A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 25, 2009

Updated Track Plan

I did some work refining the modified track plan. Here it is. You can find a higher resolution version by clicking here.


The turn back curve will be 30 inch radius. I made a mock up of the curve with cardboard and decided that punching through the wall into the HVAC closet will create the best scene.

I also updated this drawing with the as-built configuration of track and bridges. The big bridge at Potomac Creek is about 50 percent complete.

I like the fact that I can model a town in this design. In this case, the town will be Brooke. In actuality there was just a church and perhaps a store there. But I plan to add a mill, tavern and a couple houses.

I will depict the town as largely abandoned and now occupied by the Union Army. The blacksmith will be a Union operation for repair of wagon, horse shoes, etc.

The first photo illustrates the mill scene. Since it will be toward the rear of the scene, I may try some selective compression on the structure.

I can't remember where this mill was actually located, but I believe it was someplace in eastern Virginia.




The foreground items shown in the plan at Aquia Landing are piles of supplies such as lumber, barrels, artillery pieces and military stuff. I also read that Haupt had prepared several prefabricated truss bridges for use in the planned drive on Richmond. So I will need to have several of those laying about ready for action.





The Aquia Landing area will be considerably reduced. Fortunately, there should be room for a nice harbor scene. Most of the structures on land will end up being flats. The second photo is about what I hope the building flats at Aquia Landing will look like. Note the track buried in the dirt. A high resolution copy of this photo is available from the Library of Congress. I love to study the details in all the various uniforms and dress of the men depicted in the photo.


The current church at Brooke looks like this, but I am not sure it was there during the 1860s.







5 comments:

  1. Bernie,
    A) Looks great & can't wait to come & see your progress.
    B) I'm 5 miles from Brooke Church and let me know if you want me to find out more about it, or take updated pixes...
    Norm

    ReplyDelete
  2. First we need to find out if the church was there in 1863. If it was, what did it look like.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great update, Bernie. I think the town adds a bit more visual interest and much-needed distance between endpoints.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bernie,
    Looks really good. I like how you've chosen to balance a variety of interesting operational possibilities with the scenery. Looking forward to watching this one progress.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice.. I remember a while back when you were debating how to handle the tail of the wye in the old spot. I guess once you get used to the idea of punching into the workroom.. it gets easier to add more..

    ReplyDelete