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The Milan and Cairo Railroad


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Hi all

 

After years of admiring everyone else's handiwork, I thought it was time to get off my backside and post a few pics of my own modest shelf layout. The Milan and Cairo is a shortline set somewhere in the north-east and sometime between WW2 and the early 1980s. Here are a few snaps to get things moving.

 

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Above, a Boston and Maine 44 tonner sits at the depot in Milan.

 

Below, Milan and Cairo 45 tonner no. 49 at the end of the line in Milan.

 

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Finally, an overhead view showing the factory on the left which produces unspecified foodstuffs (probably!) and the team track on the right. The three freight cars are all Ertl.

 

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More to follow.

 

Max Legroom

 

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I like the use of major 'Foreign' City names, for very small American towns - very prototypical..!! :yes:

I'd be tempted to narrow down your timescale just a touch; the 1970s was a time when the Railroads went through a major "visual" change that affects us as modellers & how our layouts look; generally speaking, in the early '70s roofwalks on boxcars were made illegal & phased out, & shorter 40ft cars were replaced with longer types.

Eras of "1950s-70s" & "1980s-onwards" are more in keeping with prototype practise, with maybe now a third:- "2000-onwards" where freight stock is all now plastered in graffiti... :O :(

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Ooooh, colour me impressed!

 

Very nice, I'm eagerly awaiting more photos and would second the request for a track plan!

 

On a side note, it's getting increasingly apparent that I need a 44 tonner for my own switching layout.  :locomotive:  :locomotive:

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I like the use of major 'Foreign' City names, for very small American towns - very prototypical..!! :yes:

I'd be tempted to narrow down your timescale just a touch; the 1970s was a time when the Railroads went through a major "visual" change that affects us as modellers & how our layouts look; generally speaking, in the early '70s roofwalks on boxcars were made illegal & phased out, & shorter 40ft cars were replaced with longer types.

Eras of "1950s-70s" & "1980s-onwards" are more in keeping with prototype practise, with maybe now a third:- "2000-onwards" where freight stock is all now plastered in graffiti... :O :(

I tend to switch between eras by changing the stock and road vehicles when I feel like a change. I've deliberately kept the location vague so I can run almost anything from the north-east (though SD45s might be pushing things!) and sometimes I run the layout as a branchline of one of the big railroads. 

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Thank you for your kind comments. I'll draw up a trackplan but things are very simple. The layout started when I challenged myself to build a layout in a month using stuff I already had and began life as two four foot long by six inch wide plywood boxes. One end had a loop and the other three short sidings. It has now expanded to a 6'6'' x 6'6'' L shape, with a corner board where the line up to Cairo splits from the main, and the original boards have expanded in width. I'll take some more pics soon but in the meantime here is a Walthers Brown Hoist crane in the yard at the Milan Junction end of the line.

 

post-14541-0-30235000-1467908785.jpg 

 

 

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Hi folks

 

Here are a few more photos of the Milan end of the line. A police cruiser is parked outside Pizzaland (a lovely Blairline kit) while the officers have their evening meal inside.

 

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Meanwhile, across the road nos. 41 and 49 slumber at the depot. The buildings on the backscene represent the rear of main street. No fancy street running for the M&C which sneaks into town via a trestle over a small creek.

 

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Next up is an overhead shot showing most of the track in Milan. The depot is an Atlas Maywood station salvaged from an earlier layout. Plenty of grime has been added and a few windows broken. I think a truck must've reversed into the crossbuck! (Actually it was the cat!) The owner of Pizzaland has a nice VW Beetle. That ACY 40' boxcar really should've lost its roofwalk by now!

 

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Last up is a shot of the factory with an Athearn shorty tank car. These are perfect for a small layout and often appear, together with some older Roundhouse versions, when I run in 1970s mode. 

 

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Cheers for now

Max Legroom

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I like the second photo in particular, of the stabled locos. Quite a spacious look in a small area.

 

What he said!! ;)

I'm quite pleased with the way this layout has turned out though it is tempting to overload it with stock. Five freight cars is probably about right. 

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Max,

 

This is a really nice looking layout.  I'd love some more pictures including some overall shots so we can get a feel for the entire layout and of course, a track plan if you have a chance.  Again, great looking layout.  Ground cover, ballast, and everything in general really looks 'right'.

 

 

Jason C

Indiana

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Max,

 

This is a really nice looking layout.  I'd love some more pictures including some overall shots so we can get a feel for the entire layout and of course, a track plan if you have a chance.  Again, great looking layout.  Ground cover, ballast, and everything in general really looks 'right'.

 

 

Jason C

Indiana

Hi Jason

 

Thanks for your comments. I will draw up a track plan but, in the meantime, here are a few photos following a typical train from Milan to Milan Junction.

 

No. 45 hauls an SP gondola loaded with scrap at the team track, a tank car and the caboose out of Milan.

 

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That gondola is a long way from home! Another shot of the train passing the warehouse and a MNJ boxcar full of beer.

 

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No. 45 crosses the trestle over Cruiser's Creek.

 

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The train takes the line to Milan Junction with the route to Cairo heading off to the right.

 

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Finally, an overhead shot of the junction. I really need to add some road markings to the highway.

 

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More to follow.

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Here is another shot of the junction.

 

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The train is now passing behind Max's diner. In the background is a shot spur that originally made up the third side of the junction. Now it is a useful place to store old stock like the bobber caboose.

 

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Next we are crossing the road and arriving at Milan Junction. The layout is conventional DC but I have wired in a MDC sound box with a speaker under the layout so there are plenty of opportunities to blast the horn.

 

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East River Auto Repairs is in the foreground in the next shot. 

 

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The points are switched by Caboose Industries throws which are a bit over scale but give a nice prototypical feel to operations.

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Now the 45 tonner is running round the train. The loop here is very short with two 50' cars being the maximum it can hold.

 

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The next view shows the cars being pushed forward to the end of the line. In my imagination the line swings round to the right to join a bigger railroad. The depot is a shortened Atlas model with a corrugated iron roof.

 

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A glimpse between the auto repair shop and the freight shed as a CP boxcar is picked up and then added to the cars to be exchanged.

 

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The job is done and 49 can amble back to Milan with the caboose. The driver of that Mustang will just have to wait!

 

post-14541-0-42466300-1468565426.jpg

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Run your MRC Soundbox through a set of amplified computer speakers with a sub-woofer - just don't turn it up or your ears will bleed. It works very well as an instant cure at a show where someone, on a stand nearby is selling videos, with the sound turned up!  :devil:  :devil:  :devil:

Edited by shortliner
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Superpower on the M&C! A pair of GE 70 tonners arriving at Milan with a train of hoppers from the mill at Cairo. Both are Bachmann but no. 43 is unmotored and has a cut-down cab.

 

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At the other end of the scale, here is a beat-up little GE 25 tonner that normally works the mill at Cairo (off scene). This is a Grandt Line kit that can just about haul a couple of cars. It does have a really nice cab interior and I need to add a bit of extra weight under the cab roof and a driver at some point.

 

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In my opinion you just can't have enough critters so here is my latest acquisition, a BLI Plymouth.

 

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I need to get to work weathering this little fellow. I'm tempted to add a full length rock-protection roof in the style of some critters that worked in stone quarries. The Morning Sun 'Critters in Color' books have few examples.

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Hi all

 

Here is the trackplan at last. Overall size is 6'6'' x 6'6'' and I've indicated the off-scene trackage to give some context. In reality the track ends at the edge of the baseboard and that is where stock starts and ends during a typical operating session.

 

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If I was starting again I would make those angular baseboard edges into flowing curves and the backscene higher.

 

All the best

 

Max Legroom

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The trackplan, the modelling, and the scenics are spot on - as a fan of small layouts that one really uses some very good ideas. I know you originally said that the boards were 48" boxes,x 6" wide and had been widened - what is the new width please? and presumably the side of the triangular board are 30"?  It bhas me thinking about a sho0rtline in Florida!

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I like the use of major 'Foreign' City names, for very small American towns - very prototypical..!! :yes:

 

Mind you, if the one in Michigan is anything to go by, it would be pronounced "My-lan". As for Cairo, I can't comment...

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I like the way you've got two proper destinations in such a relatively compact area; not often done these days - usual thinking/practice would be Terminus to Fiddleyard.

Originally, the corner board contained a depot and freight house but it didn't quite work for me. Then I realized it was because there was no real distinction between the two ends of the layout so I increased the width of the end boards and added depots to each end, turned the freight siding into the line to Cairo, and added a lot of trees to the corner board to emphasize the country between Milan Junction and Milan. I'm really happy with the way it has turned out.

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