A New England shortline in O Scale

[Dava]

This thread has taken about three years to get started. In Autumn 2020 we were 'locked in' and I started to get interested in North American shortline railroads. North American, not just USA, because I had first-hand experience of one in Canada. I'd been modelling British light railways in 7mm scale for over 10 years, and read 'Classic Trains' magazine (Kalmbach) most quarters. But US railroads have massive locos, mile-long trains, and there's nothing you can buy, right?

 

Well, no. Let's see the photo below, from one of the many shortline groups on FaceBook. Its a red GE 44-tonner with a single flatcar on the Pinsly-owned Claremont & Concord Railroad outside an engineering foundry on a former electric trolley line in downtown Claremont. Pinsly saw that the Class 1 railroads like the Boston & Maine were closing loss-making country lines which no longer served industrial companies such as papermills, engineering and other companies that needed rail connections. Rather like a Massachusetts version of Colonel Stephens,  Pinsly built up a shortline empire of 16 railroads between 1938 and 2020, when the Pinsly RR sold off its final line.  He replaced steam with red GE 44 and 70 tonner diesels, cut costs, serviced clients and created a unique operating model and visual image for his shortlines. 

 

 

So in the past 3 years I've been acquiring a few (too many?) US 2-rail finescale locos suitable for a shortline, in the UK, or imported from US, and even Switzerland, mainly brass. All have cost less than a new Heljan class 25 or similar, import costs included. Also a small fleet of shorter boxcars, gondolas and flats, sets of turnout parts and rail. I have a design for the layout, and a name. Now I'm ready to go. More next time. 

 

Dava

 

The story of my involvement with the CB&NSCR in Nova Scotia is told here, sadly the illustrations were lost in the great RmWeb meltdown a few years ago. 

 

[F-UnitMad]

1 hour ago, Dava said:

But US railroads have massive locos, mile-long trains, and there's nothing you can buy, right?

I think Short Lines are a great American Railroad Secret, and the key to modelling realistic American trains in British sized houses. 😉😁

Will be watching with interest. 👍

[298]

I follow a C&C Facebook group as it is somewhere in my top 10 of lines I'd like to model one day. So it be interesting to see what you do with the classic views of street running from around Claremont.

[JAMO]

O scale is the best for small trains. 

I agree with you. Not always 1 mile long train with 4 locomotives.

Each scale has its advantages.

 

Shortlines are the best for this nice scale.

 

I follow your progress

[Dava]

This thread will have occasional diversions, one took place yesterday when I had a long trip to Winchester to visit the O Scale US & Continental show, fortunately the weather and road conditions had improved to make this possible. It was good to meet, talk and trade with other modellers.  I had arranged to collect some items from a modeller selling his collection, these included a few short wooden-framed cars for internal works use on the shortline, and also the rescue of a well-used KTM B&O C16a dockside shunter, pictured. I will admit to already having an unpainted brass version, which will stay that way for the near future, and this one will beremotored and converted to DCC as the working loco. The story is that when B&O dieselised its dockside workings in the 1940’s, a C16 saddle tank and 16a tender switcher were sold for shortline use They weren’t, but could have been.

 

My shortline is set in the late 1950s era when early GE diesel locos such as 25, 44, 45 and 70 tonners would be found, taking over from residual steam operations. It will be located, in imagination in the New Hampshire/Vermont region and practically in the 3000 x 600 mm [10x2 feet] space here, in my workshop.

 

[F-UnitMad]

Very nice! I like the Bobber behind it too - a brass model? Or maybe a superdetailed old Atlas/Roco one?

Many years ago (about 30 or more thinking about it!! 😳🤦‍♂️) I had an Atlas N scale C16a, it ran superbly & was a second hand bargain - for £15 it would've been rude to leave it!!

Edited October 22, 2023 by F-UnitMad
Photo added

[Dava]

Yes the bobber caboose is a Roco one the seller had added wire handrails & scale ladders to, I already had one but this will get the line’s roadname in due course. Both came at modest cost. The line is inspired by the Pinsly and other New England shortlines but it’s not a model of any specific one. More details in future posts.

[Dava]

Before posting more on the shortline project [i’m building turnouts] a note about rolling stock. US railcars are usually long, 40 foot is the max for me. But the compact 70 ton ore car is stocky and short. I have acquired two Atlas/Roco cars in the UK and finescaling these with scale wheels and Kadees. Also a pack of 4 K-Line coarse scale as a US import via EBay. These use exactly the same  Roco body/frame moulding with grotesque cast 3-rail trucks. these are easily removed and replaced with Atlas trucks and Intermountain wheels. These will provide through traffic from what is likely to be a copper mine [they existed in New Hampshire].

 

 

 

Conveniently there is a scaled matching Plymouth switcher from K-Line,

 

 

[Night Train]

Great to see this topic finally appear. It seems much USA O gauge is either 3 rail, or heavily aimed at the toy market. What USA manufacturers offer fine scale products?

[F-UnitMad]

3 hours ago, Night Train said:

Great to see this topic finally appear. It seems much USA O gauge is either 3 rail, or heavily aimed at the toy market. What USA manufacturers offer fine scale products?

In American terms "O Gauge" is generally 'shorthand' for 3-rail; "O Scale" describes 2-rail. Some 3-rail rolling stock is good enough to convert to 2-rail, often as simple as swapping trucks, wheels & couplers. Locos can be converted, but it's often a big faff & not often done even in the USA. Best to just look for 2-rail locos to start with.

Current makers are Lionel (almost exclusively 3-rail) & Atlas (both types). Others who have closed down are MTH & Weaver, although some of their ranges have been bought up by Lionel & Atlas.

Stateside there are a lot of smaller suppliers too, bits'n'pieces up to high-end brass, but getting stuff across The Puddle can be costly.

[Dava]

GRAND LAKE RAILROAD

 

Now for the name and back-story of my shortline project. The US shortline sector changes constantly as lines close, merge, change ownership, or as Class 1 road sections close and sections reopen as shortlines. Last week I bought the 3rd edition ‘American Shortline Railway Guide’ (1986) which included 400 lines, many I’d never heard of and quite a number now closed. Yet there are now over 600 class 2 and 3 railroads in the US with a few more in Canada, so there is a huge variety to choose ideas from.  

This is the background to my O scale US shortline, based loosely on the Pinsly Railroad lines in New England.

I have 3 metres x 60 cm available in my workshop, with no room for a continuous run. The layout needs to be portable in sections by one person (myself). One of the problems with US O scale is the length of items, with a 40' boxcar or SW1200 scaling at 10", so a two or three car train is the limit. As Pinsly lines often operated single boxcars with a GE 44-tonner, that is acceptable.

 

The name of the line is Grand Lake Railroad. There are many lakes in New England and a number had a railroad running to or past them. The name Grand Lake is not uncommon, especially in onetime Francophone (Acadienne) territory, as ‘Grand lac’ just means a big lake. But I’ve not traced a Grand Lake Railroad. However when I worked in the former industrial district of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the area had multiple former industrial and shortlines. There was a former electric trolley line across the site of the University where I worked, which was on Grand Lake Road. The actual Grand Lake nearby is nothing special, but the Sydney Coal Railway runs across part of it on a trestle bridge, coal now being imported and run by train to the power station, rather than exported from the many former coal mines.You can locate it on Google maps.  Close by is Victoria Junction, where the Coal Railway workshops and stock sidings are. I often heard the train sirens from the University. So the name has some personal resonance. 

 

I imported turnout rail parts via a seller on OScaleYardsale, for 7 #4 turnouts on code 125 flatbottom rail, 5 had been used and 2 were unused with tinplate spacers. I prepared a track plan with the idea that the line crossed a river draining into the lake via a New England covered wooden bridge into the rail yard. The yard makes use of four #4 turnouts, allowing shunting moves between four sidings. There is a central running line which runs into two sidings with a concealed traverser behind the freight house (long enough for a SW1200 loco) providing a run-round facility and also serving a loco storage siding. There are also two kickback sidings, one serving warehouses and the other a team track loading area. The layout front could be a wharf with the lake being the viewing area. 

The working plan is a sketch. I am not using any digital CAD or track planning applications as I struggle with these. Modelling is therapeutic and is done mainly by drawing and making things by hand, not computer. I can mock up track layouts full-size using Setrack points on the table to test operations or with full-size turnout plans, as shown. The turnouts will be covered briefly soon, with 3 of the 4 now built.

I was going to build the baseboards, but this actually stalled the project as plywood process shot up after Covid and I was very busy. This summer I came across a Grange & Hodder 1200x600mm baseboard kit at a 009 Society event for a discount, so I bought that and added another the same size to provide 2.4 metres. The river and bridge section will be on a shorter board of 600mm square, handbuilt from ply with the river level on the base. I’m actually building the baseboards at the moment.

Finally, here is a wintry scene showing a short covered rail bridge on a shortline. The bridges were sheathed to protect the wooden latticed frames from the extreme weather conditions. Wooden road bridges carry the warning ‘Bridges freeze before the road’ because the rivers freeze and the bridges ice up, but covering mitigates this.

More next time.

[Dava]

O Scale Resource latest issue.

 

https://oscaleresource.com/WP/

 

A 9 page article by Brian Scace on building an 8 x 1.8 foot portable O scale layout. A good reason to read it! 
Meanwhile, here are some GE 44 tonners on shortlines to admire! See if you can tell which shortlines they are on. The first is easy. One of them is mine, I’m sure you can spot it. 


 

[Night Train]

I do hope your layout features a degree of street running and heavily overgrown track.

[Dava]

I do have a book on that…..

 

[Dava]

Last Sunday I assembled the first Grainge & Hodder baseboard, it’s not complete as this one will have a loco traverser fitted and also the point controls have to be fitted before the cross bracing. But it’s ready enough for loco testing. Here the two B&O switchers, coincidentally nos 96 & 97, meet for the first time. Originally, the C16A tender locos were saddle tankers of the same type. 

[stivesnick]

Hi 

 

The Club sales stand at the Nottingham Model Railway Society's show this weekend had a number of 40 foot box cars with roof walks for sale at £20 each if anyone is interested.

 

https://www.nottingham-modelrailway.org.uk/?page_id=491

 

Regards 

 

Nick 

[jasond]

Hope you are having a great show Nick, my local club in Trowbridge, Wilts had a one-day show yesterday here in Westbury with many modelling interests including O-scale.  One of the traders had a handful of Weaver freight cars for sale.  Have Anoraks Anonymous got some O-scale on display as well?

ATB

Jason

[stivesnick]

4 hours ago, jasond said:

Hope you are having a great show Nick, my local club in Trowbridge, Wilts had a one-day show yesterday here in Westbury with many modelling interests including O-scale.  One of the traders had a handful of Weaver freight cars for sale.  Have Anoraks Anonymous got some O-scale on display as well?

ATB

Jason

Hi Jason 

 

I was at the Nottingham show yesterday as a visitor.  Anoraks Anonymous only had a little American stuff on their stall, the full stall will be at Warley.

 

Nick 

[298]

On 05/11/2023 at 15:34, stivesnick said:

Hi Jason 

 

I was at the Nottingham show yesterday as a visitor.  Anoraks Anonymous only had a little American stuff on their stall, the full stall will be at Warley.

 

Nick 

 

The US Boxcars were on the Nottingham club's sales stand, I believe @davep101 was the seller but not sure if he is still active on here or how many sold. They looked to be a mix of Intermountain and earlier wood kits, and mostly North western roads (NP, SP&S). 

[Dava]

Our  shortline now has its road logo. It should have a black border which will be restored.

 

It may also have a black background when used on black locos etc. No expense has been spared on corporate identity designers, etc.

 

 

[Dava]

I’ve been away during last week and whilst it might appear the layout hasn’t progressed, most of the work has been on the bench, not the board.  The first Grainge & Hodder board was mainly built a couple of weekends ago and I need to decide on the fixings and the traverser design before building the second one.

 

 

Reverting to the layout plan, there is a road accessed just from the traverser for loco storage. But in looking at shunting moves, it will aid operations for this to be accessed by a new turnout from the siding serving warehouses, so I’ve added that to the plan.

 

The turnouts are sets of number 4 pre-cut code 124 rail which I bought and imported from a private seller in the US. There are seven, two unused ones were pre-assembled with tinplate stretchers, these were assembled first onto Paxolin sleepers at critical points for gauging, they will have the remaining timbers added when on the track bed. The other five had previously been used and lifted, so I’m using the best of these, 4 right and 1 left handed. I have just two to assemble. The plain rail is FB from Marcway and will be laid on mixed Paxolin for gauge with infill timbers. Just some flexitrack in concealed areas and code 100 in old sidings.  

 

The photos show the revised trackplan, the turnouts set out from above [paper plans for those not built yet] and a photo of the GE 45 tonner beside a depot building, not the final structure.

 

 

More next time.

[Andrew Young]

Very nice David, you’ve chosen the name

just in time for me to include it in the next Narrow News with the Mickleover line up. 
 

Regarding traversers, as you’re using G&H boards, I’ve got one of their traversers which is very good. 
 

Andrew

[Dava]

Thanks Andrew,

 

the traverser will just be for up to the longest loco (300mm) to traverse 3 roads (up to 300mm) so smaller than the G&H ones. Probably using small drawer runners.

 

I don’t know how much of the layout will be ready for Mickleover, as it depends on time & progress. I’d aim for running on two boards, without scenics other than token buildings. So it might be a bit plain.

[Dava]

I’ve not had much time for modelling in recent weeks. This weekend I mocked up the track layout for the shortline using actual turnouts, plans and flexitrack. It’s always different full-size from how you plan it. The nearer board just uses the top, so after this everything was cleared off so that I could assemble the frame for this board and work on the board fixings. 

These two boards are 2400 x 600 in total, there will be a 600mm square board with the river and covered bridge later. Meanwhile the aim is to have a basic running line in operation for the Trent Valley open day event on 27 Jan, details linked below.

 

https://ngtrains.com/shop/exhibition/7mm-nga-trent-valley-group-open-day/?utm_source=EDM+Models+Newsletter&utm_campaign=042e7df266-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_19_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4f63dec2fc-042e7df266-111798085&mc_cid=042e7df266&mc_eid=6a1e1cd83d

 

Dava

[Dava]

Christmas greetings from Grand Lake Railroad, after an afternoon’s track laying, Santa’s train pulls in!