Rich Steinmann's

Erie-Lackawanna  Morris and Essex Division

Rich Steinmann’s HO-scale Erie-Lackawanna Morris and Essex Division layout models the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad in Northern New Jersey. While the date modeled is May 1965, there is still plenty of rolling stock from the pre-merger Erie and Lackawanna Railroads. The area modeled covers the Morris and Essex and Boonton Lines from Morristown to Wharton. Key towns modeled include Morristown, Morris Plains, Dover, and Wharton. The Morristown scene will include a scratch-build model of the Morristown Station. The scene covers the Green in Morristown with a kit-bashed Vollmer church serving as a major focal point. Around the Green are shops, including a scratch-built model of the M. Epstein department store. A model of Bamberger’s will be added soon. In Morris Plains, the scene centers on scratch-built models of the station and freight house, together with the U.S. 202 underpass. Other scratch-built models include Borough School, the U.S. Post Office, and the Presbyterian Church. Dover includes a yard and roundhouse, as well as a scratch-built model of the station, and a kit-bashed freight house. Dover yard serves as the center of operations as through freights drop off blocks of cars which are then sent out on local freights to Wharton, Morristown, and the Morris and Essex division. Dover is also the terminus for the MU commuter trains from Hoboken and is a major stop for the Pheobe Snow and Lake Cities long distance trains. Wharton is an industrial center with a prototypical track arrangement serving several industries. The Wharton Drill serves these industries. There are connections to the Morristown and Erie, Central Railroad of New Jersey (two locations), Wharton and Northern and Mount Hope Mineral Railroad. These interchanges also provide for significant amounts of traffic. The layout occupies about half of a 24 x 42 foot basement (with more planned). There is a mainline run of about 100 feet. The minimum radius is 30 inches with #6 and #8 turnouts (except for #4’s in the yard and industrial sidings. The layout is basically level, with a nominal track elevation of 48 inches. Conventional construction methods were used—the roadbed is ¾ inch plywood supporting ½ inch homosote. Scenery, which is more than 75 percent complete, is largely Hydrocal hard shell and Scultamold over a web of cardboard. Trees range from lichen to polyfiber puff balls to Super Trees (you can tell how long it has been since the scenery was installed by the type of tree). Track is mostly code 70 Micro-Engineering, with some older Shinohara turnouts. Tortoise machines power most turnouts. The staging yard uses Atlas Code 83 track and turnouts, with a few curved Peco’s. The backdrop is painted 1/8 inch Masonite. Radio Digitrax is used for the command system to allow walkaround operations. Operating sessions can accommodate 4-5 people using car cards and waybills for freight car forwarding and there is extensive through and commuter service. Through freights are about 12 cars and way freights about 8 cars. There is also an (anachronistic) trolley line modeling the Morris County Central.
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Jalbum 8.2