MR Layout Design Contest Winner

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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Wow. I just got the December issue of MR in the mail. I was very pleased to find that the layout design contest was won by a model of the Louisville & Wadley RR. This is a railroad I stumbled on by happenstance when helping a friend design their first layout.

Since then I’ve been fascinated by the Petticoat Junction type road of central Georgia. A mixed train daily pulled by a venerable 4-6-0 down to meet a streamlined E7 on the Central of Georgia main. I have pulled Stanborn Maps and searched local historical societies to find out as much as I could about this road.

I was disappointed in a couple of the layout features. One of my favorite prototype things in Louisville was a funny curved switchback spur to serve the downtown stores. All of my L&W plans have included this, where the one published in MR cuts the track off on the lower right just as it is getting to this area. The other thing I miss are the wyes. Both the Lousville & Wadley and the Wadley Southern had wye tracks in Wadley.

These are both things that could be easily fixed without the constraints of the MR contest rules.

Are there any other Lousiville & Wadley fans out there?

How soon will someone use the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Short Line as a model for a contest track plan?

What is your favorite short line and why?

Everyone who is planning a new road and think they need to model the UP, AT&SF, Pennsy, or Southern to have something cool need to check this RR and article out.

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How soon will someone use the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Short Line as a model for a contest track plan?

The major problem with the B&ML as a track plan is the space consuming wye at Burnham Junction and the interchange with the MEC. Of course, you don’t need to model the interchange to have a viable layout, but it certainly adds to operating interest.

Here’s a link to some useful info: http://cprr.org/Museum/BMLRR/ Site contains track diagram links as well as steam era pics by Linwood Moody (of “Maine Two Footer” fame) and Victor Rawstrom. Moody was station agent in Brooks for a number of years.

Note: You could use the Bachmann 4-6-0 for late steam operations, although you’d need to remove the Walschaert valve gear. The Bachmann 4-4-0 would also work for earlier steam ops. Naturally, the Bachmann GE 70 tonner could be used for the diesel era. None of the B&ML 70 tonners were equipped with MU, so extra engine crews were required if tonnage exceeded the capabilities of a single unit.

Andre

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Incidentally, the areas shown on the 1875 map and the 1900 photo showing the B&ML running on a causeway are accurate for that time period. However, at some point the area was filled in.

Andre