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.
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December 21, 2016

Merry Christmas


We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am nearly finished with the custom model job, so soon it will be time to get back to work on finishing PoLA and starting the Aquia Line Phase II. 

The image below is a close up of the bluff behind Burnside's Wharf. This cliff is the inspiration for the central view block ridge in the new Aquia Line expansion. I think it will make an impressive scene. It also helps block the view of the work shop area from the pit near the home office.

The idea of having a view blocking ridge here, as opposed to the flat harbor area, came to me when I  temporarily moved the WWI diorama in this position to make space to work on the custom model. I noticed that the sky board on the WWI diorama blocked the view into the workshop area. This  enhanced the scene, making the layout feel bigger.  That's what motivated me to redesign the layout and move Aquia Landing to its new location where PoLA is now. 

And as a Christmas present, here is yet another Aquia Line layout plan. This one extends the central peninsula at the expense of deleting the wye. It adds a turntable to spin the engine.  I think the plan with the wye is better as I really like how it operates. But this one has merit too.


2 comments:

  1. Please, oh Please! Do NOT get rid of the POLA layout! Too much fun!
    On the other hand, that track plan sure does look nice and you can have a nice sized crew and regular op sessions... decisions, decisions!

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    Replies
    1. I have been looking at ways to repurpose PoLA when the time comes. No firm decisions yet. In any case, PoLA will stand until Spring 2018.

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