Your railroad's story and history


THE HAMPTON AND POTOMAC RAILROAD COMPANY

the "Happy Route" as it is known started off in the mid 1800s as the James River, and Eastern Railroad Company as a means to ship coal and other goods from mines, mills and farms around the Charrlottesville Virginia area to Richmond and other markets in the eastern, VA Area. After a merger in 1892 with the Hampton, Williamsburg and Capital railroad, it eventually became the Hampton and James River Railroad. In the 20s and 30s as the coal began to deminish in the area, the railroad began began to aggressively push and find other means of income.In 1930 the railroad gained trackage right over the RF&P main to the Potomac yard. After WWII the Railroad renamed itself the Hampton and Potomac and started using it's "The Happy Route" moniker. (This itself was a play on the new HAP markings it had been given by the ICC) In the 1950s the HAP did something almost unheard of and built a new line from Potomac yard out towards Winchester, VA. The 60s and 70s also brought more changes including an Alliance with the SCL and trackage rights to SCL's Collier yard. Another new line soon after from Collier Yard to Short Pump,VA. This was designed to by pass the busy Richmond portion of the Charrlottesville to Hampton line. The biggest change the the railroad came in the 80s. With the Formation of CSX, the HAP needed to do something aggresive to survive, and in 1987, they Merged with the RF&P, and gave CSX trackage rights over the former RF&P trackage. Nowadays the HAP has expanded even more, it bought local lines such as the Buckingham Branch and the Winchester and Western. Also purchased was a Small Tennessee line called the Volunteer Western, which primarily handled transferring freight from an Industrial complex in Loudon, TN to Knoxville, TN.

RAILROADS OPERATED BY THE HAP

Hampton and Potomac (HAP)
Winchester Division (WD) ex-Winchester and Western
Jersey Division (JD) ex-Winchester and WesternNew Jersey operations
Buckingham Division (BD) ex-Buckingham Branch
Volunteer Western (VWRR) Knoxville,TN to Loudon,TN
 
Nice story. Glad to hear someone is making reference to the RF&P. I was thinking about modeling the RF&P, but after moving out here and got intereste in western railroads, I was going to loosely base my road on the D&RGW. However being as I am from Va, I had to set my road back there. So mine takes place in southwest Va, and moves north into WV and west into KY. Though now I am thinking about expanding eastward. But time will tell. Thank you for posting.
 
I love to read posts with the name of Fallen Flags, even though it's sad to think of their demise. Years ago traveling to my Uncle's in Eastern NC, we would see RR overpasses with Seaboard Airline and Seaboard Coastline. Good memories.
James River? Used to cross it at Newport News going home for liberty. Stationed on the York River, Yorktown CG base. Hampton? Hampton Roads?
 
Well I hope you enjoy reading about our freelance railroads. Lots of great stories. A lot of us either base our roads on a prototype or we just take it over...lol. If you have a freelanced railroad or knows someone who does, feel free to post it.
 
Other railroad in my universe include

The Orange Belt (ADTI) The Orange Belt or AnnArbor Detroit Toledo and Iroton a merger of the two railroad came about in 1974, the Orange Belt was a moniker derived from the railroads Orange locomotives.

Iron Bridge Locomotive Works (IBLX) Owned by the HAP, this is a Locomotive repair and leasing facility. specializes in Alcos.

Lonesome Pine and Wise (LPW) Shortline that lasts from Coeburn,VA towards Wise,VA uses IBLX a lot.

Winfree,Lynette, and Foyle (WFLR) A short line that runs 20 miles off of a Buckingham Branch main near the fictitous town of Winfree,VA.

Chicago Gulf And St Louis (CGSL) The Fourth Class 1, it was formed by a merger of the CGW,SLSF (Who didn't merge with the BN), And the GMO (Who didn't merge with the IC)
 
Wish I could come up with a story. That is not my strong suit But I do have a name- Shenandoah Vally Railroad- SVRR. This a freelanced railroad loosely based on what I see around Winchester,Va. Hopefully I can come up with a story that makes some sense.
 
The Story of the WCMR

The West Central Minnesota Railroad models the section of former Great Northern trackage between Wadena and Cass Lake. In this scenario, rather than being abandoned, this segment was leased or sold to a short line. Shippers in the Park Rapids area wanted to ensure that rail service was available, and so gathered together to make the necessary investment. The BN also had an interest in keeping this track section in service as it offered a “shortcut” between the Powder River Basin and Minnesota Power’s Clay Boswell power plant. This fact meant that the Burlington Northern was willing to share the cost of rehabbing the trackage to a state where unit coal trains were able to travel the route. Thus, the road bed, ties, and rails are in surprisingly good condition for a spun-off short line. The BNSF continues to participate in the maintenance of the infrastructure, and utilize their trackage right not only for coal trains, but also for occasional grain trains from the west to the Duluth-Superior port, especially when the Brainerd Sub is busy or undergoing maintenance, and for a SUPDIL/DILSUP train that handles traffic off the WCMR and Grand Rapids paper mill. The “Wadena Turn” operates from Dilworth to the WCMR yard south of Sebeka as needed, which usually means three to four times a week. BNSF still serves a number of customers in Wadena.

WCMR’s on-line customers include two smaller grain elevators who ship from 3-7 cars per week, a fertilizer plant that receives inbound traffic, a team track that ships bagged edible beans in boxcars and receives lumber for a truss factory, a drywall distributor, and the crown jewel of the line-a pet food factory that receives grain, fats and oils, and miscellaneous ingredients by rail in covered hoppers, tank cars, and box cars, and ships pet food in box cars and containers. This plant is switched multiple times a day, and one of the primary functions of the WCMR’s yard is to act as a buffer for the cars that are dropped off or waiting to be picked up by BNSF freights that serve the yard.

The yard of the WCMR didn’t exist before the railroad came into being. The additional business created by the pet food plant and the requirement to hold cars between trains created the need for the yard. In typical short line fashion, the location was picked because it was cheap. It’s not in a town, but along the main between Wadena and Sebeka. This means the pet food job has to run a few miles each day, which if not timed correctly can create minor traffic jams on the railroad. Occasionally there will be a westbound behind the pet food train, with an eastbound trying to come off the Staples Sub. Gives the dispatcher a little excitement. You can also add in the 25 mph speed limit for locomotives with friction bearings, which the Alco has. Last, part of time the pet food will foul the main while switching the plant.

A typical day on the WCMR would see a loaded coal train eastbound over the line, a westbound coal empty, one BNSF manifest train in each direction, and a WCMR turn from Wadena to Park Rapids and back to serve the grain elevator and other customers in that area. In addition there would be a number of trips between the yard and the pet food plant to switch the pant, deliver loads and empties, and shuttle loaded pet food cars and empty raw material cars back to the yard.

The entire line is unsignaled “dark territory” with authority to occupy track controlled by track warrants. The BNSF Hinckley Sub dispatcher handles the dispatching duties.

The railroad typically leases power from the BNSF, normally a set of 4 axle units. There is talk of buying power on the used market, but the current arrangement works so the purchase price would have to be right. The railroad does own one locomotive-and Alco S1 that became surplus at the MD&W when they acquired former UP EMD built switchers. The Alco can normally be seen working the pet food plant job. Multiple trips between the plant and the yard each day to facilitate the customer’s need for switching keep the car numbers on each trip low enough that the Alco has no problem handling them.

Of course with BNSF coal, grain, and manifest trains traversing the line, almost any type of BNSF power can appear, including the newest SD70Ace’s and both AC and DC versions of the GEVO. Dash 9’s are not uncommon, and when traffic is heavy enough older EMD’s may show up, specifically SD60M’s or SD75’s. The SD70MAC is common on coal and assigned occasionally to other trains as well.
 
Ok, so here is a little bit more to my story. Enjoy.

The Aspen & Colt Creek Railroad began life as The Aspen Timber & Western Railroad in Aspen, Colorado. It began by someone by the name of Mark Timber of Aspen who, along with other railroad investors, bought the old Aspen Branch from the Denver & Rio Grande Western in 1940. The ex DRGW Aspen branch stretched from Aspen, north to Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

With the help of investors, Mr. Timber bought 4 Berkshire type steam locomotives as well as 2 Yellowstone type EM-1 steamers from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The primary freight was coal hauled in from Glenwood Springs from the DRGW south to points along the Aspen Branch and into Aspen. In Aspen, there was a lumber yard, a metal scrap yard, stock yard and a feed/grain mill. All products were shipped out by the ATW as well as any empties back to Glenwood Springs. Also the ATW hauled in food and supplies to a freight depot in Aspen and was trucked out from there.

Business held on for 9 years until a health issue forced Mr. Timber to sell his majority share of the company. One of his investors, Mr. Charles Vandergriff of Palaski, Va. was able to buy out the entire company from Mr. Timber and the other investors including the name, property and equipment. He moved all locomotives and what rolling stock he could and sold the Aspen Branch to the Town of Aspen. Which sat dorment until they pulled the rails years later. After finding a couple of other railroad investors, Mr. Vandergriff began operating the Aspen & Colt Creek Railroad on November 15, 1949.

Mr. Vandergriff was able to aquire 45 miles of the Norfolk & Western Railway's Radford Division in Pulaski County, Va that laid abandoned for a couple of years. The main town was Howard Junction which included a freight depot and a feed/grain mill. It also was the site of the ACC 3 track yard, roundhouse, coaling facility and transfer point for coal, freight and empties to be switched from the N&W to the ACC. The end point of the ACC was the Town of Lily, 45 miles to the north of Howard Junction up into the Blue Ridge Mountains with a max of 2% grade.

The work mule of the ACC was the Yellowstone EM-1 which was able to haul coal from HJ to Lily. While the Berk's switched at HJ and hauled freight and empties to and from the two towns. There was also a freight depot in Lily where incoming freight was able to be offloaded and trucked into town as well as any mail that needed to go out. In the Town of Lily, there was a lumber mill/yard, scrap yard and coal yard with a coal distributor for the local town folk for heating purposes. The ACC also gave the N&W trackage rights for fast freights that needed to get to the otherside of the mountain as well as reroutes.

In mid 1950, the ACC looked into starting a passenger train to transport passengers up the mountain and to local ski resorts as well as to the Town of Radford for transfer to the N&W. So the ACC bought two EMD F7A units, a baggage car, 2 coach cars, a dome car, and for the rare use, a diner car. The train was to be stored at Howard Junction and when needed, make trips north to Lily and the ski resorts. As for operations to return the train back to HJ, there was a runaround track just outside Lily where the power was cut from the train and run around to the opposite end, then proceed south back to HJ and/or Radford. The ACC was looking into installing a wye outside the town of Lily so the whole train could be turned. However as of 4 years after service started, there were no immediate plans to do so.

At the beginning of the 1960's, the ACC saw a increase of traffic and was forced to purchace 2 diesels and was able to buy additional trackage from the N&W along the New River into West Virginia to meet up with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in Beckley, West Virginia. The new diesels included a EMD SW9 and the other was a Alco RS3. The SW9 saw service at HJ for switching at the yard and the RS3 was used for both switching and extra power on trains going up the mountain. As of 1961, all steamers were still in service while the N&W and other railroads had sold off or scrapped their steam locomotives and were running diesel locomotives.

With the additional trackage, this now meant that the ACC was offically a bridge route that linked the City of Radford to Howard Junction to Beckley, WV through the Blue Ridge Mountains. So this also meant a increase of passengers that wanted a faster route to Beckley and points north into Ohio. It also meant that the ACC could interchange with the C&O and allowed further increase in profits by allowing more freight to run as well as the increase of passenger service.

The ACC finally decided it was time to really expand with the increase of freight traffic. So after they expanded to Beckley, Mr. Vandergriff and his investors and Operations Manager decided to expant to Charleston and Huntington, WV. The ACC then built a new classification yard in Huntington as it was also the point where the ACC left to expand into Lexington, Kentucky to the west where it terminated and went east to Wheeling, WV.

Along the way the ACC bought existing tracks that was once owned by the C&O. They also bought ol right of ways that were once logging railroads in West Virginia. It was time to revamp the logging industry in WV. Between 1879-1925, the logging industry had cleared 85% of the timbered area in the state of West Virginia. However the need for timber in the east had once again increased, and the logical means of hauling the required amount of timber was by rail. The Aspen & Colt Creek Railroad seized the oppertunity and bought old ROW's, laid new track and in partnership with logging companies, hauled several hundred loads of timber each week to the mills. They also we able to offer the mills a way to ship out their cut wood.

In the 1970's, the ACC bought new EMD GP40=2's for general freight traiffic and SD40-2's for use on coal and as helpers to trains to get the mountain from Lily. So the railroad had built a small facility in Lily to house the helper train crews. The railroad's aging steamers were by this time in need of overhauls, so the railroad took them out of service and began the process of rebuilding them at Howard Junction. As the steamers were the railroads pride and joy and the owner did not want to see them scrapped. It would take several years for the 4 berks and the only remaining EM-1 to be overhauled.
 
look4trains said:
The Story of the WCMR

The West Central Minnesota Railroad models the section of former Great Northern trackage between Wadena and Cass Lake. In this scenario, rather than being abandoned, this segment was leased or sold to a short line. Shippers in the Park Rapids area wanted to ensure that rail service was available, and so gathered together to make the necessary investment. The BN also had an interest in keeping this track section in service as it offered a “shortcut” between the Powder River Basin and Minnesota Power’s Clay Boswell power plant. This fact meant that the Burlington Northern was willing to share the cost of rehabbing the trackage to a state where unit coal trains were able to travel the route. Thus, the road bed, ties, and rails are in surprisingly good condition for a spun-off short line. The BNSF continues to participate in the maintenance of the infrastructure, and utilize their trackage right not only for coal trains, but also for occasional grain trains from the west to the Duluth-Superior port, especially when the Brainerd Sub is busy or undergoing maintenance, and for a SUPDIL/DILSUP train that handles traffic off the WCMR and Grand Rapids paper mill. The “Wadena Turn” operates from Dilworth to the WCMR yard south of Sebeka as needed, which usually means three to four times a week. BNSF still serves a number of customers in Wadena.

WCMR’s on-line customers include two smaller grain elevators who ship from 3-7 cars per week, a fertilizer plant that receives inbound traffic, a team track that ships bagged edible beans in boxcars and receives lumber for a truss factory, a drywall distributor, and the crown jewel of the line-a pet food factory that receives grain, fats and oils, and miscellaneous ingredients by rail in covered hoppers, tank cars, and box cars, and ships pet food in box cars and containers. This plant is switched multiple times a day, and one of the primary functions of the WCMR’s yard is to act as a buffer for the cars that are dropped off or waiting to be picked up by BNSF freights that serve the yard.

The yard of the WCMR didn’t exist before the railroad came into being. The additional business created by the pet food plant and the requirement to hold cars between trains created the need for the yard. In typical short line fashion, the location was picked because it was cheap. It’s not in a town, but along the main between Wadena and Sebeka. This means the pet food job has to run a few miles each day, which if not timed correctly can create minor traffic jams on the railroad. Occasionally there will be a westbound behind the pet food train, with an eastbound trying to come off the Staples Sub. Gives the dispatcher a little excitement. You can also add in the 25 mph speed limit for locomotives with friction bearings, which the Alco has. Last, part of time the pet food will foul the main while switching the plant.

A typical day on the WCMR would see a loaded coal train eastbound over the line, a westbound coal empty, one BNSF manifest train in each direction, and a WCMR turn from Wadena to Park Rapids and back to serve the grain elevator and other customers in that area. In addition there would be a number of trips between the yard and the pet food plant to switch the pant, deliver loads and empties, and shuttle loaded pet food cars and empty raw material cars back to the yard.

The entire line is unsignaled “dark territory” with authority to occupy track controlled by track warrants. The BNSF Hinckley Sub dispatcher handles the dispatching duties.

The railroad typically leases power from the BNSF, normally a set of 4 axle units. There is talk of buying power on the used market, but the current arrangement works so the purchase price would have to be right. The railroad does own one locomotive-and Alco S1 that became surplus at the MD&W when they acquired former UP EMD built switchers. The Alco can normally be seen working the pet food plant job. Multiple trips between the plant and the yard each day to facilitate the customer’s need for switching keep the car numbers on each trip low enough that the Alco has no problem handling them.

Of course with BNSF coal, grain, and manifest trains traversing the line, almost any type of BNSF power can appear, including the newest SD70Ace’s and both AC and DC versions of the GEVO. Dash 9’s are not uncommon, and when traffic is heavy enough older EMD’s may show up, specifically SD60M’s or SD75’s. The SD70MAC is common on coal and assigned occasionally to other trains as well.
Click to expand...

I really enjoyed read this. Great detail. Mine is a work in progress as you may have seen. So I am slowly adding more detailto it. Figure since I can not build the railroad at this time, build the story behind it....lol. Thanks for sharing
 
Railroad History

The Logan Valley is a short line railroad that connects with the Northern Pacific Railway at Logan Montana, which was a busy point on the NP. The logan Valley travels south to Gallatin Gateway, MT where it connects with one real and one other freelanced railroad. The Milwaukee Road ended one of its branch lines in Gallatin Gateway, there after the turn of the centruy, it would bring passengers to the Gateway In, which is now a national historic site. Passengers would stay at the Inn and then take motor coaches south to Yellowstone National Park. The other ficticious railroad that connect at Gallatin Gateway (Gallatin Jct) is the Gallatin Canyon and Western. This railroad was partially owned by the NP, and went south to West Yellowstone and connected with the Union Pacific. My friend who has the Gallatin Canyon & Western passed away a few years back, so in my imaginary history, the Logan Valley has bought out the GC&W, and now being that it connects with the Milwaukee Road, has added business carrying passengers to Yellowstone Park, and also acts as a bridge line to the UP. I still have a few locomotives and freight cars csutom painted for the GC&W. This also gives the NP another route south to Yellowstone Park. The NP used to have a branch line going to Gardiner, MT, which is the north entrance to Yellowstone Park. My Logan Valley stops at Gallatin Junction, but I have hidden staging tracks that trains can be made up and sent off south to West Yellowstone. The Logan Valley also serves a couple of small towns between Logan, MT and Gallatin Jct that provides rail traffic with cattle, grain, along with a small timber loading spur which provides logs to a lumber mill at Gallatin Jct. There is also a meat packing plant at Gallatin Jct, which provides rail traffic to Logan, MT for the NP. The model railroad is a "point to point" railroad, but with the hidden staging yards, can be run continuously also. I still have to build the yard and town of Logan. Even without the town of Logan built, I have a lot of switching that can be done in the small towns already built.
 
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East Central Indiana
HO Scale Railroad

Like many model railroads, the ECI has been built and rebuilt several times. There have also been those times when there has been no movement at all. Indeed, now the railroad has begun to move back in time to be able to run NYC, PRR and PC cars.

The ECI is a 1970 short line operating out of Anderson in North Central Indiana southward over the ex-New York Central (CCC&StL) Michigan Division/PC North Vernon Secondary purchased from Penn Central. The ECI runs through Emporia, Rushville, and Greensburg, terminating in the Southern Indiana town of Westport.

Connections are made with the Central Indiana & Western (CIW) at Anderson, the Chicago, Emporia & Evansville (CEE) at Emporia, and the Chessie System at Rushville. The ECI and CEE share trackage between Anderson and Westport under control of the ECI Dispatcher working out of the South Anderson Yards.

The majority of customers are small industrial companies (pipes, plastics, autoparts, etc.) as well as several heavy grain operations and one small stone quarry sending occasional shipments off line to dealers nationwide from their quarry near Westport.

Although the line is not truly prosperous, it is making money and has outstanding Service Facilities with a maintenance crew devoted to rebuild and maintenance with tender loving care. This is attested to by the E7 ex-NYC Unit that has been placed into service pulling an Excursion Train consisting of refurbished passenger cars running from Anderson to Westport monthly during summer months and the NYC GP7 and rebuilt 0-8-0 that now does the major freight work on ECI trackage. ECI's GP38-2 is handling the grain operation at Westport.

With its small but dedicated staff of employees, the ECI tends to reflect the sense of optimism found in its headquarters city of Anderson as to a solid future in providing high quality service to its clients as well as presenting rail service in a favorable light to more people

ECI Layout Timeline
1980 - original 4x7 layout. Town of Westport.
1983 - 4x4 yard section added. Now L shaped.
1986 - removed yard section and built across back wall with new yard with return loop. To be connected to a new city section.
1987 - raised layout 6 inches.
1988 - city area in place with track through it and reversing lopp under.
1991 - East Yard added to extend track through and beyond city.
1995 - major operational problems with original track moving with seasons. Ripped out original table structure, saved farm area and all buildings. Reversed layout of town of Westport placing farm at other end of section.
1997 - added a leg to Westport for Grain Operation.
1999 - Began changing to under table slo-motion switch machines and LED control panel operations. Began rebuilding of grain elevator area.
2004 - replaced an industry in East Yard with new plastics plant.
2005 - Installed new backdrop behind grain elevator area.
2006 - Completed the grain elevator scene with buildings, storage bins and actual elevators.
2006 - Completed Westport with cars, figures, trees and buildings.
2007 - Placed oil dealer on layout
2008 - Ripped off half of city to correct the underlying track.
I say that it is the same layout, but the only original piece is the farm scene.
To me, a layout is like the Energizer Bunny... It keeps going, and going, and... I only know one man who finished his layout and he promptly lost interest. - rph
 
My pike is called the N&M Division of the Monon Railroad

The real history: Late in the 19th century the Chicago Indianapolis & Louisville (known as the Monon Route) realized its long-term viability depended on its ability to expand beyond the Indiana state lines and create more of an east-west axis for its traffic. To that end it began the process of acquiring a newly-started line in central Kentucky with the idea of linking the Kentucky and West Virginia coal fields with a single-carrier route to Chicago. The deal was killed in the eleventh hour by parties affiliated with the L&N, which provided the Monon's lone interchange at its southern terminus.

My added history: After WWII, the re-energized Monon revived its eastern expansion ambitions. Its first step was the acquisition of a sleepy low-budget short line called the Notyme & Munee Railroad in east-central Kentucky. The line was attractive because of its central location and the fact that its western terminus was near Lexington. The line at first remained isolated from its new parent system through the long drawn-out legal wrangling process, though its mishmash of motive power slowly acquired the Monon's signature black-and-gold paint scheme. I model that time period, when the line still operated as a slow-paced shoestring budget operation, rostering an eclectic mix of both prototypical and not-so-prototypical but "proto-plausible" locomotives.
 
Prototype Name/Location with Freelance Details

My model railroad is based on the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling (CL&W) subdivision of the B&O in Cleveland, OH. I chose this line because, in addition to being part of my favorite prototype road, it:

(1) has a large lakefront** steel mill as its largest customer;
(2) has numerous small trackside industries;
(3) occasionally runs short trains, of ~10-15 cars, behind lashups of 3 or more locomotives (some of which are most likely being pulled "dead" to some other division point). So my trains can look exactly like photos of CL&W trains, even without selective compression!:D

Unlike the real CL&W, however, my line:
(1) has a slightly higher volume of traffic [~10 trains a day] than its prototype namesake [2-3 trains];
(2) carries 'bridge' intermodal traffic;
(3) connects to the ficticious Iron Belt, a terminal short line owned by the steel mill;
(4) the names of all its lineside industries are made-up (real town names are used, however).

This setup allows me to have a broad variety of operating scenarioes, enough to keep at least 4 people occupied during a 2-hour op session.



** 'lakefront' - the mill receives its iron ore via Great Lakes ore boats
 
montanan said:
The Logan Valley is a short line railroad that connects with the Northern Pacific Railway at Logan Montana, which was a busy point on the NP. The logan Valley travels south to Gallatin Gateway, MT where it connects with one real and one other freelanced railroad. The Milwaukee Road ended one of its branch lines in Gallatin Gateway, there after the turn of the centruy, it would bring passengers to the Gateway In, which is now a national historic site. Passengers would stay at the Inn and then take stage coaches south to Yellowstone National Park. The other ficticious railroad that connect at Gallatin Gateway (Gallatin Jct) is the Gallatin Canyon and Western. This railroad was partially owned by the NP, and went south to West Yellowstone and connected with the Union Pacific. My friend who has the Gallatin Canyon & Western passed away a few years back, so in my imaginary history, the Logan Valley has bought out the GC&W, and now being that it connects with the Milwaukee Road, has added business carrying passengers to Yellowstone Park, and also acts as a bridge line to the UP. I still have a few locomotives and freight cars csutom painted for the GC&W. This also gives the NP another route south to Yellowstone Park. The NP used to have a branch line going to Gardiner, MT, which is the north entrance to Yellowstone Park. My Logan Valley stops at Gallatin Junction, but I have hidden staging tracks that trains can be made up and sent off south to West Yellowstone. The Logan Valley also serves a couple of small towns between Logan, MT and Gallatin Jct that provides rail traffic with cattle, grain, along with a small timber loading spur which provides logs to a lumber mill at Gallatin Jct. There is also a meat packing plant at Gallatin Jct, which provides rail traffic to Logan, MT for the NP. The model railroad is a "point to point" railroad, but with the hidden staging yards, can be run continuously also. I still have to build the yard and town of Logan. Even without the town of Logan built, I have a lot of switching that can be done in the small towns already built.
Click to expand...



Excellent backstory you have there. I am sorry your friend passed away, but it is interesting in how your railroad "took"over his. Thanks for sharing.
 
Roger Hensley said:
East Central Indiana
HO Scale Railroad

Like many model railroads, the ECI has been built and rebuilt several times. There have also been those times when there has been no movement at all. Indeed, now the railroad has begun to move back in time to be able to run NYC, PRR and PC cars.

The ECI is a 1970 short line operating out of Anderson in North Central Indiana southward over the ex-New York Central (CCC&StL) Michigan Division/PC North Vernon Secondary purchased from Penn Central. The ECI runs through Emporia, Rushville, and Greensburg, terminating in the Southern Indiana town of Westport.

Connections are made with the Central Indiana & Western (CIW) at Anderson, the Chicago, Emporia & Evansville (CEE) at Emporia, and the Chessie System at Rushville. The ECI and CEE share trackage between Anderson and Westport under control of the ECI Dispatcher working out of the South Anderson Yards.

The majority of customers are small industrial companies (pipes, plastics, autoparts, etc.) as well as several heavy grain operations and one small stone quarry sending occasional shipments off line to dealers nationwide from their quarry near Westport.

Although the line is not truly prosperous, it is making money and has outstanding Service Facilities with a maintenance crew devoted to rebuild and maintenance with tender loving care. This is attested to by the E7 ex-NYC Unit that has been placed into service pulling an Excursion Train consisting of refurbished passenger cars running from Anderson to Westport monthly during summer months and the NYC GP7 and rebuilt 0-8-0 that now does the major freight work on ECI trackage. ECI's GP38-2 is handling the grain operation at Westport.

With its small but dedicated staff of employees, the ECI tends to reflect the sense of optimism found in its headquarters city of Anderson as to a solid future in providing high quality service to its clients as well as presenting rail service in a favorable light to more people

ECI Layout Timeline
1980 - original 4x7 layout. Town of Westport.
1983 - 4x4 yard section added. Now L shaped.
1986 - removed yard section and built across back wall with new yard with return loop. To be connected to a new city section.
1987 - raised layout 6 inches.
1988 - city area in place with track through it and reversing lopp under.
1991 - East Yard added to extend track through and beyond city.
1995 - major operational problems with original track moving with seasons. Ripped out original table structure, saved farm area and all buildings. Reversed layout of town of Westport placing farm at other end of section.
1997 - added a leg to Westport for Grain Operation.
1999 - Began changing to under table slo-motion switch machines and LED control panel operations. Began rebuilding of grain elevator area.
2004 - replaced an industry in East Yard with new plastics plant.
2005 - Installed new backdrop behind grain elevator area.
2006 - Completed the grain elevator scene with buildings, storage bins and actual elevators.
2006 - Completed Westport with cars, figures, trees and buildings.
2007 - Placed oil dealer on layout
2008 - Ripped off half of city to correct the underlying track.
I say that it is the same layout, but the only original piece is the farm scene.
To me, a layout is like the Energizer Bunny... It keeps going, and going, and... I only know one man who finished his layout and he promptly lost interest. - rph
Click to expand...


Great story and time line. Really like how you laid out the milestones of the railroad. Sounds like a railroad I would not mind taking a excursion on...lol. Thanks for sharing
 
Oh5oh said:
My pike is called the N&M Division of the Monon Railroad

The real history: Late in the 19th century the Chicago Indianapolis & Louisville (known as the Monon Route) realized its long-term viability depended on its ability to expand beyond the Indiana state lines and create more of an east-west axis for its traffic. To that end it began the process of acquiring a newly-started line in central Kentucky with the idea of linking the Kentucky and West Virginia coal fields with a single-carrier route to Chicago. The deal was killed in the eleventh hour by parties affiliated with the L&N, which provided the Monon's lone interchange at its southern terminus.

My added history: After WWII, the re-energized Monon revived its eastern expansion ambitions. Its first step was the acquisition of a sleepy low-budget short line called the Notyme & Munee Railroad in east-central Kentucky. The line was attractive because of its central location and the fact that its western terminus was near Lexington. The line at first remained isolated from its new parent system through the long drawn-out legal wrangling process, though its mishmash of motive power slowly acquired the Monon's signature black-and-gold paint scheme. I model that time period, when the line still operated as a slow-paced shoestring budget operation, rostering an eclectic mix of both prototypical and not-so-prototypical but "proto-plausible" locomotives.
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Sounds like yours and my railroads are in competition with each other over ccoal out of WV and KY...lol. And mine also terminates in Lexington so maybe we'll cross lines at some point. Thanks for sharing.
 
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