Layout Tour: Chris Smith's Norfolk & Western Fuel Satisfaction
Submitted by Ken Nesper (O Scale Modeler)
On
Saturday, February 10, the members of the Potomac Division, in
conjunction with the Capitol Area O Scalers, were treated to an encore
tour of Chris Smith's N&W Fuel Satisfaction model railroad in
Silver Spring, MD. The division members last saw the railroad in March 2014.
In the intervening four years, Chris has completed the “vertical”
scenery around the outside walls of the 24' x 26' basement and
ballasted nearly 90% of the 200 foot mainline.
To
recap, the railroad was inspired by the N&W east/west two-track
mainline west of Welch WV, between Ieager and Bluefield. Ieager
and Bluefield are represented with staging yards. Most of the
action consists of very long coal trains, either loads or empties,
running from the mine area to the off-stage destinations. A
holding yard, called the farm, occupies a prominent position from where
the incoming and outgoing mine trains are dispatched. This is
also the spot where helper engines are added or trains are broken in
two in order to make it up Elkhorn Grade.
For
passenger railfans, the highlight of the day may be the passing of the
Pocahontas and Powhatan Arrow trains running behind streamlined J-class
locomotives, as they traverse the railroad. Both trains feature a
mix of named and generic baggage, mail, sleepers, coaches, diner, and
lounge cars. Like the coal trains, the length of these trains is
breath-taking. There is also a limited amount of local mixed
freight activity.
His
large assortment of prototypical N&W steam power, no diesels here,
is controlled by either NCE digital command control or conventional
DC. Turnouts are controlled by Circuitron Tortoise switch
machines. Chris used Homabed from California Roadbed and track
from AtlasO.
Using
ubiquitous pink foam, Chris has started building the “hill” that will
form a view block down the central peninsula. This will visually
separate the mine area from the farm. He's mocked up a coal
tipple to provide a sense of place. Chris has also created coal
loads for many of the outbound loaded hoppers, adding to the
realism. He carved Styrofoam blocks to which various scales sizes
of coal were glued.
Even
as Chris continues to add to the scenery, he is planning the steps
necessary to move the railroad to Florida when he retires in the next
few years. Having purchased a retirement property, he is having a
train building of proportions similar to his basement
constructed. The scenery was formed on foam panels that can be
removed and packed into shipping containers. Chris envisions
moving the track sections by removing the “scabs” that tie the plywood
sections together; cutting the rail at the plywood seam;
and wrapping the entire piece in foam and tape to protect the
track. Conveniently, there is a side door out of the basement
that will facilitate the removal of even the largest sections of
track. The bench work consists of a series of L-girder like
tables that will be disassembled after the components are clearly
labeled. All table parts will be packed as one unit. Chris
noted that he will have to fashion a duck-under when the railroad is
reassembled in Florida. On the other hand, he won't have to
accommodate access to washer, dryer, hot water tank, and furnace.
Chris
is an excellent craftsman and fine modeler and it was a pleasure to see
his railroad in operation once again. He and it will be missed
when he relocates to Florida.
