Has anyone modelled 2 separate places, not directly connected by rail? I’ve developed an interest in modeling Savannah, GA, and Athens, GA, but AFIK, they weren’t directly connected by rail per se, though they were (and are) served by the same RR’s. I visited the (former) C of G roundhouse (museum now), and River Street. I have spent a lot of time in Athens, GA, enough that I might want to model it.
I was thinking along the line of having a dual purpose staging yard, running Savannah traffic out one way, and Athens traffic the other. The 2 towns would be divided both operationally, and scenically. The only way to get a train from one to the other would be by way of the staging yard.
Not nuts at all. Seems like a very logical approach. In HO scale we have to make monumental compromises in our modelling. Even a good size basement layout may only have 3 or 4 scale miles of track. If you are modelling a prototypical location then you have to become very selective about what is modelled and how it is compressed to fit the available space. I think it is perfectly valid to take two locations that are not necessarily connected in reality and link them for the purposes of an interesting layout. Using staging in the way you have suggested would be a very viable solution.
I think this one calls for outside the box thinking. My first thought was an island layout with staging in the center. Backdrops would hide the staging isolating each section as in real life but trains could run on both segments depedent on routing. Another thought is two independent layouts with one above the other.
I use “wormholes” for this and with time lapse imagination I have connected all kinds of things that nature did not think of. Nature is way too restricted for my private world.
Not only is it possible, it’s a very logical approach. Model what you want, and skip the ‘middle men.’ For one thing, I don’t doubt that the links between Athens and Savannah include some features far too big and complex to model believably (like,say, Atlanta?) For another, staging adds entire new dimensions to possible operations.
Now, if your era was right, you could have a crowd at the Athens depot waiting to welcome the Gym Dawgs back from another successful defense of their National Championship. Only problem is, it would have to be the present era. NCAA women’s gymnastics didn’t exist back when railroads ran special trains to athletic events.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - when not watching gymnastics)
I saw a MR magazine layout with a backdrop (like a door), lying on it’s side down the middle of the layout, with two distinct types of scenery. It allowed the train to go around it at one end and the other end as if it were going through a tunnel. I am not sure that is what you are looking for, but it might be something to consider.
There was a line, which is still there, but overgrown with trees, which runs from (just east of) Macon to Athens. Theoretically, a train could run from Savannah to (just shy of) Macon, then head to Athens from there. I have a System Map from 1975 which shows this. I’m fairly sure at least one train in the history of Southern ran that route at least once.
What’s to say that our local shortline operator doesn’t? (Since this trackage from Nicholson, GA to Macon is leased out to our local shortline, though only the part down to Watkinsville is actually usable at this time). Since I model 1957, I’m sure there were excursions for the sporting events. At least it would be plausible for the era. Besides, the tracks are/were (more or less) across the street from Sanford Stadium, which was/would be an ideal place to park the trains for the fans.
Having looked at the system map, the route from Macon through Athens runs on up to Lula, and reconnects back into the main line, heading on up to the Carolinas. This could, with the proper upgrades, be a bridge/bypass line, going around Atlanta. I think there are some weight restrictions on the line, something about some old wooden tre
Bottom line is it’s your layout and you need to do what you will enjoy. It all depends if historical accuracy is most important to you or not. Given that we all make a lot of sacrifices to accuracy to fit a lot of activity into small space,…
