From Paper Plan to Layout

     The trackplan features two large yards, one at Cumberland and one at New Castle, and a double-track main over the mountains and through Pittsburgh. There are three smaller yards: one at Connellsville, one at McKeesport, and another at the J&L Steel plant near Sharon. This reflects the traditional rail-roading of

Chessie 4272 (above right) rounds a curve at Cumberland. The city scene is a mixture of building flats and Realistic Background photo backdrops.

the area, the time before yard and railroad consolidations when traffic moved from a local siding to a small yard to a classification yard to a through train, then reversed the cycle for delivery. Frequently an intra-city transfer between yards or railroads was part of the movement, too.
     My favorite time period is between 1970 and 1988, a block of time that allows me to explore many aspects of the B&O, Chessie and CSX.
     The benchwork is a mixture of open grid done with 2"x4"'s in a manner similar to house construction and L-girder framing. The height of the track ranges from 48" at New Castle to 54" at Cumberland. Trackwork is all Atlas code 100 flexible track with Peco and Shinohara switches laid on either Homasote® or cork roadbed over 3/4" plywood. Two bus wires running under the layout are soldered to rail feeders every two feet to ensure electrical continuity. At present I am using an OnBoard system to control the trains. All turnouts are operated with Tortoise slow-motion switch machines wired to an acrylic plastic control pad at each yard. Interlocking signals are being installed at each junction, a project that still has a way to go.

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RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN / OCTOBER 1999
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