Friday, December 24, 2010

Construction Update

Progress has been slow for the past few weeks, for several reasons, including Christmas stuff, laziness, visitors, laziness, CR&E session (an excellent time, thanx Marcus!) & laziness.  But, today I was able to achieve a milestone:  installation of the first subroadbed.  I decided to start at the west end of Maybrook & work west.  I didn't get too far, but it's a start.  I got the west yard lead in, the NH west to the L&HR junction & a foot or so past the junction both for the NH to Campbell Hall (which will be EL staging) and the L&HR mainline.  I decided to put the junction a few feet out from Maybrook since accommodating the curve around the corner allowing clearance for the attic smurf door to open seemed to dictate putting the junction switch on the diagonal transition from one wall to the other.  I decided to have the L&HR ascend on a 1% grade beginning just past the junction & the NH to descend on a 1% grade beginning just past the junction. 

Here's some pix of today's progress:
 West Maybrook yard throat temporarily in position.

 Maybrook west yard lead.

 Approx position of NH-L&HR junction switch just west of Maybrook.

 Immediately west of Maybrook.  Yard lead continues straight, NH mainline curves to right.  L&HR junction switch just visible in front of attic smurf door.

Looking east toward Maybrook.  L&HR to left, NH to right.  L&HR beginning 1% upgrade, NH beginning 1% downgrade.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Benchwork Nearly Complete!

 Between yesterday and today I managed to get virtually all the benchwork for the mainline completed.  There are a few odds & ends left to do, primarily single support pieces.  I also have to build the benchwork for the Ogdensburg branch, but I've got to think about it a little more.

here are some pix of this weekend's progress:

 Upper level between Franklin and DeKays

 Upper level east of Franklin.  Warwick below.

 Upper level further east of Franklin.  Lower level west of Warwick
 Upper level east end of Franklin.  East end of Franklin passing siding will probably begin about where the  step down between the benchwork pieces is.  Warwick below.

 DeKays in foreground.  Vertical supports for Dispatcher's office.  The Dispatcher's Office will be located inside the peninsula.  They're straighter than they look & in any event once the backdrop is in place only the Dispatcher will be able to see if the supports are crooked.

 Looking into the Dispatcher's Office.  Dispatcher's board will be placed along the right wall & he'll be facing right.

 Upper level west end of RR.  Andover to aisle, west staging to wall. Maybrook below.

 Upper level looking west, between DeKays and Franklin.

 Upper level looking west.  Andover to aisle, staging to wall.  Maybrook below.  The support is only temporary.
Upper level turnback blob from Andover into staging.  The supports are temporary, but may become permanant because some kind of support will be required.  The lower level is the turnback blob from Maybrook into staging.

I think next on the agenda will be some backdrops, which will also serve to close in the Dispatcher's office, and then start thinking about subroadbed.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The L&NE: A Case of Modeler's License

Although in the real world the L&NE shut down in 1961, I've decided to take some modeler's license since I've always liked the L&NE. As mentioned in previous posts, on my N scale L&HR the 1950s proposed merger of the L&NE and the L&HR actually occurred, and the L&NE did not shut down.  Instead, following the merger it retained its corporate identity, but abandoned its route across northwestern NJ to Maybrook in favor of the L&HR route.  In my world, the L&NE reaches the L&HR by staying on home rails to Martins Creek PA, crossing the Delaware River there to intersect the PRR BelDel, running south on the BelDel to G Tower north of Phillipsburg, and then on to L&HR rails for the trip to Maybrook. 

As a historical footnote, if the 1950s merger had actually occurred, the L&NE would have absorbed the L&HR, rather than the other way around as it is in my world.  Apparently, at the time the L&HR was not doing as well financially as the L&NE & the L&NE was perceived as the stronger railroad, at least by the interests pushing for the merger.  However, apparently L&HR management realized that their reduced financial position was only temporary & chose not to give up their independence.  It looks like they made the right choice since the L&NE shut down in 1961 & the L&HR was financially sound until the PC bankruptcy, and even after that it survived long enough to be incorporated into ConRail.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Construction pix







 I'm a crappy photographer with a pretty crappy camera (actually, it's not bad, it's just a few years old), so I apologize for the quality of these shots.  They show the current state of construction.


Maybrook looking west.  NH staging will be to the left along the wall, Maybrook to the  right along the aisle with about a 6 inch high view block seperating staging from Maybrook.


Heading west out of Maybrook.  Mainline between Sparta Jct and Andover above.


West out of Maybrook.  Sparta Jct on the upper level to the  left.



Greycourt NY on the lower level to the right.  The upper level shows the turnback between Franklin and Sparta Jct.


lower level looking west toward Warwick.  Upper level Franklin in the distance.


East end of Warwick.  upper level not built yet in this area.  Franklin visible on upper level at left of pic.



West end of Warwick.



West of Warwick.  East end of DeKays siding will begin at right of pic.




West of DeKays.  Dispatcher space will be in between the peninsulas.  Upper level yet to be built in this area.

L&HR Operations, part two, Through Freights

On the L&HR mainline, my plan is to have 3 to 4 L&HR freights in each direction, 2 L&NE freights in each direction, 1 PRR freight in each direction, the Reading unit coal train, and 2 to 3 L&HR locals.  The EL is a special case since its freights didn't run out of Maybrook on the L&HR mainline.  Rather, they ran over the New Haven to Campbell Hall NY, and then onto their own track.  I will represent the EL presence in Maybrook with a short stretch of the New Haven line to Campbell Hall that then disappears into staging, with the EL coming in & going out of Maybrook on that line.  I think the EL job will be short enough that the east Maybrook job will run it, but we'll see.  I think I may also take some modeler's license and have a few New Haven local customers on that line, requiring a short New Haven local freight; maybe 4 to 6 cars.  We'll see about that, too.  In reality, the New Haven had no local traffic on the short stretch of track from Maybrook to Campbell Hall & hardly ever ran to Campbell Hall, even though that stretch of their track got a lot of use by foreign roads. 

Going back to the L&HR mainline, the L&NE and PRR will be strictly overhead traffic running from west staging to Maybrook & return, although I am contemplating having one of the L&NE freights set off and pick up zinc cars at Franklin.  Not switching the mine, just setting off & picking up from a storage track. I've got to contemplate that some more. 

Along the mainline from east to west there will be full length passing sidings at Greycourt NY, Warwick NY, DeKays NJ, Franklin NJ, Sparta Jct NJ and Andover NJ.

Westbound L&HR freights will depart Maybrook unblocked, as it was in reality after the mid 1950s.  At Warwick, they will be classified and blocked.  Local delivery cars will be set off at Warwick, as will cars for the zinc mines at Franklin and Ogdensburg, and cars for interchange with the EL at Greycourt NY, the Susquehanna at Sparta Jct NJ and the EL at Andover NJ.  Westbound through cars that have accumulated at Warwick from locals, zinc mine locals and road locals will be picked up at Warwick.  At least initally all westbound cars will be waybilled for delivery to either the PRR at Phillipsburg or the CNJ at Allentown, and blocked accordingly.   Later, if more complexity is desirable, the  blocking can get more involved, with cars designated for interchange with the EL at Phillipsburg, as well as the LV at Easton and the RDG via the CNJ at Allentown. 

Eastbound freights departing from Allentown or Phillipsburg enter the railroad from staging just west of Andover NJ.  They will be blocked with setoffs for Warwick, to include local delivery cars, zinc mine cars, and cars for interchange at Greycourt, Sparta Jct and Andover, and through cars for Maybrook.  At Warwick through freights will pick up cars destined for Maybrook.  I'm thinking one of the L&HR through freights will consist of "hot" cars, mostly TOFC.

Well, these are my thoughts for through freight operations on the L&HR.  This is all a work in progress, as we all know all model railroads are, & when operations actually start, everything is subject to change based on actual operational experience.

I'll write another post later about my plans for local operations on the L&HR in N scale.

L&HR Operations, part one, Overview and Maybrook Yard

The Lehigh & Hudson River was primarily a bridge line providing a link to New England via the New Haven's Hudson River bridge at Poughkeepsie, although there was also a fair amount of local traffic serving online limestone facilities, zinc mines at Franklin & Ogdensburg NJ, and some local customers.  L&HR track ran from the New Haven's Maybrook yard in the east to G Tower on the PRR BelDel north of Phillipsburg NJ in the west, with trackage rights on the PRR BelDel to Phillipsburg NJ then over the SE&P bridge to Easton PA with trackage rights from Easton to Allentown PA on the CNJ.  In a mileage balancing arrangement, CNJ power operated over the L&HR to Maybrook, compensating  for L&HR power operating to Allentown.  In the mid to late 1960s the PRR also ran a through freight from Wilmington DE over the BelDel to G Tower & then on to Maybrook over the L&HR.  The Reading also ran a unit coal train to United Illuminating in Bridgeport CT over the L&HR.

On my representation of the L&HR the New Haven is represented by staging east of Maybrook, with their Maybrook Yard as the first modeled location.  Maybrook will have 12 tracks in total and will be big enough, I think, to require two yard workers: an east yard job to handle New Haven traffic in and out of Maybrook, and a west yard job to handle L&HR and other traffic in and out of Maybrook.  Other traffic in and out of Maybrook will include two L&NE through freights in each direction, a PRR through freight in each direction, an Erie through freight in each direction and the unit Reading coal train to and from United Illuminating in Bridgeport CT. 

The west Maybrook job will bring staged New Haven trains into Maybrook and will classify the cars by railroad, i.e. L&HR, L&NE, PRR and Erie.  The job will not classify cars beyond sorting by railroad.  After the mid 1950s, the New Haven no longer classified L&HR cars, but rather simply delivered them to the L&HR, which then took them on to Warwick, the major online L&HR yard, where the L&HR classified them.  I plan to follow this scenario, but I'm getting a little ahead in my overview.  In terms of the other railroads, since for my purposes their traffic is strictly overhead, there is no need for classification beyond a sort by railroad.  The west Maybrook job will also run New Haven trains classified by the east job into staging.

The east Maybrook job will classify trains brought to Maybrook by the L&HR, L&NE, PRR and Erie.  The Reading unit coal train is a run through, so won't need classification.  At least at the start of operations, I plan to keep the classification simple:  all cars are interchanged to the New Haven and destined for their Cedar Hill yard in New Haven CT.  Eventually, I might have the east job block cars by destination, such as shorts for Danbury CT, then New Haven cars, then Worcester cars, then Providence cars, then Boston cars.  We'll see if that element of complexity needs to be introduced.  The east job will consolidate arriving cars into 30 car maximum trains for the New Haven to take east.   I envision the various New Haven freights to have specified departure times with specified closing times about an hour before scheduled departure.  No last minute shuffling of cars onto a train!  Once the closing time passes, that freight is closed & no cars will be added.  Gotta give time for the car inspectors to work before the scheduled departure time!

The Maybrook jobs will also be responsible for hostling power & shuffling cabooses.  I think they will be pretty busy, but I plan to have enough time between arrivals and departures so that they are not overwhelmed.  After all, the goal is to have fun, not work people to death.  And, if it turns out that a third person is needed for power hostling and caboose shuffling, I'll add a third person to Maybrook, probably me unless someone else wants the job.

Well, this is getting to be a long post, so I'll end it.  The next post will continue the operations discussion west of Maybrook.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Construction Begins!

In May of this year my wife and I decided to move from our prior home, where we had lived for 22 years.  This meant that my freelanced N scale railroad, the Peconic, which occupied a 10x10 bedroom, would have to be dismantled.  After a false start or two, we decided to have a house built in Indian Land SC, about 8 miles or so from our prior home.  Although I regretted dismantling the Peconic, the space allocated for a model railroad in the new home was bigger.  A lot bigger.  Basically, one room 22x14 feet with a wide opening to another room 12x17.  That was big enough for me to contemplate my dream of building a representation of the Lehigh & Hudson River, and big enough to ease the pain of dismantling the Peconic. 

After consultation with friends & a fair amount of paper and pencil sketching, I decided that I could, and would, build a double deck representation of the L&HR circa 1966-1968 with the New Haven Maybrook Yard as the eastern modeled end and Andover NJ as the western modeled end, with staging at both ends.  Going west from Maybrook I decided that I would include the EL ex Erie interchange at Greycourt NY, the L&HR yard at Warwick NY, the passing siding at DeKays NJ, Franklin NJ, the branch to Ogdensburg NJ, the Susquehanna interchange at Sparta Jct NJ, and the EL ex Lackawanna interchange at Andover NJ.

I also decided to take some modeler's license, and assumed that the zinc mine in Franklin remained open into the 1960s, as did some of the limestone quarries along the L&HR.  I also assumed that the merger with the L&NE, which was proposed in the 1950s, actually occurred, and that the L&NE abandoned their line to Maybrook in favor of the L&HR route.
   
On October 30 my wife and I moved to our new home, and on November 25, Thanksgiving morning, I began construction of the Lehigh & Hudson River in N scale.  I'm happy to report that as of yesterday, December 5, with the help of good friends Steven "AT" Johnson, Jeff Lindstrom, and Marcus Neubacher, all the lower level benchwork and about two thirds or more of the upper level benchwork has been completed.  Also, the transition to the upper level has been brainstormed to the point where I can make it happen without a helix and without having the mainline pass through the same scene twice. 

I'm very excited to see my representation of the L&HR start to come to life, and I'll add some posts later about proposed operations, as well as some pictures of the construction progress to date.