Model Railroading > Van Buren Layout Design Element

My fictional Wabash Railroad, Indianapolis Branch that runs from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis begins a short section of double-track north of Marion, Indiana at a location called Van Buren. (The double-track ends at an interlocking on the south side of Marion.) The section of double-track btw Van Buren and Marion, Indiana is in a helix. I model the early 50's.

I needed to take a break from other modeling projects today and rough out Van Buren. I decided to go back to running double-track in the helix like I had originally planned (therefore there won't be any need for modification of the helix other than widening part of it for a foreign RR that was and is going to share part of the lap from the other side.)

There really is a town of Van Buren, north of Marion, Indiana on the former NKP Clover Leaf. My model Wabash will duck under the NKP but interchange with it via a dummy interchange. Note, I am not interested in modeling the real location as the Wabash never ran through there anyway.

Photo 1 The LDE to scale. I'm sure something will change though.

Photo 2 The bare area (top level with the salvaged Homabed)looking toward the helix which is about 8 feet long and 2 feet wide at the widest end. I plan the Ogle coaling machine to be a sort of view block into the helix but hopper cars of coal will be switched up to the top of the small incline. (I'll kit-bash this double track version from a single-track Diamond Scales model.)

Photo 3 A photo of the type of coaling machine I plan to kitbash. (The photo was taken on the Wabash at Tilton, Illinois.)
Sorry about the quality of the image but I didn't have much to work from.

Though this will relieve a bottle neck on the double-deck layout, note I am breaking a cardinal layout planning rule. I do have some switching directly below at Marion! But there is only one local (the mixed) that does switching on the layout (but to be sure they'll be other operators in that location for various reasons). Including the every other day mixed train, I plan only about 9 trains total on the branch in one operating session. So we'll have to see how it works. I have not decided how my prototype will control the entrance and exit of double-track at Van Buren as the Wabash had various methods (some rather primative). The branch is mostly single track MBS but with short sections of ABS. Like other larger cities on the Wabash, in theory, Marion will need the short double-track because it is a congested area. Coaling stations on the mainline were a common sight even out in the middle of nowhere. (Van Buren will be my Crocker or Benton, Indiana.)

The fictional Indy Branch provides an important link for Detroit and Toledo to Indianapolis and would be the shortest route ever btw those points. In Indy the red ball trains will use the PRR's yard at Hawthorne (staging). My mainline passenger train will run btw Toledo-Indy via Fort Wayne and use Indy Union station modeled with a staging track.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/10 18:18 by wabash2800.

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A map to show how the fictional Indy Branch fits into the system... I am aware that the Clover Leaf (originally a low budget narrow gauge line and flat as a pancake in the area) through Van Buren would most likely not run over the Wabash but I have a track going over on the west end of the LDE so that is what I did.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/10 18:54 by wabash2800.

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looks good! keep showing us layout photos! it's good inspiration!