Model Railroading > Layout progress report

I Nov. I started working on one of the branch lines on my layout. The layout is based on the Lehigh Valley in 1972. Eventually, there will be 4 separate branch lines on the layout, 2 on the lower deck and two on the upper. The branch lines are in the center of the room and the mainline is generally on the outside of the room. This requires two removable sections. My wife proclaimed there would be no permanent duck-unders. Also on one wall there is the furnace. I know it will not fail until, several years have past, the layout is complete and scenery is applied and it is the coldest day possible outside. With that in mind I built a removable section around the furnace.

This branchline is the Easton & Northern Branch of the LV. The branch left the mainline at Easton, Pa climbed a bridge and crossed the LV mainlines, the Lehigh river and the CNJ tracks on the oposite side. The bridge is shown in the first photo.

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The shot is looking east toward Easton station, out of the photo and the small Easton yard and frieght house. The LV mainline had 4 tracks east of the E&N bridge and 3 west. By the the early 70\'s most of the LV mainline was double track.

In this photo you can see the end of the track with the reovable section out.

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This is a wide shot of the isle with the revable section out.

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Now the reovable section is in. It is made out of 1x4. So far I have not had a warping problems. Over time I may repaoce it with a metal section. For now I just clamp it in place when it is needed.

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One of the major customers on the LV was Dixie Cup (the little batroom drinking cups). The start of the plant is shown here. 3 industry tracks and the end of Alpha siding are shown in this photo.

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This is a long shot showing most of the E&N branch. The branch ends at a large cement plant. On the LV the branch ended with and interchange with the EL. I could not find room for staging tracks for the EL so I did not model that far up the branch. The east end staging can be seen on the right of the photo.

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Further down the branch is Northampton Farm Bureau, Penn Pump and the Cement plant at Stockertown, PA. Just out of the bottom of the photo is Biney and Smith, which the LV also served. You might know them better as the Crayola Crayon company.

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Nice shots. Looks good so far.
One thing about the "lift out" section.
You might try drilling holes for say 3/4" or maybe 5/8" dowlrods, then cut some dowlrods down and use them for alignment. I know of a guys who did the same thing you have, use the dowlrod to hold the alignment and has had this for several years with no problems.

Looks good, keep showing the progress.

Lots of switching for a future engineer. Part of the cement plant is made out of the Walthers Western coal loaders. I have not settled on a final height. I have a bit more kitbashing to do here.

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Another plant shot. There will be a highway that passes under the tracks where the cut out is located.

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The other side of the lift out section.

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Last shot for tonight. This is moving down the mailine past Bethlehem Steel and into Allentown Yard (ex-CNJ) I have laid out the mainline bypass track and 4 arrival tracks. This was put in last weekend. I ran out of track and time to go much further. Before I move on to the main yard, I may need some help figuring out how to lay out several (10 or 11) parralell curved tracks around 3 walls. I will take some photos and explain my problem. Until then, thanks for looking and the support.

Mark Nolan
Clarksville, TN

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Well, posting the update has already paid off. I will try the dowls before I make a metal frame. It sounds alot easier.

I\'d have to agree on the dowels. I use 1/2" dowels to align the 6 modules that make up my 6\'x 13\' HO Layout and have been doing so for years with no problems. After the dowels (which have a 3" x 3" 1/2" plywood back like a pin) are set in place, I use C-clamps to hold the sections tightly together. Never a problem one. Besides, the time spent building a metal frame can be time better spent modeling or laying track IMHO.

i think seeing the layout at this stage helps most of us so much more, that seeing them completed. Im going to be starting mine , hopefully in a few months.

thank for the wonderfull shots, and keep them comming

Very nice work, good carpentry skill ant track laying. How large it is, seems large for one individual?. Woul like an overview of the track plan. Keep us posted on your progress.

Wow, very well done. Looking forward to next months issue. The room preps add tremendously.

What is the commercial name for the bendable backdrop material? Can it be painted with regular inside wall paint or something special? Any suggestions or comments?
Thanks.

The basement is roughly 44\'x44\', with a garage/workshop, lounge/workbench/computer area, plus a bathroom cut out. I have scale floor plan I put together which is to large to scan. I used that to plan the wall and isle locations. I planned the isle space and benchwork size on the master plan. I trackplan as I go, using photos, diagrams and trackdiagrams from Lehigh Valley, Central New Jersey and Conrail mechianical departments. I tried to use various CAD programs but that seemed to take alot of time from actually building the layout so I trashed them and just design as I go.

The layout will eventually be double decked. My goal is to finish all lower level track and staging this year and install the layout facia and wire the turnouts. I also plan to get the helix installed, both up to the upper deck and down to staging (my arm and jigsaw do not look forward to this task). I install the DCC power as I lay track, but go back and put in the switch machines later.

This is the long explination to say, no, I don\'t have a track plan I can post.

Mark,

Nice work. I know the area well. The E&N bridge in Easton still stands, but with out traffic. Dixie has relocated to a plant on the former L&NE near the end of track.
Please keep us posted on the progress.
John D.
Wind Gap, PA.

Hey Mark, It is looking great. I took my old layout apart over Christmas to be ,oved to my house from my parent where it has been since 1991. I haven\'t started building the new layout yet though because I haven\'t been home long enough to do anything on it yet, that and I am still in the planning stages.

The four truck haevy haul flat you have in the lift out section photos is an older version of the one I built following the drawings and photos from the LNAL railroad in IN. It is LNAL 50010 is the car number I built. I assume you had to scratch build yours as I had to do.

Ed
meduke@btinet.net