It was interesting to be able to visit two model railroads in one
afternoon, especially railroads modeled on two very different actual
locations yet conveniently located only a few blocks apart. I had seen
Brian Sheron’s Long Island Railroad years ago but I had never visited
Brian Benoit’s Seneca Junction before today so I chose to start with
it, partly because it was new to me and partly because it was all right
turns from Maryland Route 107.
The Seneca Junction is a 6 foot by 16
foot single level free lanced layout that represents the area south of
Frederick, MD, between Maryland Route 85 and the east slope of the
Catoctin Mountains, an area I’m somewhat familiar with. The “Junction”
in the name is that of the old B&O’s Main Line with a PRR
branch extending south through Frederick and is prototypical of the
region in the late 1950’s. The junction includes yards for both
railroads as well as paired tracks that extend in both directions from
the junction. It also includes both left and right crossovers for full
interchange/running on either track. The dual-track arrangement runs
through the fictional town of Monocacy Crossing where there are
numerous businesses and industries served by both railroads. The front
section contains most of the structures and sidings; there’s a duck
under to reach the access space in the center while the back area is
for yards and staging. The railroad is powered with a mix of transition
time-frame first generation diesels and steam. A PRR Fairbanks-Morse
H-1044 and a B&O Alco S-1 were running that day, which would
have been appropriate for a railroad that models a junction shared by
them, while a USRA 2-8-2 was quietly parked on a siding. Rolling stock
consists of a mixture of freight cars from the 1930’s to the late
1950’s. Brian had recently built many of these cars from 1940’s and
1950’s kits given to him by a friend, including a couple of them by
manufacturers that even I don’t remember (they were that ancient), but
despite their age they still looked good, plus they provide a tangible
link to those who came before him in the hobby. He also runs a few cars
given to him by other friends to honor their generosity. All of the
track is Bachmann EZ Track and the trains are operated with CVP Easy
DCC utilizing two wireless cabs, one for the B&O and other for
PRR. The layout is split into two power districts between the
railroads. All locomotives save one are DCC/sound equipped. The
structures are standard kits by Walthers, DPM, and others of the better
known brands, and are placed in a spread out arrangement that creates
an uncluttered appearance and leaves room for switching cars around
among the various industries. Brian is also in the process of
completing the scenery on the layout; the roads are already in place
and the rolling central Maryland countryside i is nicely reproduced in
the background.
Moving on to Brian Sheron’s Port
Jefferson Branch, the Long Island is a railroad with which I have no
familiarity at all, and usually in such instances I am pretty much
dependent on what the modeler has produced with regards to
authenticity. Fortunately, my live-in Long Island expert (my wife, who
once lived on Long Island) was able to accompany me on that earlier
visit and recognized much of what Brian had done, and that was enough
for me.
The layout is set in 1964, but if he wants to run his new BLI LIRR
H-10’s, he changes out his fleet of cabooses and dials the era back 10
years to 1954 (a classic example of Model Railroading Rule #1: It’s my
railroad). The layout occupies two rooms in his basement, one 13’ x 19’
and the other 12’ x 12’. It is a double track, folded dog bone
arrangement, with a branch that runs into the 12’ x 12’ room where he
models New York City, complete with an operating overhead El and a
cutaway of the LIRR underground platforms in Penn Station where the
MU’s would arrive to pick up or deliver “Dashing Dan,” the mythical
LIRR commuter, and which greets you as you descend the stairs. You also
have to admire Brian’s version of downtown Manhattan which looks very
impressive even in HO Scale. The layout scenery is 100% complete with a
myriad of realistic details; Brian estimates he has some 300 figures
and over 100 vehicles on the layout, an estimate for which I took him
at his word, and he was able to accomplish all of that while still
working full time at his government job (so much for waiting to retire
to build your railroad). He uses wireless Digitrax DCC and all of his
engines are prototypical for the era(s) that he models, although he
recently bought two Atlas C-420s in the 1970‘s Metro livery because he
thought they looked neat (again, Model Railroading Rule #1). In any
event, on that afternoon he was running only Long Island RR diesels,
including one that was pushing a flat car carrying one of those small,
battery powered, wireless video cameras sending signals to a nearby TV
set that gave the visitors a cab ride of the railroad as it traveled
around. He had sent out some advanced photos of his recent additions;
the track is in as are the sky and clouds on a double sided Masonite
backdrop, but no other work has been done as yet.
If the Seneca Junction is an example of uncluttered country
railroading, the Port Jefferson Branch is just the opposite; wall to
wall people, cars, roads, tall buildings, etc., which I expect is the
way Long Island itself is nowadays although I haven’t been there since
1965 when my wife and I went up to see the World’s Fair and visit an
old school friend of hers. The whole scene looked like a typical daily
Washington area rush hour where nothing seems to move; if that wasn’t
enough, the boat yard, Sheron’s Marine, named for Brian’s dad, was
packed with many different shapes and sizes of boats and the modeled
scrap yard was crammed with various pieces of metal junk. Even the
aisles reflected that congested feeling; while they may be adequate for
a few visitor or even a group of operators, any claustrophobes in
attendance - like myself - no doubt found the experience of
encountering a large number of people in a narrow space a bit
stressful. Nevertheless, things really came to life after he cut the
room lights and the railroad lit up like a Christmas tree; lighted
trains, automobile headlights, street lights, lighted structures, and
several of those multi-color lighted flashing advertising signs, most
clustered around the large model of the Jamaica, New York railroad
station. There’s no question that Brian has constructed a marvelous
model that reproduces the spirit of the Long Island area and its
railroad, but after about 45 minutes, I found myself gravitating to the
new room where I could enjoy some of the more open space even if there
were no trains in it as yet. I guess crowded, busy, places like New
York City or Long Island just aren’t for me, either in model or
prototype form.