Track plans for frigid weather

We are back in Virginia after a Christmas trip to Rochester, Minnesota to visit relatives.  It was very cold there, but we had a good time and had a chance to do a little bit of rail-fanning.

I received a couple interesting books for Christmas as gifts. The first was "Grant," by Ron Chernow.  It is getting good reviews. The second is, "Clad in Iron - The American Civil War and the Challenge of British Naval Power," by Howard Fuller. A quick skim of the chapters definitely caught my interest. I will read that next after I finish George Swede's,  "The Steam Tug." So far that book has been a fascinating review of the history of the steam ships and tugs.

This evening we were visited by Nick Pautler and his parents from Delaware. They are all rail fans and are planning on building a new layout. Nick is an engineering college student so doesn't have much time for model trains now. But his dad is building a new house with lots of room for a new layout. They are interested in coming back for an op session, so we will add them to the call board.

While in Minnesota I tweaked the Aquia Line v18 design a bit.

The main change to the plan was that I moved the turntable to the back of the Falmouth section, thereby making the benchwork in that area narrower. That will allow me to keep the couch in that part of the layout for use as a crew lounge and TV viewing area. The couch can slide under the Falmouth benchwork during an op session.

A by product of that change is that the continuous run (CR) is eliminated because there was no way to fit it behind the turntable in a convincing manner. As I have said in the past, a CR is not a priority for me, so it's no big loss. However, I am keeping the siding to the warehouse at Burnside wharf for the extra switching opportunities.

I haven't decided on whether to do a swing section or removable piece for access to my office. I am leaning to a swing section, while Alicia thinks a removable piece is better.   I did a bit of surveying tonight and may have to put a slight grade on the line to provide sufficient clearance under the stairs, but there is room for that, so it shouldn't be a problem.

The more I look at this plan the more I like it. However, there are few other ideas I want to explore, so this is not a final plan yet (it never is). I prefer to keep tracks out of the office because I want to build some nice book shelves in there and I like how the sky board came out in the far corner. But there some variants of v19  that I want to consider even  though they do invade the home office.

Merry Christmas

Hope you have a Merry Christmas. I am off to Rochester, Minnesota. I will be presenting a talk to the Mayo Clinic Charter House on Thursday on Railroads of the Civil War.

 While I'm gone take a look at a tweaked version of V18. I opened up the aisles a bit and shortened the Falmouth peninsula to make access easier by the choke point. Now there are nearly four feet or greater aisles at almost all points without sacrificing 10 car trains with a 36 inch minimum radius.

I also added a continuous run (CR) track across the bottom of the new peninsula. I am really ambivalent about having a CR, but it does add two additional spurs that can be worked in an op session. However, the idea of having to disguise the holes into backdrop really turns me off.

The next bugaboo was the swing section on the office door. I examined the door more closely to determine how it could be built as a swing gate. I concluded that building a swing section with a sky board attached to the door would work very well. This is a case where the low ceiling actually helps, see the photo at the left. Note the low ceiling over Andy's and Tom head (yes, Tom is smiling).  I would put a sky board right on the door and paint the corresponding trim molding a sky color.

One thing I really like about this plan is that it provides a new job on the Aquia Line to replace the lost jobs of PoLA. The new job would be the Burnside Wharf switcher. That job would work like a short branch line out of the Aquia Landing yard, which it was in reality.  The Burnside Wharf crew would  work the sidings on the Burnside wharf and on the new warehouse.  It would reduce the switching of the road crews a little, but they seem busy enough already, especially with having to switch the car float.

Overall, this plan solves the cramped Falmouth problem, adds a job to replace the loss of PoLA, and provides a longer siding at Falmouth so that the railroad can handle 10-car trains.  It also leaves a lot of aisle space for visitors and operators.  Furthermore, it makes taking photos of Aquia Landing easier, as there will be  continuous backdrop behind it when shooting across the wharf to south.  Finally, it isolates the operators at Aquia Landing from Falmouth, hopefully increasing the feeling of distance.  The sky board on the new peninsula would not extend to the ceiling, but only to the level of the window sill, which is about 6 ½ feet high.  And then there are the ships. There would be room for Passaic and a large paddlewheel schooner, though I becoming convinced I should covert Passaic to a pond model. I could even add a Baltimore clipper, as you can see several of them in the prototype photos.

....It's looking like a win-win design.

There's Always Another Plan

Steve Clarson asked if there was a plan 19? My answer was, "Of course." So without further ado, here it is. It takes plan 17 and expands it by moving Burnside Wharf into my home office. Turns out that my home office has two doors into it due to an earlier basement remodeling. Right now the former closet door is closed off. But it could be opened and a thin section of  benchwork run-through it to allow Burnsides Wharf to be in my home office. I would have to do some reconfiguration of the desk and wall hangings in the office, but it could fit. In this version, I would no longer use the main door to the home office. Instead I would place the couch where it normally would open. Not ideal, but it would keep the other door more open.

This plan could be built in stages. First the v17 peninsula and Falmouth could be built. When it is ready, I would remove the existing Falmouth  and connect the new track under the stairs. Once that is all operational, the Burnside Wharf expansion could happen into the office.  If I still want to keep building on this layout, I could rebuild the Potomac Creek bridge to make it full scale size. By then, I'd be ready for the old age home.

Anyway, so here it is. The ultimate expression of what happens when Alicia says, "Do what you want, I never go down there anyway." Other than tunneling into my neighbor's basement, this is about as far as the layout could go. And don't mention double deck....

Version 19

Cargo Types on the Aquia Line

Adams Express Office in Chattanooga

A couple years ago I posted a summary of a typical day on the USMRR at this link A Day of Operation on the USMRR Aquia Line - 2 March 1863    Recently, I went through a few additional weeks of  conductors reports not shown on that link and made this list of car contents. They are not in any order, but it shows the variety of loads carried on the USMRR Aquia Line.


1. Passengers
2. Soldiers (these seem to be associated with a major move as there were about 2 dozen car loads when they moved)
3. Forage
4. Q.M. stores
5. Coms. stores
6. Convalescents (rode in box cars)
7. Lumber
8. Mail (usually one car in a train when listed)
9. RR Supplies
10. Ordnance
11. Hospital stores
12. Construction materials
13. Express
14. Baggage (on the troop trains)
15. Coal (yes one car on Aquia Line)
16. General Smith and Party
There was also some message traffic on special trains for Haupt, General Ingalls and General Burnside.

I really need to build some forage bales, as that was the predominant cargo on the railroad. '

 I am also planning an Adams Express car to run with the mail and passenger car. The photos show two possible styles, though not on the Aquia Line.

We do have some evidence that Adams Express operated on the Aquia line with offices at Falmouth and Aquia landing. They advertised in NY papers to families to send packages as this ad below shows.

Model Railroad Design Death Match 2017

Yes, with the holiday season upon us, and the end of the year looming, it's time for model railroad Design Death Match 2017. In version, we will look at three four possible expansions of the Aquia Line. All of these designs entail dismantling the PoLA layout to provide room for even more Aquia Line layout. PoLA would be sold off or converted to modules.

Version 11

Version 11, the Burnside Wharf Expansion,  you may have seen before, but this has been updated with the as-built configuration of Aquia Landing.  This version requires the least demolition of existing Aquia Line. It essentially replaces the current PoLA with an extension of Burnside Wharf. Currently, operations with limited Burnside Wharf are proving satisfying, so the main reason to do this would be to free up some space to have more ship models. It keeps the current  crew lounge and TV viewing area. It has the drawback of a removable section across the door to the office.  It is possible that in this version, an extra crew could be the Burnside Wharf switcher, running cars from Aquia Landing to Burnside and back.

Version 15

Version 15, the Small Falmouth extension, replaces PoLA with an extension of Falmouth. It would remove the tight curve that exists at Falmouth now. The overall length of run would also be expanded. With more space to model Falmouth, the sidings can be longer allowing for 10 car trains.  This version would keep the current crew lounge in the main layout space.  This version also has a longer run with the track under the stairs compensating for the lost mainline on the current Falmouth.  This would be called Stares Tunnel.
There is a possibility of a connecting track for a continuous run for open house operations.

 

Version 17

Version 17, The Big Falmouth Extension,  is similar to 15 in that Falmouth will be moved, but it includes a big peninsula in the open space.  The peninsula will have a eye level ridge, called Robert's Ridge in honor of my father,  down the spine to block the view. It is the most drastic and biggest  expansion. By adding a large peninsula where the crew lounge is now, I would be able to move Stoneman's Station to that peninsula. I would also relocate Potomac Creek to where Stoneman's Station is now. That is a simple name change. The current Potomac Creek station would become Ward's Siding (named after the first U.S. Navy officer killed in the war at the Battle of Aquia Landing), a simple stub switch siding, or it could be removed. These changes would create a whole new station where 10-car trains could meet, and match the prototype station arrangement too (other than Ward's Siding).

 In Version 17 the crew lounge gets moved to my office space. I am planning on building new book shelves in my office anyway, and I will locate the TV there and build bookshelves to house it. I spend 75 percent of my basement time in my office, and rarely watch TV,  so having the TV and more importantly the stereo, in my office would make it more useful to me.

Version 17 has the longest mainline run. Other than running tracks into the office, it is the maximum run I can fit in the basement.

Version 18

Hold the presses, this just in, Version 18. It has the best of both designs 11 and 15. More mainline than 11 and more ships than 17. Operators at Falmouth and Aquia Landing would be isolated from each other. Could this be the one?


My wife prefers the more open plans, but she is OK with any of these options.  She said, "do what you want, I never go down there anyway."

Now it's time for you to cast your vote or place your bets.