RayF

Any progress on this John?

Really enjoying this thread. Keep it coming please

Look forward to seeing more on this. Thanks for sharing

I keep reading Lance Mindheim stuff. You may already know, his books are great. His webpage is: shelflayouts.com.

This model will still be located in North Carolina but it is no longer an approximate reflection of the Belhaven branch. I have shelved (no pun intended) the plan to build Chocowinity on the bottom deck.

Some pictures of the line at present. It is operational but somewhat lacking in scenics! The middle deck sidings are currently operating as a staging yard but will have scenery at some point. The track leading off to the left used to enter the swing gate. Looking the other way the tracks split. The left track is a long spur that goes around the back of the helix. The right hand track enters the helix and goes up to the top deck. The helix then brings the track up to the top deck. Note that this is actually one helix stacked on top of another. The lower helix is now effectively redundant although the track remains in place. Entering the top deck, there is a small yard. The left hand track comes from the helix. The right hand one runs around to the other side of the garage. Trains have to run around here to take that route. This is the end of the line. Originally the track off to the right crossed the swing gate into Belhaven yard. I stripped all the track out of the original Belhaven yard and it has now been replaced with a much simplified arrangement. This has three industries. The aggregate plant The fertiliser plant The feedmill and end of line

I realised recently that I have become stalled with this project. Adding more track wasn't the answer. After some thought I have stripped a lot of track out. I have also removed the 3 deck swing gate. I have put in some new track in a simplified arrangement and wired it in but not fixed it down this time. I plan a period of operation before things get firmed up. I'll post some pics later. This is a very rough outline of the current track plan. The terminal on the middle deck is operating as a staging yard at present. I'm also working on a small EM gauge project so may set up another page for that.

It's all coming together now. Painting the fascia is very effective.

Exceptional modelling! The figures are great too. Where are they from? Modelu??

Great photo's thanks for sharing. This was my first DEMU showcase. I thoroughly enjoyed it and joined on the spot. Now started building a small British layout after years modelling in HO.

Are you able to post some recent shots of the layout? Most of your earlier ones don't seem accessible anymore. I have some photo's I took at a show back in 2017 but would love to see how it is now. I really like your weathered wagons too!

I'm currently adding some additional spurs into my Belhaven terminal as this will improve operations. The rear spur will feed a large warehouse which will be a building flat with multiple spots. The spur near the fascia edge will be for temporary storage to support switching. Shelf is 30cm wide at this point.

Hi, yes there was an East Carolina Railway back in the day. Mine has no real relationship with it. My version is essentially the Carolina Coastal operating all their routes which are themselves mainly the original Norfolk Southern Railway that was purchased by Southern in 1974. For the helix, I hope the pic below shows what I meant. The lower level comes into the helix at the bottom where the wiring is. Behind the helix is a run through track that will allow continuous running on the lower deck. The helix comes up 3 turns or so and then exits to the middle level towards the right of the pic. The track then runs around tghe garage and comes back into the start a new helix over the top of the first one. You can see this in the pic where there appears to be a notch in the plywood. It then goes up the helix and exits top right and again runs around the garage to the terminal at Belhaven. This is where the freight cars are. The box cars sit on another run-around that allows continuous running on the top deck but will be used as two terminating spurs. Hope that makes sense :-)

I have been building a triple deck HO shelf layout around my converted garage since May 2021. I thought it was about time I started uploading some of the progress so far. The layout is 18 x 8 ft. I am modelling a proto-freelance version of the former original Norfolk Southern Railway branch from Chocowinnity to Belhaven in North Carolina. There has been an evolution of thinking over the past two years and I can't guarantee that things won't change further! I am currently planning to operate two periods. First 1974 to 1980 which covers the period of the Southern Railway takeover of the Norfolk Southern. I am also modelling a proto-freelance railway called the East Carolina Railway which is essentially based on the Current real railroad - Carolina Coastal (reporting marks CLNA). The lowest deck currently has no track but will feature a junction and yard based on Chocowinnity (and maybe Star) in North Carolina. This will be served by staging yard on the other side of the garage and provides a full circuit roundy roundy layout. The junction for the branch to Belhaven leads into a helix upto the middle level running around the garage into a further helix stacked over the first leading to the top deck which again runs around the garage terminating at Belhaven. Some pictures of progress so far. First picture shows the partially completed decks with the upper deck in progress (now completed). Apologies for the mess 🙂 Second picture shows what will be the trestle and swing bridge across the Pamlico River, Washington North Carolina. This is all temporary at present but will feature a 9ft crossing. Third picture shows a local freight returning from Belhaven. This is shown entering Wilkinson Station with the Perdue grain facility at Bishop's Cross through the trees in the background. If there is any interest, I'll posy some of the construction pictures etc.

Excellent show! Really glad I made the trip down from Teesside.