Tom Brodrick's
Providence and Worcester Railroad
January 27, 2008
It was a clear and bright day when 35 interested
visitors toured the Damascus MD
model of the Providence
and Worcester Railroad.
The prototype has grown from 45 miles of track in 1973 to its
current
system of approximately 545 miles. Check
out their web page at http://www.pwrr.com/.
Several visitors were from New England and
started reminiscing
about their high schools, while the uninitiated tried to pronounce
Worcester.
According to the dictionaries I consulted,
the pronunciation is “wu̇s-tər”
or “wŏŏs'tər.”
The layout is built on two levels impressively
suspended
from the floor joists above with threaded rod.
Fluorescent under-cabinet lamps mounted to the bottom of the upper
level
provide excellent illumination for operations.
Aisles permit operators to pass each other (although some of us
make for a tight fit) follow their trains. Skirting
in the P&W colors was Tom’s
Christmas present from his wife, Gail.
Control is by DCC; turnouts are hand
thrown. Operations include unit trains of articulated
contained well cars as well as local freights serving trackside
industries. There are yards at the logical ends of the
layout, one physically above the other, in a separate room from the
rest of the layout. The yards support staging and switching.
TB02 |
TB129 |
TB05 |
TB08 |
TB10 |
TB11 |
TB16 |
TB21 |
TB132 |
TB24 |
TB28 |
TB31 |
TB32 |
TB33 |
TB34 |
TB38 |
TB115 |
TB37 |
TB41 |
TB46 |
TB47 |
TB121 |
TB48 |
TB51 |
TB55 |
TB57 |
TB58 |
TB61 |
TB136 |
TB116 |
TB125 |
TB127 |