I’m looking for help setting up the operation of my layout. My layout includes a NH yard in Springfield, MA in the “middle” of the layout, with about 50 feet of mainline trackage modeled between east and west staging, which is hidden behind my yard. I’m modeling the late 1950’s and have about 20 industries located along the mainline between staging and the yard, including some modeled along a wharf. In looking at railroad maps of the Springfield, MA area, I got the idea that the B&M came into Springfield from the Northeast and the Boston & Albany (NYC) came in from the west. Therefore, I went and bought some NYC and B&M engines and thought I would stage their trains to come in from the east and west into Springfield, in order to “interchange” with the NH. I also planned to stage eastbound and westbound NH through freights as well as NH passenger trains (I have 6 staging tracks, 3 for each direction).
I’m wondering if my plan is terribly wrong. It dawned on me yesterday that the B&M trains going into the Springfield yard probably didn’t follow the same tracks that the NH followed into Springfield. Am I correct? Similarly, I’d bet that the B&A didn’t follow the same tracks into Springfield from the west, that the NH followed. On the map it looks like the NH followed tracks north from Connecticut, into Springfield, MA. If so, then my staging of the NH from east and west into Springfield doesn’t make sense.
Oh no, now what do I do? Do I rethink my yard location geographically? Should my yard be in another city where the NH did come in from the east and west but then what about the B&M and B&A? Should I ignore reality and let the staged B&M and B&A and NH trains come into Springfield from the east and west on the same tracks?
Please help me decide what to do. Do I forget about interchanging with the B&M
Oh boy. Yeah, you got problems IF you want to follow prototype practice. There’s always the old “it’s my layout and I can do what I want” feature, if you care to do so. But if you want reality, then what you’ve set up does not follow what happened in real life.
The NH come up the river from the south, and then swept to the East to go into Springfield’s station and stopped. The B&M came down from the North, then swept East into the station and stopped. Both of these curves were between the river and the station (where I-91 is now). The B&A was straight through, East to West. There were connections (and many diamonds) that allowed the B&M access to the shared engine facility to the South of the B&A and for interchange (there were, of course, a couple trains that ran through on the NH/B&M like The Ambassador, but I think they pulled into the station as they wouldn’t be skipping Springfield).
It can be done if your layout looks like a large cross. But it’d be tough. You could set up your main freight yard to the West, then the river, then connections to the NH and B&M, then the station to the East. South on the NH connection, you could put your engine facility.
To operate, the NH would bring passenger trains in from the South to the station to the East, then return to the South. The B&M would do the same thing but from the North. The B&A would be running through from East to West and vice versa. And as I said, a few trains would come up on the NH, go to the station, then go North on the B&M (changing power, of course, at the station). This would also, in effect, turn the train around.
I don’t know much at all about the NH, but I feel your pain on the subject of “proto-lancing.” If you want to go for ultimate reality, get yourself as many books on the subject as you can. Also, I’me sure the New Haven has a technical and historical society. Contact them and see if they can anwer your questions. If your fears turn out to be true and the plan you came up with is not prototypical, then you have a choice. Some people here might disagree, but I think you’d be fine with a little modeler’s license. Having 3 railroads share a yard lead is a lot more interesting and a lot more operationally challenging than having each railroad come in seperately. I should think you’d be forgiven for changing history a tad for the sake of increasing your operating possibiliies.
try the NHRHTA website. they have a fourm where you can ask this.
and since you have the wharf, did you concider the thames river? near my railfanning turf (new london yard) theres a dock where ships arrive and unload lumber. on your layout, i think that the wharf and yard are a bit too far apart to be like the prototype, but a lot has changed since then, so you could go with that. or you could put it on the groton side of the river and have a fictional yard. www.nhrhta.org
GEARHEAD426
MONDO: I live in Central Mass, and not far from the former old Boston & Albany main line. This was later taken over by New York Central, and now after a few other changes, it is the main line for Amtrak and CSX. It runs from Boston South Station through Worcester in Central Ma, then west to Springfield, Ma, then up over the Berkshires ( for which the Berkshire 2-8-4 locomotive is named ), and then on to Selkirk, NY main yard. The New Haven ( NH ran from New Haven, CT to Worcester, Ma, then onto Boston, and also had line from NH to Hartford, CT and then on to Springfield. Boston and Maine ( B&M) line ran from Boston NORTH station up into Maine and NH, and also along the towns of northern Mass and through the Hoosac tunnel under the Berkshires to North Adams , Ma. The train routes from Vermont cross and connect to these lines as well. The Hoosac Tunnel is 1 mile in length and is still in use today by the Guilford RR which bought out the B&M. Hope this helps,
As already pointed out by several posters, the current configuation of your layout has little or no similarity to the Springfield, MA, tackage of the NH, BM, and B&A. But rather then tearing it all out and starting over, it would be far more logical to run the layout as a freelance version of railroading in the western Mass. region.
Since your existing approach implies your were unfamiliar with the Springfield area from the outset, and likely don’t reside in that immediate area, odds are that few, if anyone, viewing your layout would know what is correct and what is not anyway. The three railroads in question all really did venture into or though Springfield, so what is the problem with having their interchanges be in your fictional arrangement?
If you are a historian desirous of modeling your home territory to extreme accuracy, that’s one thing. To be a modeler who is creating a layout for fun and representing an area not local to them, it becomes a matter of undue silliness to go overboard in the degree of accuracy.
Hey Mondo, I already replied to your email, but I’ll post this here too because I think others will benefit. I’ve seen Mondo’s layout (it’s really impressive), and I too am modeling the NH. I plan on doing Springfield in the future, but it’s going to need quite a bit of room. Idea 1: From the west side of your yard, run a track into your staging through the backdrop. The only thing I can’t tell is if you’ll have enough room to make a proper turn, or if it would be a stub. You could do something similar after the passenger station. Alternatively, to the east of the station you could call that B&A territory, and put an NYC switcher at the wharf. From the maps I have looked at, New Haven also ran freight east out of Springfield to turn south to Manchester, and eventually back to Hartford via East Hartford. The remaining track (west, turning south) would be your standard NH line. NH and B&M passenger trains would reverse at the station to go back west, since you don’t have room to make the Springfield wye where they turned the trains, you can just double-head the trains (as NH did) and run the locos around. Idea 2: This may not work after seeing in the post above that the B&M went to North Boston. Basically, the idea was to set it in Boston (wharf, all three railroads, etc.) Idea 3: The NH gained full control over the B&M, and McGinnis ran both lines (he ran the B&M after being ousted from the NH). Full track rights to both names to run on the entire system. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll be looking at it some more. Of course, when I get around to ding Springfield, I’ll need some B&M and NYC stuff… Randy