Roger Sekera's
Clinch Valley Lines
November 19, 2006
Whether you're traveling from Booty to
St. Paul, Virginia, with stops in Wise, you'll enjoy the scenery and
the mountainous ride on Roger Sekera's Clinch Valley Lines. Set
in lower Virginia through the Appalachians, you'll cast an eye on
Roger's mountainous cuts and tunnels while enjoying your cab ride on a
coal train. Several small towns shall be passed until arrival at
the yard for further train breakdown, inter change assignment and
operations for through service to contracted industries.
Several aspects of Roger's unique work are demonstrated on the
Clinch Valley Lines. One is the back drops. Ever the loving
Dad, Roger's daughter started painting his backdrops one afternoon only
to complete those mountains that afternoon. Two, Wise, Virginia's
own Roberts and Sons Burlap Company Mill. This kit bashed
factory, manufacturing hemp based burlap is from locally available raw
materials. Roberts Mill creates burlap curtains used to control
airflow within local and other coal industry mines. Third is the
abundance of underground coal production and the several tipples
present in the valleys. Fourthly, his use of photography and the
ability to cover a building with it, as evidenced in the picture below.
The ClinchValleyLines (CVL) is an HO scale coal (40%) and freight
(60%) layout set in Western part of Virginia in 1959, using for the
most part the turf that once was the Interstate. CVL management is
trying to get out of passenger ops. Layout is point to point and is
roughly 25 x 25 with two stub end staging. First generation diesel
dominates. The N&W, Clinchfield, L&N and Southern all have some
trackage rights and are frequent visitors. The CVL has nine towns and
15 industries, including two sizable coal tipples or processing plants
and a Burlap mill that supplies other coal heavy model railroads. Set
for operations using four cycle car cards and waybills and Railcommand.
All track is complete and with 50+ % of scenery.
Continuing extending a model railroad's purpose, Roger is using the car
card forwarding system, having great success with operating sessions.
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