Whatever
your modeling scale may be, you have to be impressed when you descend
the stairs to a basement and are greeted by double heading O scale
N&W Class Y6’s hauling a long train of empty N&W
hoppers with two N&W cabooses trailing behind, and then watch
as an O scale N&W Class J pulling a nearly as long string of
N&W head end equipment, heavy weight Pullmans, and a few light
weight streamlined cars at the end passes it going in the opposite
direction. Such was my introduction on Saturday, March 29th to Chris
Smith’s Norfolk and Western Fuel Satisfaction Railroad, and a grand
introduction it was indeed! Featuring a double track main
line for bi-directional continuous operation on three levels, and with
a solidly constructed supporting bench work in a 24’ by 26’ space that
occupies a sizable portion of the basement of his Silver Spring, MD
home, the rather intriguing name was taken from some Norfolk and
Western promotional literature from about the same period as the
setting of the railroad itself: 1953, when N&W steam was at its
pinnacle in transporting coal from Appalachia to the Virginia
tidewater area ports.
Built by their shops in Roanoke, the N&W had a fleet of steam
locomotives that were second to none when it came to efficiency, power,
and aesthetics. I personally never saw the prototypes in regular
service; by the time I got to Virginia in the early 1960’s, they were
long gone but watching Chris’s brass imports and MTH models perform is
probably as close as you can get nowadays; they looked great and ran
flawlessly, and you can’t ask for much more than that to brighten a
gray, rain-soaked March afternoon. The scenery, while only about 35%
complete, is beautifully done; I particularly liked his fences that
protect against rock slides, an essential feature on a railroad that
requires tunnels and deep cuts to get through the mountains of West
Virginia. He had to have the wire mesh custom made in order to keep it
within scale dimensions. And then there was that special piece of
equipment that he had designed himself, something I’d never seen before
that I’ll call, for lack of a better name, a “car duster.” About two
feet long, it covered two tracks like a snow shed with a PVC pipe
connection in the center and two Shop Vac like suction attachments to
either side. You run the cars through it, blow air into the PVC pipe to
stir up the dust in or on the cars, and then draw it away with the
vacuum attachments. I expect it works great with his O scale equipment,
but I would probably be reluctant to try it with the smaller scales; it
might suck up the cars along with the dust.
Additionally, Chris had produced his own layout information sheet as a
handout that included further details as well as maps of the various
levels, which I have summarized below:
Inspiration: The
N&W east/west two-track mainline west of Welch WV, between
Ieager and Bluefield In 1953.
Layout Specs: The
layout was designed using 3rd Plan It computer software so that
sub-roadbed could be CNC routed at a local shop. The design was then
printed out at 1:1 scale on large plotted sheets and transferred to
plywood using tracing paper. Construction began in the spring of 2003. •
Basement footprint: Approximately 24’ x 26’ •
Mainline run: 200’ •
Grades: 2%-3% •
Roadbed: California Roadbed (Homa-bed) painted with latex paint. •
Track: Atlas • Turnouts:
Old Pullman
rebuilt (Some with ROW frogs), with the frogs powered
through switches at control panels. •
Switch machines: Tortoise •
Minimum mainline radius: 56” inside track of lobe. All other mainline
curves are 60” and 64” or greater. •
Power control: NCE DCC or conventional DC controlled through toggle
switches •
Wire: 10 gauge bus and 18 gauge feeders to each rail. •
Since the right corner of the bridge spanning the aisle rests directly
over the track below, there will be a hill and tunnel approach to the
bridge for those tracks instead of the awkward balancing act for the
corner of the bridge. The brads heads will be removed from track after
it is ballasted. The switches for mine tracks will eventually be
controlled by Tortoise machines and toggles when fascia is put in.
Operations: The
yards at Ieager to the west and Bluefield to the east are too large to
represent here, so they are considered offstage. Trains travelling from
points east and west run to and from the hidden storage and staging
level representing Bluefield and Ieager. From points west (offstage)
empty hopper trains run to small holding yard called farm. From the
holding yard empties go to mine, loads out to holding yard. From the
holding yard loads go to points west (offstage). From points west
(offstage) trains run to holding tracks at farm and are split. Engines
from west Ieager (offstage) or east from Bluefield (offstage) arrive to
take remainder of train up Elkhorn grade where there is a limited
amount of local mixed freight switching.
Future Projects: Since
the right corner of the bridge spanning the aisle rests directly over
the track below; there will be a hill and tunnel approach to the bridge
for those tracks instead of the awkward balancing act for the corner of
the bridge. Brads heads will be removed from track after it is
ballasted. The switches for the mine tracks will eventually be
controlled by Tortoise machines and toggles when fascia is put in.
The railroad utilizes the top two levels for operating purposes (see
maps), with the lower third level set up for staging and
storage. The
aisles were of adequate width for viewing and moving around so foam
rubber scenery wasn’t necessary (for those of us with greater girth who
remember that particular feature on another O scale layout), and the
lighting was especially efficient, with fluorescent bulbs above
diffusers covering the entire ceiling. It was another marvelous
opportunity to observe the creativity and craftsmanship exhibited by a
member of the Potomac Division, and it’s really appreciated when they
invite us over and share it with us.