A Great Railroad At Work

If you don't know anything about the New York, New Haven & Hartford (a.k.a. "the New Haven), "A Great Railroad at Work" is the definitive view of the railroad during its prime and the perfect way to get acquainted. It's just a little bit before my era, and all B&W, but nothing can beat it for setting the proper context for my four local freights, not to mention the many mainline trains - every single one of the Shore Line trains between Boston and New York went through Old Saybrook. But - alas! - no footage of Saybrook here.

Nevertheless, in keeping with our video theme from yesterday, I herewith offer probably the single best video produced for the Mighty New Haven . . .

Fun Film - New Alco/GE FA Locomotives

Not the Valley Line, but certainly the New York, New Haven & Hartford! Many of you may already be familiar with this great 15 minute film, produced by Alco-GE to promote they new FA freight locomotives and their use on the New Haven's Maybrook Line.

It's admittedly slightly off topic here, but it's great color footage from right smack dab in the middle of my era, so I wanted to be sure and post it for my - and hopefully your - enjoyment.

North Wethersfield & East Berlin: Cardboard Strips & Plaster Cloth

After the sessions last Thursday and Saturday, I was itchin' to get back to the Rt. 15 overpass area at the north end of Wethersfield and East Berlin. As you may recall, this is pretty much what the area has looked like for months (if not years) now. . .

Rt. 15 overpass with Hartford skyline in the back, Valley Line coming south on the left toward Ballantine's Beer Distributor, Berlin Branch heading, um, north across the Mattabessett River toward East Berlin on the right. 

Not knowing how to go about doing the Rt. 15 overpass accurately has really held things up since I've been assuming all along that I needed to have that - as well as the abutments - done and in before I could start the scenery base in that area. Fortunately, friend MikeR is fooling around with Sketchup and coming up with some really cool and encouraging mockups for what might be possible with the bridge - and in the meantime, I decided I could at least get the scenery support started - stopping just short of the bridge area (figuring I could fill it in later).

I'm still not quite comfortable with foam as a scenery base (click here for my erstwhile experience), so I rely pretty heavily on tried-and-true cardboard strips and plaster cloth. It's easy, relatively cheap, and - most importantly - I'm familiar and comfortable with it.

I started by hot gluing the first profile strips to the backdrop . . .

The terrain from Ballantine's to the Rt. 15 overpass is a gradual upslope, as you can start to see here.

Construction goes pretty quickly with hot glue and clothespins. I filled in the area between the Valley Line and the Berlin Branch with a small hill to visually separate the two. On the prototype they're miles apart - might as well do what I can to diminish their proximity. The Mattabessett River will be on the right there.

Despite my reluctance to using foam, I admit there are some times when it works much better than cardboard strips - and the area behind the Berlin Branch next to the wall is a good example. Just stack and glue. And rasp. LOTS of rasping - and mess! Not a fan of all those little static-charged particles, but the ShopVac came in handy, for sure!

This was the state of things as I turned my attention to the right & East Berlin proper:

One purpose for the East Berlin branch was to serve brickyards along the line - and the reason the branch went as far as it did was to serve Stanley Chemical, a fairly large paint supplier. On my (admittedly truncated) version of the branch, Kane Brickyard will be in the back right corner and Stanley Chemical will be in the right foreground. It's a fairly compact space, so after the scenery support is done my next step will be to make some mockup structures to see how/whether everything will fit.

Here's the same shot as above with the cardboard strips in. Note that in the narrow areas (foreground), I didn't need a crosspiece. Also note that I covered a gap between the plywood and the wall (on the right side) with a layer of cardboard. That'll all get covered with ground goop later.

While I could have easily covered this gap between the foam and the plywood with a layer of cardboard too (or foamcore as a base for a structure that'll go here), I decided to try some of my drywall mesh tape which is much thinner. All that's needed is something for the ground goop to hang on to.

Did I mention how fast this process goes? I swear, SO much more time is wasted used up by wondering what to do in a particular area than actually doing it. Plaster cloth, while a bit more expensive, is certainly better than plaster-soaked paper towels. I overlapped the sheets by about 30%, but in areas subject to some flexing (leaning on the fascia, for example), I used a double layer.

Compare this with the shot above - and, for that matter, compare these shots with where I was when I started. It's already starting to look better! Certainly evidence of some significant progress - and it only took a few hours!

With the plaster cloth done, the next step would be ground goop and the first layer of scenery, but I'm done here for the time being. Before gooping, I really want to figure out how the brickyard and Stanley Chemical are going to fit in. So more fun research is needed!

I was mentioning to Bill that one of the things I'm really enjoying about this section of the layout is that I don't know a lot about it - and there's not a lot of information available - so I can feel free to freelance a bit and not be so OCD about getting it perfectly identical to the prototype. Just conveying the impression - and telling the story of the line - will be accomplishment enough. And I'm discovering it's an effective antidote to Analysis Paralysis as well.

So I'll continue to surf this wave of motivation for as long as possible. Next, I gotta get back down into Wethersfield proper - and Goff Brook!

Whither the Air Line Local? and some Friday Fun Video

In my last post, I mentioned that we didn't run the Air Line local. I'd done all the prep, paperwork, and staging, so it was all ready to go - just didn't have enough takers for last week's session. Fortunately, Roman was able to come over during last Saturday's rainy afternoon to run the local from "Cedar Hill" (staging) through the towns of Somerset and Mill Hollow to Middletown and back. Here are a few shots taken along the way by the local foamers railfans . . .

They missed the local going north/eastbound through Somerset, but caught up to us entering Mill Hollow.

While we were paused next to the bulk track (but still short of the crossing), they scurried up to the top of a short hill to get this broadside shot.

They got back to the crossing just as we were ready to continue on our way.

Heading into "downtown" Mill Hollow.

Having completed the work in town, we headed across Main Street to continue to Middletown.

A better view of the station at Mill Hollow.

Arriving in Middletown. Not much to see here, but lots of switching.

On the return trip, southbound through Mill Hollow. That photo backdrop behind the station is surprisingly effective (must be due to the colors matching the scenery materials - at least according to my color-blind eyes...).

And doing the late-afternoon switching in Somerset before heading back to Cedar Hill.

With the local tied up again in Cedar Hill, Roman activated the Way Up Machine (just like a "Way Back Machine" - only it goes forward in time...) and got to run his MBTA GP-18 (newly-equipped with LokSound Full Throttle) around Saybrook for a bit. Thankfully, the Saybrook tower operator called his colleagues in Westbrook and Niantic to have them hold the Shore Line trains back for a bit to give the visitor from the future a chance to stretch her legs. . .

Shore Line Shake Down #2

Hope you all had a great Independence Day Weekend/Holiday! While many of you are on vacation this week, the Missus and I had a little "stay-cation" which resulted in some progress on the layout. So much to catch up on over the next few days, but we'll start with last "Friday Eve" (Thursday).

I hadn't had an ops session since April and just realized I never posted about it. Not a lot to report though - it was Shore Line Shake Down #1 and it was all about dialing in the 33 trains that go through the Saybrook Scene in a given session. As I've mentioned before, friend BillC graphically laid out the prototype timetable I'd transcribed for Old Saybrook and since then - with some additional help from Randy, Bill, and Tom - I've been ironing out any/all remaining wrinkles in the choreography. Last April's session was the first run-through/shakedown using BillC's sheet and there was no ops session in May due to my work schedule.

But I was able to get in a June session, right under the wire. It was another Shore Line Shake Down, but this time I added the two Shore Line local freights (PDX-1 & 2) into the mix to see 1) how they'd interact with all the mainline trains, and 2) how the extra personnel would manage with my aisle space.

Verdict? Success! Things are still working out well, despite the addition of a "permanent" guy/crew at Cedar Hill Staging (Tom's our biggest guy, so yeah I figured he'd be the best guy to put in a narrow aisle to really test capacity LOL!). There's still a bit more to learn: I had only 1-man crews on the locals, and I didn't end up running the Air Line local at all (which also occupies the same room as Cedar Hill staging and most of PDX-2's run), but so far so good. At least no big problems emerged and I plan to try a "full capacity" ops session at the end of this month. That should really test things out.

In the meantime, I got another session under my belt, learned some more, added a few more punch list items, and had a lot of fun. If the photos are any indication, I wasn't the only one. . .

PeteL - crew for PDX-1 - has just arrived from the west on Track 6 in Saybrook (aka the "Balloon Track") behind DEY-5 (S-2) #0615 and is figuring out his moves.

Randy played the role of A/O, Tower Operator, and Dispatcher for the session.

PDX-2 rolls into Saybrook from the east behind DERS-1b (RS-1) #0669 with Pieter as crew. You can just make out the "Fort Yard/New London/Points East" crew (aka "Bill") there in the far background.

 

When both locals are in town, it can get pretty busy - and crowded! - especially with all the mainline trains. Pete & Pieter are trying to coordinate their work while Tom (the New Haven/Cedar Hill/Points West operator) brings a Shore Line express westbound from New London.

A (admittedly poor) shot of another in the parade of westbound expresses through Old Saybrook - with PDX-1 waiting in the clear on Track 6.

A very rare, quiet moment between trains at Saybrook, shot from the "bleachers/viewing stand" (aka "The Basement Stairs")

On my layout, PDX-1 has only to work Old Saybrook, and even though it has a lot of waiting to do to try and work around all the Shore Line trains, it's the first job to end. So Pete - having tied up PDX-1 in "New London" (staging) - has joined Pieter to help with PDX-2 up the Valley line here in East Haddam.

PDX-2 does most of its work southbound from E.Haddam, since most of the sidings are trailing point southbound. Here the local is back in Essex with the "Points West" operator keeping an eye on his express train going through the Saybrook scene.

Not positive, but this could in fact be the train itself - stopped, for the moment, at the Saybrook station.

As with most ops sessions, especially "shake down" sessions, there's more to do on the To Do list than when you started. But just like bubbles that creep to the surface as you softly blow across your newly-poured resin pond, such sessions show you what more you need to do to make your more formal sessions as glitch-free as possible. In this respect, SLSD#2 certainly did not disappoint. I have a few things to address, but the more I have these sessions, the fewer things get added to the list. So I know I'm heading in exactly the right direction.

Stay tuned - it's been a busy "staycation" on the Valley Line, so more updates coming in the next few days!

Wordless Wednesday #177 - Dickinson's Truck

At Dickinson's Witch Hazel Warehouse - Essex, CT

Saybrook Special Northbound

The first weekend of the month means that the Essex Steam Train operates its "Saybrook Special" south from Essex to Old Saybrook - and goes right past my house.

So, as often as I can get down to the crossing, I try and get a video. Operating steam is a rare sight - and having it go literally through your backyard is a treat not to be missed.  Enjoy!