on 3 ⁄4" plywood TRACK: Atlas code 83 (main and yard), Peco code 75 elsewhere SCENERY: play sand with Woodland Scenics ground foam and Heki foliage BACKDROP: photographs CONTROL: NCE Digital Command Control
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Northbound CSX train Q150 passes under Woodward Avenue at Control Point Woodward. Meanwhile, in the background, Conrail train NY4 switches Detroit Appliance Logistics.
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Peco code 75 track and turnouts everywhere else. All turnouts are lined by hand.
STRUCTURES AND SCENERY RECONSTRUCTION When I came up with this plan, I already had a double-deck layout, but with the wrong railroad on it. With the help of friends, I began converting, improving, and expanding it. We extended the benchwork through the furnace and laundry rooms and into the family room. A friend built cupboards to support North Yard and make the intrusion more “family friendly.” Four of us built the new 36" radius helix in a day. After removing the old railroad, I used all new Atlas code 83 track and turnouts for the main line and North Yard. I reused the old 76
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I think that modern railroading requires large structures to look realistic, so I’ve included many of those. For example, the Thyssenkrupp-Budd factory is 13 feet long, and my version of the General Motors Hamtramck Assembly Plant is 42 x 60 inches. The large structures are all made from Gatorboard covered with plastic siding and assorted details. The rest of the buildings are kitbashed or made from backdrops produced by KingMill Enterprises. The groundcover is play sand plus Woodland Scenics ground foam and Heki foliage. When I first decided to model Detroit, I offered all my trees to a friend. I soon found
that urban modeling requires a lot more trees than you’d expect. I’ve acquired or assembled about twice as many as I already had. My backdrops are photos, mostly taken by a friend but including a couple of my own. Since I haven’t mastered digital photo editing, I used the photos as they were, learning techniques for disguising the variations in light, scale, and perspective.
LOCOMOTIVES AND CARS The change in my modeling era from the 1970s to the modern day, combined with my wish for sound-equipped motive power, meant I needed an all-new fleet. Mainline power consists of modern six-axle units, mainly General Electric (GE) engines. Local power is mainly GP38-2s and GP40-2s, supplemented by a few SD40-2s and older GE
The second General Motors Switch Job delivers cars to door 3 at GM’s Hamtramck Assembly Plant. The large industry, 42 x 60 inches, visually establishes the line’s main job of serving the city’s auto industry.
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units. Most engines are from Atlas and Broadway Limited Imports. This change also required all-new rolling stock. Auto racks and 86-foot boxcars demonstrate that this is Detroit, but since I have a variety of industries, most types of rolling stock are represented. In fact, almost a third of my 350-plus pieces of rolling stock are tank cars. The auto racks, 86-foot boxcars, and most of the 60-foot boxes are from Walthers, while the rest are from Athearn, Atlas, and InterMountain.
Paper fences WHEN I WAS PLANNING how to use my photo backdrops, I had two problems to overcome. First, the photos often had items at the bottom that were larger than scale size due to perspective. Second, in most places, my tracks were laid close to the backdrop, leaving little to no room for blending the foreground landscape into the pictures. The solution I came up with was to glue paper fences along the bottom of the backdrop. Those fences provide a realistic transition from the layout to the backdrop while covering up the
Paper fences glued to the bottom of backdrop photos both cover outsized foreground items in the photos and ease the transition from 3-D scenery.
problematic portions of the photos. The fences that I used are included on the Jefferson Street No. 8 background set from KingMill Enterprises. – Brian Searles
OPERATIONS Operating sessions are my favorite part of model railroading. We have monthly operating sessions with a full crew of eight, lasting about 41 ⁄2 hours, and occasional weekday sessions with a smaller crew. A full crew includes a yardmaster, a yard assistant, and six road/local crews. We use NCE wireless throttles for the road crews and tethered ones in the yard.
Most of the main line is double track that operates under Rule 151: right-hand running at a speed that will permit stopping within half the range of sight, not exceeding 25 mph. The Belt Line and the Terminal East Industrial Track are single-track, operating under Rule 105: restricted speed that permits stopping within half the range of sight, not exceeding 15 mph.
There’s a section of single track between CP Beaubien and CP Campau (the helix and approaches to it – 85 feet), which is protected by crew-operated signals. I made this section single-track to increase interaction between crews and to lengthen the running time for trains running south of CP Campau. There are three approach signals on Main no. 1 (northbound) for North Yard. The first www.ModelRailroader.com
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Train NY8 reverses north on Main no. 1 with cars for American Axle. Though Conrail no longer owns any of its own locomotives, some of the patchedout Norfolk Southern and CSX power assigned to the line still wear Conrail livery, like GP40-2 no. 3276.
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North Yard is the center of a lot of action during operating sessions, receiving and dispatching six through trains and 10 locals and transfers. The scenery on the layout is play sand, topped with ground foam and grass tufts.
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two are controlled by an occupancy detection system and the last is controlled by the North Yard yardmaster. Car forwarding is controlled by waybills that fit into 23 ⁄8" x 43 ⁄8" plastic sleeves. I print the waybills with Microsoft Excel using a template I downloaded from the Internet and modified. I’ve found that color-coding the waybills makes the railroad run better. All Conrail tracks are identified by numbers based on prototype Zone Track Spot maps. That means that each delivery location is identified by the name of the consignee,
MEET BRIAN SEARLES BRIAN IS A RETIRED chartered accountant who lives in Alliston, Ont., with his wife, Betty. They have two sons and four grandchildren. Besides model railroading, Brian’s other interests include walking, camping, gardening, and computer and board gaming.
track number, and, where applicable, spot number. Industry maps are on the fascia for the benefit of the crews. The session begins with six trains in West Detroit (staging). There are three 24-car through trains, one from NS and two from CSX. There are also three locals that originate in Livernois Yard – the Edison Turn (coal), the Conant Turn (intermodal), and the Jefferson Turn (auto racks). There are also about 30 cars staged in CN’s D&M Yard. Jobs are called by a train sheet that sequentially lists the three arriving through trains and 17 local jobs (including six CN jobs). The North Yard yardmaster also calls three departing NS and CSX trains when they’re ready. North Yard is the operational focal point of the railroad. During a session, the three through trains terminate there, two CN locals exchange cars, and eight locals and transfers originate there. As outbound cars accumulate, the yardmaster calls one NS and two CSX through freights to return to CP West Detroit. It’s a challenge to keep the yard busy enough to be interesting without letting it become overwhelmed by incoming traffic. The yard has two sub yards with five tracks each and parallel switching leads so that both yard crews can work simultaneously. It has enough classification tracks to handle the workload, but as a terminal yard, it has limited space for receiving trains. I seem to
have found the balance now, but the yardmaster needs to plan ahead to avoid the dreaded situation where trains are waiting at all three approach signals.
FRIENDS I spent my first 30 years in the hobby working in isolation. It changed my life completely when I met new friends who shared my interests. Since I’m severely lacking in both mechanical skills and electrical knowledge, this railroad wouldn’t exist without their help. Tim Moore owns at least one of every tool made and has the skill to use them. Art Luke is a retired electrician who has the answers for all electrical questions and is a willing helper for all projects. Doug Tagsold has been a mentor for the layout design, has supplied me with backdrop photos, and even made the six-hour drive here to supervise the building of the new helix. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the rest of my operating crew, who have put up with lots of changes as I’ve tried to find the right operating pattern. Great thanks are due to John Brown, Ron Kearsley, Dave Kennedy, John Spring, and Bruce Wilson. www.ModelRailroader.com
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A MODEL RAILROAD
MERGER A 2-6-0 Mogul with a coal train works the Davis Babcock No. 3 mine at Lorenz on Steve Sherrill’s On30 Shady Grove & Sherrill. Steve built his layout in an outbuilding spliced together from a former pool house and a portable storage shed.
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This On30 Appalachian railroad grew when two buildings were combined
Crates produced by the box factory at Glady Gap are being loaded on a truck for shipment to a local customer. The firm receives lumber and other supplies by rail.
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By Paul J. Dolkos Photos by the author
T
here was a lot of model railroading in Steve Sherrill’s childhood. As a youngster, he was given an American Flyer train set. By the time he was 10 he had acquired an HO scale Varney F3 diesel, freight cars, and a bit of track. There was also a boy living down the street who had a 4 x 6 layout based on Model Railroader’s Pine Tree Central project layout series. After that neighbor moved to Key West, Fla., Steve – who lived in Maryland – badgered his parents to let him visit his friend. Along with his clothes, he also packed his HO trains, track, and power supply. Every day during his visit, the two boys would run 82
Great Model Railroads 2016
trains on the 4x6 layout and set up Steve’s on the floor. Asked why he took his model trains with him on vacation, Steve says, “Just in case we couldn’t go back home, I’d still have my trains.”
FILLING A TRAIN SHED As the years passed, Steve got married and had children, and the demands of adulthood encroached on his hobby. More than one layout room had to be vacated to become a child’s bedroom. So Steve purchased a prefabricated 12 x 20-foot storage shed to house his model railroad. Steve’s attraction to narrow gauge railroading was sparked by a visit to a narrow gauge railroad museum in Colorado. Later,
he attended a national narrow gauge model railroad convention. The first railroad he built in the shed was an HOn3 layout he eventually found to be a bit small for his taste. So he next moved up to Sn3. The equipment was expensive, and required a lot of tune-up work. Then Bachmann began offering On30 equipment [1:48 models on scale 30" gauge track, also called On21 ⁄2 –Ed.]. Steve liked the larger models and was familiar with running 1:48 narrow gauge equipment on HO gauge track. Years earlier, his pioneering friend Gordon North had used HO mechanisms and trucks with scratchbuilt O scale bodies on his Denver & Western railroad (Model Railroader, June 1979). Bachmann’s
Fuel for Half turntable pit Crew SG&S mine-run coal quarters motor car to save aisle space in, cleaned coal out SG&S-WM Water Densmore-Davis Yard column transfer shed WM east to Elkins preparation plant office Hoppers cut in half, placed in front of mirror WM standard gauge WM to Durbin
53.5"
Industrial flats
Tenements
Operator’s desk
55" Lead
Sand Coal Ash pit Box 2 factory
Coal
Weston, W.Va. Stores
Glady Gap
SG&S-Allegheny Midland AM south to Sunrise, Va., and V&O connection transfer platform Mirror
False tunnel SG&S
Log dump
Team track
53"
53.5" Houses and stores
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Horner, W.Va.
Lumberyard
Mill pond
Norton 3
Up 1.5 SG&S Team percent depot track Stores
Depot
Lorenz
Horner Junction
Produce Nichols Lumber Co. Davis Babcock Team Coal track
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Duckunder Dispatcher’s office and workbench
Staging screened by trees Depot
Freight house Camp no. 3
54"
Gordon Gap
Shady Grove & Sherrill RR
Stores and houses
On30 scale (1:48 proportion on HO scale track) Room size: 24 x 32 feet Scale: 1⁄4" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Bob Wegner and Roen Kelly Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Warehouse 54"
NAME: Shady Grove & Sherrill SCALE: On30 (1:48 proportion, scale 30" track gauge) SIZE: 24 x 34 feet THEME: freelanced LOCALE: West Virginia PERIOD: July 1947 STYLE: linear walkaround MAINLINE RUN: 200 feet TURNOUT MINIMUM: no. 6 MAXIMUM GRADE: 4 percent (main), 7 percent (branch line) BENCHWORK: open-grid and L girder HEIGHT: 52" to 60" ROADBED: Homasote on 3 ⁄4" plywood TRACK: Peco code 75, 83, and 100 flextrack SCENERY: plaster gauze on screen or chicken wire BACKDROP: painted on linoleum CONTROL: Del Tang wireless battery
Coal dealer
Buckhannon River Freight house
Harte Bypass (not used during 53" operating sessions)
Depot
E. Mabie
General store Gas station
Harding
5
Depotfreight house
Water tank B&O on bridge Coal dealer 52"
Water tank
Coal trestle
Buckhannon
Wood road bridge
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE
Camp supplies
Access
54"
Water tank Depot 52"
Deck-girder bridge
Mabie
Dry wash Freight house
Ridge view block Davis-Babcock No. 8 lead Revenoor Gap Water tank
Depot-freight house Coalton Lead
53.5"
Junction
Up 3 percent 54" 60"
Davis-Babcock Coke ovens Coal No. 6
Water Passenger Coalton column waiting shed
Melissa M Mine (Davis-Babcock)
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This panoramic view shot from the former pool house section of the layout room shows the towns of Lorenz on the left, Buckhannon down the aisle, and Norton on the far right.
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off-the-shelf offerings seemed perfect for Steve’s requirements. Constructing a model railroad in a portable building proved advantageous some years later, since Steve was able to bring it along when the family moved to a larger house. On the new property was a swimming pool that needed extensive repairs. The family decided to fill in the pool and use the pool house for storage. Steve soon realized that the pool house could be put to better use, and built a second On30 layout in it. Steve now had two layouts in two structures just a few feet from each other. That didn’t make a lot of sense. How do you decide which one to run?
A RAILROAD MERGER With prodding from local modelers, Steve decided to combine the two structures. 84
Great Model Railroads 2016
Concrete pilings were poured behind the pool house to support the prefab building. A crane gently set it onto the pilings. The operation had to be quite precise, with the crane initially setting down the prefab building 1 ⁄2" from the back wall of the pool house. Then the crane operator nudged the old shed ever closer so the two buildings could be physically joined. The move was so gentle that after the shed was settled in place, all the rolling stock was still on the tracks. A car or two may have been jostled, but Steve ran trains on the railroad that evening. The combined buildings doubled his layout space. The question was how to make the best use of the new configuration. Both existing railroads were largely intended to run trains on continuous loops. Steve had scenicked and lighted the layouts so they were more like displays than operating railroads, but operations left something to be desired. Now he wanted a railroad that provided operations that created a sense of serving a region. He also wanted to use view blocks to
isolate portions of the railroad, like the hollows typical of West Virginia’s numerous mountain valleys. Steve called on Bill Miller, a nearby On3 modeler, to help him create a combined plan. Bill and his wife, Mary, had built a layout based on the Colorado & Southern RR that embodied many of the elements Steve envisioned. [See Bill and Mary’s layout in Great Model Railroads 2009. – Ed.] Bill prepared a detailed plan, and with the help of fellow model railroader Steve King, known for his expertise in operation, Steve began measuring the space for the benchwork. But nothing seemed to quite fit. Then they found the problem: Bill’s plan was a different scale than the one assumed by the two Steves. Once that was clarified, the real construction could begin. That was in 1999 and was the beginning of today’s Shady Grove & Sherrill RR.
THE LAYOUT Steve’s mountain scenery is inspired by the work of Malcolm Furlow, who built
(among other projects) the San Juan Central, chronicled in a nine-part MR series in 198384. That layout was a spectacular display of rugged Western mountain scenery. Steve lives in West Virginia, which boasts some pretty spectacular scenery of its own, so the task was to adapt the Furlow approach to modeling the Eastern scene. First Steve had to overcome his love for bare rock cliffs. Finally a model railroader friend, Bob Johnson, took him into the West Virginia mountains to look at some large exposed cliffs and observe how they melded into the lush green landscape. Steve says without Bob’s guidance, the layout scenery might have had even more plaster rockwork. To model his rocks, Steve used a set of Bragdon Enterprises latex rubber rock molds to make plaster castings. He applied the castings while the plaster was still flexible. While some were used full size, others were cut to fit their locations. Steve colored the rockwork with tube acrylics in browns and grays. At first, Steve controlled trains with a direct-current power pack with cab control.
At the end of the day, the crew that tied up at Horner relaxes by playing some mountain music on platform of the station. The depot, converted from an old-time clerestory-roof combine, gives the layout a sense of history.
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The engineer of 0-6-0 no. 19, on the point of an eastbound freight at Buckhannon, waits with his train while the conductor is in the station asking what cars need to be picked up. Steve cites modeler Malcolm Furlow as the inspiration for his scenery.
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Great Model Railroads 2016
Later he converted to a Lenz Digital Command Control system. But then he became aware of battery-powered “dead rail” systems that were compact enough to fit into his On30 motive power. He liked the idea of locomotives that wouldn’t hesitate or stall because of dirty wheels or rails. Battery power would also eliminate short-circuits caused by inattentive operators approaching a turnout aligned against the movement. Now, Steve
has converted the entire railroad to battery operation. (See “Cutting the wires” on the next page.)
OPERATIONS AND REVISIONS Operating sessions are conducted using timetable and train order (TT&TO) procedures. Steve King set up the system by first determining appropriate traffic movement and flow, and then the trains required to
Cutting the wires BATTERIES HAVE BEEN USED for years in powered models, especially in model planes and boats where the option of physical power connections are either impossible or very limited. As wireless systems were refined with advances in electronics and battery technology provided adequate power in smaller packages, battery power migrated to model trains, especially garden railways. Today, such battery systems can be installed in smaller scale locomotives, including N and even some Z scale engines. [See the May 2015 Model Railroader. – Ed.] There are limitations, and a user may have to pass on some features offered by full-fledged wired-track Digital Command Control. Steve retired his DCC system and operates his railroad with battery powered motive power. The receivers and throttles are made by Del Tang, a British firm that originally created systems for model aircraft. The devices are compact, smaller than many DCC decoders. Speed control is refined, assuming the mechanical operation of the locomotive is good. The Del Tang system doesn’t provide an option for sound, though other brands of wireless receivers connect to DCC
handle it. This became the basis of a timetable. Four-cycle waybills are used to direct freight cars to specific points. Then a communication system was added so written train orders and clearances could be distributed to crews on the road. This required train order signals at stations to alert crews when they need to contact the dispatcher. Radios were provided for communication, not prototypical on a 1947-era railroad but easily
implemented. Steve King detailed creating the TT&TO system for Sherrill’s railroad in his article in Model Railroad Planning 2005. After several operating sessions, it became obvious that the western terminus track layout at Weston didn’t work well. It consisted of a single-track return loop under a mountain. Trains had to be staged end-to-end, so all staged trains had to depart before inbound trains could arrive. Access to the hidden track was difficult. This situation was corrected by eliminating the loop and building a stub yard, runaround track, and turntable on a two-footwide shelf in its place. It looks like a terminal while providing visible staging and the ability to classify cars and turn locomotives. The arrangement also opened up the center of the room, permitting a narrow peninsula.
FINDING A WAY Steve has pursued the model railroad hobby by meeting challenges head on. No
Rather than a traditional wired-track setup, Steve runs his locomotives with a wireless battery-power system.
decoders for sound features. These require more installation space. Steve can run a train three hours or more without having to recharge the engine’s battery. With larger batteries, operating time can be increased. If an engine is going to be idle for a while during a session, the locomotive battery can be turned off. Like a flashlight, turning it off conserves the charge. None of today’s systems are plug-in packages. The installation process is similar to that of a DCC decoder. As more and more modelers adopt battery systems, more “ease of use” features will emerge. – Paul Dolkos
space for a layout in the house? Build one in a portable shed. Space in the shed is tight? Embrace the smaller footprint of narrow gauge. Not satisfied with conventional control? Convert to battery operation. And always seek advice from other modelers. Nobody knows everything.
MEET STEVE SHERRILL STEVE LIVES WITH HIS WIFE, Maura, and children in the eastern flatlands of West Virginia, which inspired his layout. He is a retired U.S. Postal Service employee who now has a landscaping business. In addition to model railroading, he likes a good round of golf.
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S SCALE
KICKS ALONG ROUTE 66 This transition-era layout follows the “Q” through Illinois By Bob Werre Photos by the author
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s California Zephyr races past a covered bridge on its way west. Steve Doyle’s S scale CB&QLines East layout follows the railroad and Route 66 through Illinois.
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Constructed in the 1920s, Route 66 begins in Chicago on its 2,451-mile journey to California. Alongside that storied road, the CB&Q’s Pioneer Zephyr makes its final run before retirement. The Zephyr is by River Raisin Models.
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S
teve Doyle’s S scale Chicago, Burlington & Quincy-Lines East layout is the product of a railroading interest bred in the bone, with his father and other relatives having worked with the CB&Q. Growing up in LaGrange, Ill., alongside the constant rail activity of the railroad’s famed “Racetrack” helped cement his relationship with railroading in general and the Q in particular. Steve remembers watching the last of steam roar past the Stone Avenue station and seeing gleaming new diesels leaving Electro-Motive Division’s LaGrange plant. Some 30 years later, after establishing the Doyle family in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Steve purchased a home that also had ties to the CB&Q. Family members of rail baron James J. Hill had once lived in the home, and a suburban rail line that led to Hill’s grand Hotel Lafayette ran across the driveway. Unfortunately, neither the hotel nor the rail line are around any more; the hotel burned in 1897, and the track was abandoned and converted to a jogging trail. 90
Great Model Railroads 2016
DESIGNING THE Q Steve is a member of the Pines & Prairies S Scale Workshop, and when the time came to build his model railroad, he drew on the expertise of the group. One of his collaborators was Dave Jasper, whose S scale Central New England Ry. was featured in the January 1999 Model Railroader. Dave was asked to design a 19 x 30-foot track plan that would depict part of both the CB&Q and U.S. Highway 66 along their westward treks.
That layout begins against the backdrop of the Chicago skyline, with Union Station, the Chicago Post Office, and the “L” in the background. Here, freight cars fill a typical urban transfer yard, and passengers are handled by
THE LAYOUT AT A GLANCE NAME: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy-Lines East SCALE: S (1:64) SIZE: 19 x 30 feet PROTOTYPE: semi-freelanced, inspired by CB&Q LOCALE: Illinois ERA: late 1940s to early 1960s STYLE: walk-in MAINLINE RUN: 312 feet MINIMUM RADIUS: 42" MINIMUM TURNOUT: no. 8
MAXIMUM GRADE: 2 percent BENCHWORK: L-girder HEIGHT: 48" to 56" ROADBED: Homasote and cork TRACK: code 100 flextrack (main), code 83 (branch), code 70 (yard) SCENERY: extruded-foam insulation board, plaster cloth over cardboard web BACKDROP: tempered hardboard CONTROL: Digitrax Digital Command Control
57" Grain elevator Farm implements
Sugar Grove 57" 56" Route Route 66 66 Motel
Depot
2
Post office Wataga
54"
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy-Lines East
Buda
S scale (1:64) Room size: 19 x 30 feet Scale of plan: 5⁄16" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Roen Kelly Find more plans online in the ModelRailroader.com Track Plan Database.
Engine shed
54"
Route 66
4 Covered bridge
Spoon River
56"
Building flats
Farm
Dairy
Cold storage
La Grange
CHICAGO
Railway Express Agency
5
49"
Freight Team station tracks Post office
3
Donut shop
6 Station 48"
54" City skyline 51"
Duckunder
50"
54"
Ice dock 53" Swift meats Coal trestle Enginehouse Caboose track
43"
Streetcar lines (HO)
Coach yard
Furnace
53"
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As the lights of the Chicago skyline twinkle to life in the twilight, a Rock Island FT arrives with a transfer run. In the foreground, a westbound CB&Q bi-level commuter train emerges from beneath the Chicago Post Office.
3
a multitude of colorful passenger consists as well as the stainless silver long-distance trains that made the Q famous. The railroad winds through congested industrial areas, enters suburban territory, and moves on to rural Illinois farmlands. As the journey continues, peddler freights and small steam adds to the flavor of the layout. The railroad is set in the steam-to-diesel transition years of the 1940s to the early 92
Great Model Railroads 2016
1960s, which was also the heyday of American car culture along Route 66. As much thought was put into depicting typical scenes along that iconic highway as was put into the railroad side of the layout.
BUILDING THE LAYOUT Construction started in 2000 by preparing the basement. Forethought was given to installing a drop ceiling, track lighting, and under-layout storage. Later, valances and a fascia painted Pullman Green help give the layout a shadowbox appearance for visitors. Family negotiations also had to take place while gutting the area. Only the later addition of a passenger train staging area in an
adjoining storage room had the potential for upsetting negotiated agreements. The benchwork is tried-and-true L-girder with plywood subroadbed and Homasote roadbed. In the congested Chicago yards, many of the turnouts are built on curves or overlapping, saving space as on the prototype. The code 100 rail and custom turnouts combined with large radius curves and gentle grades add to the realism and operational characteristics. Most turnouts are no. 8 and mainline curves are on the gentle side. It takes a typical train about 20 minutes to travel the entire route. Since this layout is a fairly recent endeavor, a modern control system was a
Steve models a loose time period so he can run steam locomotives as well as diesels. A peddler freight led by class K-4 no. 919 approaches the grade crossing at Wataga, Ill., having been given permission to enter the block.
4
Hanging signs for your business district NEON SIGNS hanging over the sidewalks help fin-
natural choice. A Digitrax Digital Command Control (DCC) system was installed. The passenger staging and freight yard uses semaphores, target signals, and signal bridges directed by Hare stationary DCC decoders for computer-controlled routes. Ambient sounds emanate from eight locations around the layout, with sound loops from Fantasonics that offer hints of the industries along the route.
SCENERY Steve credits his experience building and decorating sets and special effects miniatures to his field of visual broadcast media for helping create the illusions of bustling city
ish a scene and establish flavor for your particular era. You’ll be surprised how quick and easy it is to add this detail to your business district. I either make custom signs from scratch using my computer’s image- editing software or download images of real signs from sources like eBay, Google Image Search, and Flickr. If a sign will be seen from both sides, I make one image for the front and one for the back. If the sign is asymmetrical, I reverse the sign to make the other side, then flip the lettering on that side back to normal. After cleaning up the edges and adjusting colors, I size the signs to the desired dimensions. Then I print them on 65-pound bright white cardstock. After that, it’s a matter of making a core of styrene or heavy cardstock and fastening both copies together. I color the edges at this time. Lastly, I drill holes in the sign and in the structure for a mounting bracket of music wire or brass. Sometimes I hang the sign from eyebolts or diesel lift rings, then create a bracket from a single length of wire. Chain can be used to stabilize the sign on either side. Signs can be weathered, and mounting brackets can be treated to show rust. – Steve Doyle
Steve makes 3-D signs for his businesses by printing photos of real signs on cardstock, then mounting them on brass wire brackets.
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Steve’s Chicago transfer yard was inspired by photographer Jack Delano’s pictures of wartime Chicago. Steve has added movement to his city skyline with several working streetcar and “L” tracks; to force perspective, these are HO scale.
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Modeling the “Main Street of America” WHEN AMERICA WAS BUILDING its highway system, several roads were destined for fame. One of the most prominent was Route 66, which opened in 1927. Starting in Chicago and ending at the Pacific Ocean, it was often called the “Mother Road” or the “Main Street of America.” This and other notable highways often paralleled railroad Since Route 66 would run through the heart of mainlines and offered a true his layout, Steve did a lot of research on the experience of Americana. highway and the iconic architecture along it. I did a lot of research on the construction of Route 66 in Illinois before starting on my 1:64 scale rendition. I consulted books, did online searches, and visited the modern remains of the road. The road on my layout represents the early concrete version – 20 feet wide, with no shoulders, and expansion joints every 12 feet. I transferred paper template cutouts to foam core, carefully scoring the expansion joints with a straight edge and utility knife. I used Krylon Pebble Rock spray paint covered with Testor’s Dullcote to represent new concrete. Weathering was accomplished with painted oil stains, powdered chalk tire tracks, and a few potholes. I finished the scenes with Illinois Route 66 signs, plus a variety of quirky roadside establishments with their unique architectural styles. – S.D.
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Great Model Railroads 2016
streets, Route 66, and quiet rural areas. Painted backgrounds and scenic textures add even more to the effect of a past time. Steve used a variety of techniques and materials to build the scenery – extrudedfoam insulation board, cardboard webbing, Sculptamold, Bradgon Enterprises geodesic foam, and plaster rock castings. Landscaping products include Woodland Scenics and Noch ground cover plus Scenic Express SuperTrees dressed in fall colors. Structures on the layout come from a variety of sources. Several skyscrapers are from Custom Model Railroads, Imagine That Laser Art, City Classics, and Downtown Deco. The doughnut shop, tourist motor court, gas station, and greasy spoon joint from Pine Canyon Models fit the Route 66 vibe perfectly. Structures in the rural farm areas are built from wood and styrene kits by
The crossing gates drop as a CB&Q E8 leads the morning Twin Cities Zephyr past the landmark Stone Avenue Station in LaGrange, Ill.
6
Bar Mills, Bill’s Train Shop, Monster Modelworks, and Twin Whistle, among others. When commercially available kits aren’t right, Steve isn’t afraid to scratchbuild or hire a custom builder. One example is the Stone Avenue Station in LaGrange, which was built by Gerry Evans.
LOCOMOTIVES AND CARS Equipment on this layout is a variety of commonly available and some one-off items. Most of the locomotives are equipped with SoundTraxx DCC sound decoders. When it comes to passenger consists, Steve and many friends campaigned for a nickel-plated Pioneer Zephyr, which was delivered by River Raisin Models. It’s a bit old for the layout’s era, but Steve likes it. Later-model Zephyrs and bi-level, gallerystyle commuter cars were custom built using
American Models plain-sided streamlined cars with fluted overlays. Freight cars are a mixture of brass, ready-to-run plastic, and kits. This wide variety made building an appropriate freight car fleet easy.
MEET STEVE DOYLE
LOOKING AHEAD
BORN IN CHICAGO, Steve spent his teenage
The layout has many eye-catching features: great scenery, impressive structures, and good operating characteristics. However, a model railroad is never totally finished. Steve plans further work on Chicago industrial canyons, a Chicago River scene, and a 15-foot-long “L” structure. Operating sessions will soon follow.
years in Winona, Minn. After working as press secretary for Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, he became a television anchorman, later founding his own video production company. He lives in Minnetonka Beach, Minn., with his wife, Mary. They have a daughter and two grandchildren.
Bob Werre is a professional photographer and S scale modeler who lives in Houston. His work has appeared in the pages of Model Railroader and other hobby publications.
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FRANK “THE TRAINMAN”
619-295-1611
CALIFORNIA • San Diego (La Mesa) Exclusively trains. Craft kits, detail parts, scratch supplies, books. Ride the trolley to Reed's. Open Mon through Sat 10-6; Sun 12-4 www.reeds-hobbies.com
REED’S HOBBY SHOP
8039 La Mesa Blvd.
THE TRAIN SHOP
1829 Pruneridge Ave.
408-296-1050
CALIFORNIA • Tehachapi Visit us and the Tehachapi Loop N thru G - Also Trains with History Mon-Sat 9:30-5 (closed Tue & Wed), Sun 11-4 www.trainsetc.biz or
[email protected]
TRAINS, ETC.
114 W. Tehachapi Blvd.
661-822-7777
CALIFORNIA • Westminster (Orange Co.) World Famous Model/Toy Trains Only 7,000 sq. ft. Super Center www.arniestrains.com
ARNIE’S MODEL TRAINS
6452 Industry Way
714-893-1015
CALIFORNIA • Yuba City
A full service model train store. Large inventory, HO, N, O & O27 Tinplate. Books, videos, collector & gift items. Repair service. We buy old toy trains. www.westerndepot.com
THE WESTERN DEPOT
530-673-6776
1650 Sierra Ave. #203
COLORADO • Colorado Springs
Our 24th year, full service store! 100% trains. Z, N, HO, O, G scales. Lionel, Märklin, MTH: Authorized Dealer. Repair all gauges. www.sunbirdtrainmart.com Open Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5:30, Sun 12-5.
DISCOUNT TRAINS
3311 N. Academy Blvd.
719-574-2080
COLORADO • Denver
CABOOSE HOBBIES, INC.
500 S. Broadway
303-777-6766
CONNECTICUT • Cos Cob
ANN’S HOBBY CENTER
405 E. Putnam Avenue
203-869-0969
619-464-1672
A hobby shop for modelers by modelers. From hard to find to latest & greatest. Free classes & clinics / multi scales. Large store of quality products @ fair prices. Friendly service: www.rrhobbysupply.com
RR MODEL & HOBBY SUPPLY
100 Whiting Street
860-379-3383
CONNECTICUT • Wolcott
Exclusively brass models. One of the largest selections in the country. All scales. Buy, consign, trade - entire collections bought. Mon - Fri 8 -5 www.thecaboose.com
THE CABOOSE
5 Mohawk Drive
Lionel, American Flyer, MTH Trains bought and sold www.traincity.com www.choochooauctions.com TRAIN CITY, INC. - CHARLES SIEGEL 387 Imperial Blvd., Ste. 2 321-799-4005
7327 West 80th St.
FLORIDA • Ft. Myers
MAINE • York
Come visit our new store! N, HO, O, G scale model railroading. Paint, tools, scenery, & accessories. Plastic models & rockets. Mon-Sat 10:00am-6:00pm. Closed Sunday.
METRO TRAINS & HOBBIES
239-332-0422
12951 Metro Parkway
FLORIDA • Orlando One of Florida's largest model train & hobby shops. All scales. Authorized Lionel & MTH service sta. Mon-Thu 9-7:30, Fri 9-9, Sat 9-6. 20 min. from Disney. (800) 841-1485.
COLONIAL PHOTO & HOBBY, INC.
634 North Mills
407-841-1485
Trains, trains, trains. Model railroading at its best. Visit us in the store or on the Web at www.gcmrr.com Open Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5.
GULF COAST MODEL RAILROAD, INC.
941-923-9303
3222 Clark Rd.
GEORGIA • Atlanta (Riverdale)
Atlanta's Finest Shop for serious modelers! Quality items in all scales at fair prices. Service - Repairs. Over 34 years of quality service. Close to all Interstate Hwys. 8-min. from Atlanta Airport. Tue-Sat 10-5:30
RIVERDALE STATION
770-991-6085
6632 Hwy. 85, Riverdale Plaza
Exclusively model trains & slot cars. Lionel value-added dealer & Lionel repair. Trains & accessories discounted. Kato, Atlas, MicroTrains, MTH, LGB & Walthers. Call for hours. www.antiochmodeltrains.com
ANTIOCH MODEL TRAINS & HOBBY
847-395-5025
924 Main St.
203-879-9797
TIMBERLINE TRAIN SHOP, LTD.
630-324-6136
ILLINOIS • Geneseo
Scale Trains, Models & Hobby Supplies Specializing in Midwest Roads Visit Our Website or Call for New Location and Hours GRHOBBIES.COM
GREEN RIVER HOBBIES
119 W. Exchange St.
309-944-2620
ILLINOIS • Marion
913-383-3500
Model trains & slot cars. Most scales available. Accessories & services. New, pre-owned & vintage. Working layout! Open 7 days 10-5 www.yorkvillagemarketplace.com
YORK VILLAGE MARKETPLACE
207-363-4830
891 U.S. Route 1
If we don't have it, we'll get it! LGB, Woodland Scenics, Walthers Dealer, Aristo, Delton, Pola, Lionel, Bachmann, Spectrum, Proto 2000. Mon - Sat 10-6. Full line Kalmbach!
[email protected]
STAR HOBBY
1564 Whitehall Rd.
410-349-4290/4291
MARYLAND • Baltimore/Cockeysville Model RR headquarters since 1913. Excellent selection HO & N equipment & accessories; Lionel, MTH, All at discount prices. Mon - Fri 10-5; Sat 9-5. www.modeltrainstuff.com
M.B. KLEIN, INC.
243-A Cockeysville Rd.
410-229-9995
MARYLAND • Sykesville
Central Maryland’s best kept secret - a family friendly model train shop that specializes in HO & N Scale at very generous discounts. Please call for hours or visit us at www.themoosecaboose.com
THE MOOSE CABOOSE
1341 W. Liberty Rd.
410-795-4610
MASSACHUSETTS • Malden America's largest Lionel Dealer. We also carry a complete line of G scale, O gauge, HO and N scale model trains. Visit our 3600 sq. ft. showroom.
CHARLES RO SUPPLY CO.
662 Cross St.
781-321-0090
Scales Z to G. All at discount prices. Am. Models, Aristo, Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, Con-Cor, IHC, USA, Kadee, Kato, K-Line, Lionel, MTH, Walthers, LGB, HLW www.jvrailroad.com
JUNCTION VALLEY RR HOBBY SHOP
7065 Dixie Hwy.
989-777-3480
MICHIGAN • Fraser Full line hobby shop. Open Mon - Fri 10 -8, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5 www.pdhobbyshop.com
P & D HOBBY SHOP
31280 Groesbeck Hwy.
586-296-6116
MICHIGAN • Leslie
Full-Line Hobby Shop. HO & N scale locomotives, scenery, plastic models, R/C, tools, paints, and more. Open Tue - Fri 1:30-6:30pm, Sat 10am-4pm
CHUCK’S DEPOT
1913 W. Rendelman St.
FRED’S TRAIN SHOP
MICHIGAN • Bridgeport
HO and N Scale Model Trains and Accessories Two Blocks South of Metra Station at Maple Ave. www.timberlinetrainshop.com 5228 Main St
O, S. HO, N, Z & G Scale Lionel, MTH, A/F, Marklin, LGB & more! New, Used & Vintage. Extensive scenery line. Repair, custom work & layouts. www.fredstrainshop.com
MARYLAND • Annapolis
ILLINOIS • Downers Grove
HO, N, Lionel. Lionel authorized dealer & repair. Plastic, wood kits, rockets, tools, structural & diorama supplies. Special orders welcome.
219-322-1123
KANSAS • Overland Park (KC Area)
ILLINOIS • Antioch
Since 1938! All scales & gauges. Open daily! See all this & more in our on-line catalog. http://www.caboosehobbies.com
PARK LANE HOBBIES
1080 Joliet St. (US 30)
FLORIDA • Cape Canaveral
FLORIDA • Sarasota
CONNECTICUT • Winsted
Model railroad, exclusively since 1943. Lionel, HO kits, parts ready-to-run, used trains. N gauge. Buy, sell, trade all gauges. 4233 Park Blvd.
100% trains. Discount prices. Super selection. Monday 9:30am-3:00pm Tuesday - Saturday 9:30am-6:00pm Closed Sunday Dennis Cole E-mail:
[email protected]
N, HO & O, DCC & Digitax Dealer. Atlas, Athearn, BLI & Walthers. Plastics, modeling supplies & detail parts. Special orders. Competitive prices. Mon - Fri 10-6; Sat 10-5; Sun 11-3. www.parklanehobbiesonline.com
Retail Directory
Exclusively model trains since 1989. Athearn, Kato, MDC, Lionel, Atlas, LGB, Mårklin, Brass Imports, books, detail parts. Everyday low prices. Open 7 days. www.rrhobbies.com
CALIFORNIA • Santa Clara
INDIANA • Dyer
Alabama - Michigan
DELAWARE • Ocean View
P/F 618-993-9179
Michigan’s Largest N Scale Dealer. Tue - Thur 1-9. Fri & Sat* 1-5. *Closed Saturdays Memorial to Labor Day. We also carry Z, HO & G Scales. www.ggtrains.com
G&G TRAINS
1800 Baseline Road
517-589-5977
www.ModelRailroader.com
97
Michigan - Switzerland
MICHIGAN • Mount Pleasant
We carry N through O scale, structures, tools, scenery, scratch building supplies. Special orders welcome. Authorized Lionel & MTH Dealer. Open Mon - Fri 9-6, Sat 10-3, Closed Sun.
MOUNTAIN TOWN HOBBY'S
989-779-7245
307 S. Mission St.
MICHIGAN • Saginaw
Personalized Customer Service! Trains & Accessories N to G Authorized Lionel/K-Line, MTH, DIGITRAX Sales & Service - over 12,000 parts www.traindoctor.com
BRASSEUR ELECTRIC TRAINS
989-793-4753
410 Court St.
MICHIGAN • Traverse City Let your imagination run wild! Z to G, Lionel, scenery, tools, structures, scratchbuilding supplies, special orders, ships, armor, cars, more...
TRAINS & THINGS HOBBIES
210 East Front St.
231-947-1353
MISSOURI • St. Louis
HOBBYTOWN USA
15037 Manchester Rd.
636-394-0177
MONTANA • Billings
Model railroading headquarters for the Northern Rockies. HO, HOn3 & N scale. Kits, parts, tools, books. Tues-Fri 10-5:30; Sat 10-4. Closed Sun & Mon.
[email protected] www.jimsjunction.com
JIM'S JUNCTION
406-259-5354
811-B 16th St. West
NEBRASKA • Omaha
Trains & supplies for all scales Z-G. We are DCC ready & installation service available. Service work, repairs, technical support. Family owned since 1938. Mon-Fri 8:00-5:30; and Sat 10:00-5:00 www.houseoftrains.com
HOUSE OF TRAINS
402-934-RAIL (7245)
NEVADA • Las Vegas
3 GUY'S HOBBIES
10 Lawrence Ave.
631-265-8303
NORTH CAROLINA • Spencer
Across from NC Trans Museum. Big selection of trains in all scales, Digitrax Dealer, RR videos/books & children’s toys Tue-Sat: 10 -5:30. www.littlechoochooshop.com or
[email protected]
LITTLE CHOO CHOO SHOP, INC.
HOBBYTOWN USA
4590 W. Sahara Ave., #103
702-889-9554
NEVADA • Las Vegas
WESTSIDE TRAINS
2960 S. Durango #117
702-254-9475
NEW HAMPSHIRE • Hampton Falls HO - N - O & accessories. Carrying Atlas, Athearn, MTH-RailKing, Lionel, Williams Open 7 days a week 10-5.
BRENTWOOD ANTIQUES
106 Lafayette Rd. (Rt. 1)
603-929-1441
NEW JERSEY • Somerville
THE BIG LITTLE RAILROAD SHOP
63 W. Main St.
908-685-8892
NEW YORK • Hurley
Trains- Z, N, HO, S, O, G scale, models, rockets, hobby supplies. Lionel & MTH authorized dealer. 4 working layouts. Repairs, buy/sell. Open 7 days. An old fashioned general store. www.hurleycountrystore.biz
HURLEY COUNTRY STORE INC
2 Wamsley Pl. (Old Hurley)
845-338-4843
From trains to diecast to scenery, everything for the layout builder. Open 7 days a week. N, HO, O, Lionel, LGB. Buy, sell, trade used trains. Located adjacent to the Choo Choo Barn. www.etrainshop.com
STRASBURG TRAIN SHOP
RHODE ISLAND • Warwick
Full line hobby shop. N, HO, Lionel, Atlas, Bachmann, Athearn, Kato, Mantua, Micro Trains, tools, paints, plastic model kits, books, rockets, RC cars, RC airplanes, model building supplies. Daily 10-6, closed Sunday.
AEROPORT HOBBY SHOPPE
2112 N. Broadway
701-838-1658
HOBBYLAND
614-888-7500
206 Graceland Blvd.
OHIO • Columbus
Exclusively trains. LGB, Lionel, O, HO, N scales. Books, Thomas, videos. Mon - Thur 10-6, Fri 10-8, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5 www.trainstationohio.com
THE TRAIN STATION
614-262-9056
OREGON • Beaverton
TAMMIE’S HOBBIES
503-644-4535
THE HOBBY SMITH
503-284-1912
Your complete model railroad store. Gauges Z through G. Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Closed Sunday www.wsor.com
WHISTLE STOP TRAINS
11724 SE Division St.
503-761-1822
PENNSYLVANIA • Blue Ridge Summit The Exclusive model railroad store. From N to G, we stock it all. OPEN 7 days a week. Only minutes from Frederick, MD. www.mainlinehobby.net
MAINLINE HOBBY SUPPLY
15066 Buchanan Trail E.
717-794-2860
HO, N, Z, On30, G, Lionel, Am. Flyer, Williams. Standard O & S gauges bought, sold & traded. Authorized service center. Mon, Wed, Fri 10-9, Tue & Thu 10-7, Sat 10-5. www.nstrains.com
NICHOLAS SMITH TRAINS
2343 West Chester Pike
610-353-8585
PENNSYLVANIA • Lansdale
Exclusively trains. N - HO - O Specializing in DCC www.linsjunction.com
[email protected]
LIN'S JUNCTION
128 S. Line St.
A.A. HOBBIES, INC.
655 Jefferson Blvd.
401-737-7111
All scales, all major brands of model railroad equipment. We buy & sell used Lionel trains. Open daily 10-6. Closed Sun.
NEW BROOKLAND RR & HOBBY SHOP
405 State Street
803-791-3958
TENNESSEE • Knoxville
Located in Knoxville’s premier shopping destination. We are the area’s most diverse hobby store with a large selection of HO, N, and O. Open 7 days a week. Turkey Creek Area.
HOBBYTOWN USA
11145 Turkey Dr.
865-675-1975
Official Lionel Layout Builder Since 2001 Traingineer shop/showroom includes; Custom Layouts, Modulars, Model Stations, Bridge Kits...come see...there’s always something new!!! www.TrainWorxStore.com
TW TRAINWORX
2808 McGowan St.
877-881-4997
TEXAS • Dallas (Addison)
HO, N, Z, Lionel, DCC, brass Reservation discounts, new, used, Consignments, 16 minutes from Airport www.hobbysmith.com 1809 NE Cesar Chavez Blvd.
HO trains & access., detail parts, plastic & military kits & access. Hobby supplies. Tue - Fri 12-8, Sat 10-6, Sun (Nov-Jan) 12-5 1/2 mile west of airport. E-mail:
[email protected]
TEXAS • Dallas
Complete full line service hobby shop. Z, N, HO, O, Lionel, and LGB. Open Mon - Fri 10-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5. 12024 SW Canyon Rd.
717-687-0464
SOUTH CAROLINA • West Columbia
All scales: N, HO, LGB www.hobbylandstores.com
4430 Indianola Ave.
570-368-2516
PENNSYLVANIA • Strasburg
NORTH DAKOTA • Minot
PENNSYLVANIA • Broomall
Specializing in service. Tues to Fri 11 am - 7 pm, Sat 11 am - 5 pm, Sun 12 pm - 4 pm. www.biglittle.com Fax # 908-685-8894
ENGLISH'S MODEL RAILROAD SUPPLY
201 Streibeigh Lane
Route 741 East
OREGON • Portland
Big selection of HO, N and Lionel O Gauge trains. Only 7 miles west of the Las Vegas strip. www.westsidetrainslv.com
Mon - Fri 9-5:30, Sat 9-5 Extended weekday & Sun hours in Nov. & Dec. E-mail:
[email protected]
500 S. Salisbury Av. 704-637-8717/800-334-2466
OREGON • Portland
While in Las Vegas, check out our train selection. Close to the Las Vegas strip. Hours: Mon - Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun Noon-5.
Retail Directory
PENNSYLVANIA • Montoursville
O, HO, & N gauges. All major lines carried. We are model railroaders.
OHIO • Columbus
Full line electric train store - N, HO, O & G All major lines including Lionel, Kato, Walthers & Bachmann. We provide service and repair. Open 7 days a week.
8106 Maple St.
NEW YORK • Smithtown
215-412-7711
DISCOUNT MODEL TRAINS
972-931-8135
TEXAS • Houston
All trains, all scales. Magazines, Books, Videos, Repairs, Brass, Consignments. Discount program, will ship.
[email protected] M,Tu,Th & F 10-6; W 10-7; Sat 10-5; Sun 12-5 Major Credit Cards. www.papabens.com
PAPA BEN'S TRAIN PLACE
4007-E Bellaire Blvd.
713-523-5600
TEXAS • San Antonio
Model railroading our specialty. Märklin, G, HO, N, O, Z. Superdetailing parts galore. Books, structures, figures and tools. Tuesday - Saturday 10-6pm
DIBBLE'S HOBBIES
1029 Donaldson Ave.
210-735-7721
VIRGINIA • Staunton
STAUNTON TRAINS & HOBBIES
540-885-6750
WISCONSIN • Butler
Atlas, Life-Like, Intermountain, Broadway, Walthers, Micro Trains, Fox Valley, Kato, Woodland Scenics, Athearn. New and used. We UPS anywhere in USA. Repair, buy, sell, trade. www.sommerfelds.com
SOMMERFELD’S TRAINS & HOBBIES, INC.
12620 W. Hampton Ave.
ENGINEHOUSE SERVICES, LLC
2737 N. Packerland Dr. 2H
920-490-4839
WISCONSIN • Milwaukee Exclusively Model Railroading since 1932. One-stop shopping from Z to G. 800-487-2467 walthers.com
WALTHERS SHOWROOM
414-461-1050
5619 W. Florist Avenue
WISCONSIN • Monroe N & HO scale trains & accessories, plastic kits. Books, videos & tools. Summer hours: Tues - Sat 10-5 Winters: Add Sun 12-4
THE HOBBY DEPOT
835 17th St.
608-325-5107
WISCONSIN • Waukesha (Pewaukee)
Märklin • Lionel • MTH • AF • LGB • Z to G • buildings • scenery • detail parts • books • scratchbuilding supplies • special orders • NMRA discounts • Mon-Fri 11-8 • Sat 10-5. Sun 12-5. www.hiawathahobbies.com
JETCO’S HIAWATHA HOBBIES
262-544-4131
2026 Silvernail Rd.
CANADA–BC • Vancouver
Large selection of model RR supplies including Min. by Eric, Athearn/MDC, Atlas, Peco, Shinohara, Rapido, SoundTraxx, brass, etc. Special orders. www.central-hobbies.com Open 11-6, Friday til 9. Closed Sundays.
CENTRAL HOBBIES
604-431-0771
2825 Grandview Hwy.
CANADA–ON • Blind River Model railroad specialists. All major brands, all scales, kit building services. If we don’t stock it, we’ll get it.
NORTH SHORE MODEL SUPPLIES
21 Queen Ave.
705-356-7397
Complete Canadian trains & more N, HO, G, Athearn, Hornby, Peco, Walthers. Special orders, plastics, parts, supplies, books, DVD’s. Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 9-5.
[email protected] www.rrhobby.ca
BROUGHDALE HOBBY
519-434-0600
1444 Glenora Drive
CANADA–ON • Mississauga
6,000 sq. ft. All Trains! Premier Selection & Service! In store clinics and layouts! Railfan Headquarters! Quick special orders! www.cvrco.com
CREDIT VALLEY RAILWAY COMPANY, LTD
2900 Argentia Rd. Unit #24
1-800-464-1730
CANADA–ON • Paris Full line hobby shop. Large stock N, HO. Special orders weekly, all scales. All accessories, scenery and supplies. www.parisjunctionhobbies.com
PARIS JUNCTION HOBBIES
300 Grand River St. N.
519-442-5800
GERMANY • Kaarst
Lionel Service Center #2507, 3rd Rail, HO, O, N. Plastic models & supplies, rockets. Garrett Metal Detectors. Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4 331 N. Central Ave.
Exclusively trains, specializing in DCC, N, G, & HO. DCC installation and award winning custom painting and building available. WWW.ENGINEHOUSESERVICES.COM
CANADA–ON • London
Great discounts on thousands of G to Z scale items. NCE & Digitrax dealer. Monday - Saturday 10-6. 4641 Ratliff Lane
WISCONSIN • Green Bay
262-783-7797
Europe’s best known address for US Railroads. We carry N, HO & G scale for all road names, Atlas to Walthers. Mon-Fri 10-6:30, Sat 10-2. Overseas orders with VS & MC
ALL AMERICAN TRAINS
www.aat-net.de
E-mail:
[email protected]
SWITZERLAND • Kilchberg, Zurich Specializing in American models since 1977. Huge selection of consignment brass models. Open Sat 13.00-17.00. Fax: 044-715-3660. Web: www.trainmaster.ch
TRAINMASTER BY WERNER MEER
3 Hochweidstrasse
011-41-44-715-3666
>> Index of Advertisers We believe that our readers are as important as our advertisers; therefore, we try to handle all reader’s complaints promptly and carefully. If, within a reasonable period, you do not receive your merchandise or an adequate reply from an advertiser, please write to us. In your letter detail exactly what you ordered and the amount of money you sent. We will forward your complaint to the advertiser for action. If no action is obtained, we will refuse to accept further advertising from him. Address complaints to: GREAT MODEL RAILROADS Magazine, 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187.
Axian Technology .......................................... 5 Jelsma Graphics ........................................... 97 Rail-Lynx .......................................................... 7 Azatrax ............................................................. 5 Logic Rail Technologies............................... 96 Rix Products .................................................. 96 Bachrus, Inc..................................................... 5 Micro Fasteners .............................................. 5 SBS4DCC.COM ............................................. 96 Berrett Hill Trains.......................................... 96 Micro-Mark ...................................................... 7 Shelf Layouts Company .............................. 96 Smith Southwest Model Rail ........................ 7 Bill’s Trains and Track .................................. 96 Model Railroad Industrials .......................... 97 Steves Depot ................................................... 7 Blair LIne ........................................................ 96 Model Railroader All Access......................... 2 Summit USA, LLC......................................... 97 CMW Holdings Ltd/Classic Metal................. 5 Model Railroader Books .............................. 99 T-Kits .............................................................. 97 Control Panel Designs ................................... 7 Model Railroads by Chris ............................ 96 Train Sets Only.............................................. 97 Great Model Railroads Back Issues ........... 96 Mount Blue Model Co. ................................. 97 Trainmaster, The........................................... 97 Hornby America ............................................. 3 NY Central System Hist. Soc., Inc................ 5 Valley Trains N Hobbies............................... 97 IBL Products .................................................... 5 Phoenix Unlimited, Ltd. ............................... 96 Woodland Scenics ..................................... 100
98
Great Model Railroads 2016
Build a Better Layout with the
Right Track Plan This book presents 45 original track plans created by respected modeler and author Bernard Kempinski. Every model railroader will find something of interest as the plans encompass a wide range of styles, such as shelf, island, peninsula, modular, multiple-deck, and walk-in. The book also features: • A variety of scales, including HO, N, S, and O. • Prototype locations, including Horsehoe Curve, Powder River Basin, and Tehachapi Loop. • Many room-sized layouts, with other sizes that can fill a basement or garage.
Buy now from your local hobby shops! Shop at KalmbachHobbyStore.com or call 800-533-6644 Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. CT Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 262-796-8776 ext. 661
#12496 • $21.99
NEW f r Ber om
n Kempi ard nski
Photo Credit: Mike Dannenman
THE NEXT MUST – HAVE FOR MODELER S!
P26314
