|
|
Layout Theme and Requirements
Givens and Druthers
| Prototype |
Western Maryland Railway |
| Prototype Locations |
Semi-prototypical MD Junction and Chaffee Theme |
| Main Modeling Interests |
Roundhouse and Engine Terminal Design and
Operation
Chaffee Branch Coal Operations
Basic Industrial Switching
Freight Operation
Occassional Small-time Passenger Operation
Scratch Building WM Prototype Structures
Scratch Building WM Steam Locomotives
General Model Building and Detailing
Model Photography
|
| Era |
Late Steam through Early Diesel (Transition Era
+/-), approximately 1950-1953 |
| Room Size |
11' 9" x 10' 6" |
| Operators |
Typically just me, unless my wife wants to run a
train from time to time :-) |
| Scale |
HO |
| Ruling Mainline Radius |
24" |
| Ruling Mainline Grade |
2.5% |
| Ruling Chaffee Branch (Shay) Radius |
18" |
| Ruling Chaffee Branch (Shay) Grade |
8.1% (prototype is 9%) |
| Trackwork |
Hand-laid Code 70 (TBD) track and #5 turnouts. Possibly to Proto:87
standards. If possible, this will be Proto:87, otherwise it will be
"finescale" HO. The deciding point will be the tight radius and
small/tight frogs on the turnouts. Proto:87 typically requires a minimum
radius of at least 27" to 30" and minimum of #7 frogs, but I will put this to
the test through judicious use of easements and smaller rolling stock.
Shay trackwork will be code 55 or 70 with #5 turnouts.
For both, I will use Central Valley tie strips with glued rail rather than
wooden ties and spiked rail. The visual effect of the
CVT strips and turnouts is stunning.
|
| Sub Roadbed |
1/2" Plywood "table" for yard, and
free-form/ribbon plywood on risers for the rest of the layout |
| Roadbed |
Homabed on mainline and sidings, Homasote sheet in
main yard. |
| Track Design Software |
3rd PlanIt by
Eldorado Software |
About the Prototype
The Western Maryland Railway was one of the most photogenic and interesting
railways on the east coast. It ran all the way from Baltimore Maryland
through central Maryland and out to West Virginia in the west, and southern
Pennsylvania in the north. The WM was primarily thought of as a coal
carrier, although it did handle lots of types of traffic through its
participation in the Alphabet Route. Passenger operations were fairly
spartan, and consisted of very short passenger trains typically headed by one
of the Baldwin K2 4-6-2
locomotives.
Maryland Junction and the nearby Ridgely Yard were located near Cumberland
Maryland (separated by Knobley Tunnel), on the West Virginia/Maryland border,
nestled right next to the Potomac River. While MD Junction did not have
shops the size of those in Hagerstown, it did have a very sizeable roundhouse,
good shops, and one of the more modern and more interesting A-shaped coal
towers.
In the late steam era, the Maryland Junction roundhouse was home to, among
others, hulking H9 Consolidations (as well as smaller H8 and
H7b Consolidations, enormous J1 4-8-4 Potomacs and one of the largest
and most powerful classes of decapods ever built, the
I2 heavy decapod. In addition, diesel power started to become
common in the yards in switching service with locomotives like the
VO 1000, and on the mainline with
F-Units. This mixture of serious road power makes MD Junction a natural
place to model if you are into building and / or detailing locomotives.
From Maryland Junction, trains left east towards Hagerstown and Baltimore, south
to Chaffee and on to Elkins, and north to Cumberland and other points.
Chaffee and Vindex are well known to WM fans as the home of the
Shay locomotives. The grades up to the coal mines on the Chaffee
branch were so steep, and the curves so severe, that only a geared locomotive
like a shay could handle the trip up and back. Even the massive Shay #6
(now run by the Cass
Scenic Railroad) could only handle a few loaded hoppers on its downhill
run back to the siding off the mainline.
If you are interested in Maryland Junction, track and other plans are available
from the Western Maryland
Railway Historical Society (WMRHS). If you are interested in the
Chaffee Branch, the WMRHS has a couple excellent issues of the Blue Mountain
Express (BMX) dedicated to the branch and the Shay locomotives that ran on it.
Interesting Prototypical Structures
These are some of the prototypical structures I made a point of putting in the
layout, as I want to build them.
-
Chaffee Branch Coal Mines
-
Western Maryland Cumberland Station (not in its correct location, plans
from MR "Millennium" Issue)
-
Maryland Junction Coal Tower (lots of photos, will have to infer plans)
-
Maryland Junction Water Pump House (will infer plans from photos)
-
Maryland Junction Sand Tower (will infer plans from photos)
-
Maryland Junction Water Towers (will infer plans from photos)
-
Maryland Junction Engineer's Bunk (Overnight) House (no photos yet)
-
Maryland Junction Ash Pit and Hoist (will infer plans from photos)
-
MY Tower (not in its correct location, will infer plans from photos)
-
Maryland Junction Engineer's Register Room and Tool House (no photos yet)
-
Chaffee Passenger Shed (will infer plans from photos)
-
Vindex Engine House (very few photos)
-
Vindex Company Store (no photos yet)
-
Vindex Company Houses (will infer plans from photos of old Chaffee houses)
-
Vindex Water Tower (no photos yet)
-
Vindex Coal Bin (no photos yet)
-
Vindex Sand House (no photos yet)
If you have photos of any of the items above marked as "no photos" or plans of
any that are marked "no plans" or "will infer plans", please let me know if you
can share/sell. Thanks!
Please be sure to sign my guestbook!
|