how many of you model the new england central or guilford or other northeast frieght railroad? my new layout will probably be a fictional guilford shortline set in the early 1990’s, and i just wanted some general tips.
the industuries on my layout will be a lumber wharehouse, steel stamping mill, and cement plant. anything i should change/ add to make the layout more new england-ish?
thanx
GEARHEAD426
[8]
heyy i live right near a guilford yard and i usually see guilfords rumble through. i am also modeling northeast railroads and i would suggest if you want too run guilford, guilford usually runs covered hoppers. i dk ur choice and if its n scale that you are modeling, FS1 which is Fitchburg Switcher 1 in number 310 and atlas makes the same engine so thats an idea too.
[:D] Keith
Hey, I model guilford too. And your cement plant idea sounds great. I live in eastern Mass. and every couple years (if I’m lucky) I see various trains of 70 or 100 ton hoppers that originate from the sandworks in Somerville. The hoppers are almost always either Trumix or NHN “New Hasmpshire Northcoast” (to my knowledge a small sand/gravel/aggregate hauling shortline). Also, you might want to add a food storage warehouse on your layout; Athearn 53 foot reefers would work well in HO, not too sure who makes them in N. I see Union Pacific ones frequently, but any modern reefer would be good. A lumber warehouse would be good too, or even a building material distributor. This could be done with boxcars or even flats with marble slabs and bundled lumber.
Good luck with the layout!
Hello, I model the Maine Central Mountian Division from Portland, Maine to St. Johnsbury VT. The bulk of the traffic on this line was typical of most freights in New England. The traffic was mostly box cars of paper, tankers of bunker oil (used to fuel paper plants) covered hoppers of cement and lots of chemicals for the paper mills. There was also pulpwood and woodchip cars, and other forest related products.
On my layout there will be a few industies:
The Georgia Pacific paper mill at Gilam, VT and a cement plant at Fryburg,ME. There is the dock area of Portland that will load small unit trains of coal (not prototypical) to be run up to the mill. Also on the docks will be the typical warehouses for paper and other products shipped or received via ship.
If you have any other questions about New England or Guilford let me know
JH in NH
ok NH guy mabey you can help me with this:
did guilford use ALCo C424’s, and if so, were they used as a road switcher? that is what i plan to do on my freelance layout, but i want to be atleast a bit prototypical.
thanx
GEARHEAD426
[8]
I don’t think Guilford ever ran Alcos. They were (and are) almost strickly EMD. Mostly 4 axle (GP) power, and a handful of SD units most of which are no longer in service. They did run a couple SW units.
Although they did at one time roster some U-boats from MEC.
well, mabey they ran 1 ALCo…
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=18807&PHPSESSID=b483c4bed48da7e65d17948f0396506a
[8D]
Hey there, I’m a B&M Modeler, but i’m also interested in its succesor, the Big G. I’m not sure if they had C424’s, but my guess is that if they did they were Road locos or road switchers… Guilford is not an exceptionally big rr (but still pretty big), and if you find one of their widecabs you are one lucky guy!
Now, as I recall, you want to model a CT Shortline. Just so you know, GRS doesn’t go as far as Connecticut, their furthest point south is Springfield, MA. You could model what would be the fantasy extension south to the location you wanted to model
Best of luck!
i live in mass near the guilford yard, and always see covered hoppers and stack/trailer trains running by! your industeries seem good for the area. good luck on the layout! Tim
That is not quite correct, Yoshi.
GRS/Springfield Terminal DOES run in Connecticut.
They run over Amtrak’s trackage from Springfield to Berlin, CT and then switch onto the Highland Line from Berlin to Waterbury.
And as Gearhead posted, they did have ALCO’s.
Hey Gearhead - what did you think of my idea of modeling the Waterbury line or the Highland line with Guilford, Metro North, and the Naugatuck museum?
Really? Thank you very much for the correction! Sorry bout the goof!
that sounds good. i dont know a whole lot about guilford, but i like it. metro North is a good passenger alternative to amtrak. from your BIO i guess you model the new haven. if your in the area you should see the essex steam train in CT or new england rail mueseum in wilimantic. about guilford running over the amtrak lines-- that gives me ideas for a future layout…
GEARHEAD426
[8]
Few things more scenery related for country New England, covered bridge and a B&B.
An Industry you might want to model is the old style mill. Then, you might choose whether to unprototypically rail serve it in the 90’s, or leave it unserved, and in the same fate as many mills today-conversion to offices.