PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[Philip H]

There is another publishing option, one that feeds our collective computer nerdy-ness here:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/contribute

If it's good enough for Lance Mindheim, it's good enough for me.  And they pay on acceptance!

[DKS]

Much more inclined to do NSR or N Scale...

Like I said before... do both.

Be careful with multiple simultaneous submissions. Most magazines do not like like that.

But it should be OK if you submit different articles to different magazines at different times.

[AlkemScaleModels]

There is another publishing option, one that feeds our collective computer nerdy-ness here:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/contribute

If it's good enough for Lance Mindheim, it's good enough for me.  And they pay on acceptance!

True, shame on me for omitting them. I was one of the first contributing editors until I had to back out due to work ethics rules.

[ctrain10]

Excellent work Dave.. I have been following your layout for a couple years now online... I have 2 HCDoors topped with foam my self (but no track as of yet.. I am thinking about connecting the two 36" wide doors together with another 24" HC door ala Dave Popp's layout.. seeing the work you have done inspires me to get it going and working on my own layout.. nice work!

[wm3798]

But it should be OK if you submit different articles to different magazines at different times.

Not necessarily.  I submitted two very different articles to N Scale and NSR, When Pam announced my article last fall, Kirk got his nose all out of joint.

Lee

[DKS]

But it should be OK if you submit different articles to different magazines at different times.

Not necessarily.  I submitted two very different articles to N Scale and NSR, When Pam announced my article last fall, Kirk got his nose all out of joint.

Lee

Well, that's Kirk. He's a kind of touchy fellow. I know of a number of regularly-published authors who place articles across different mags. There shouldn't be an issue, as long as the articles are substantially different.

[Dave V]

In about 2 weeks I'll be crating up the Juniata Division to prepare it for yet another move; this time to Florida's panhandle.  The expectation is that I'm reporting in to be the Director of Operations for the 2d Combat Weather Systems Squadron at Hurlburt Field.  However, this past month I was notified that I made the weather squadron commander list, so I should know by November whether I'll be taking a command the next calendar year.  That's germane to the subject at hand because command is notoriously time-consuming and would likely require the Juniata Division to remain in its currently flawed state.  However, if time allows, I'm really leaning toward doing a cockpit-style railroad next.

Imagine four doors in an overlapping square, starting with Enola yard (the existing module):



The layout totals 8' 8" x 8' 8", but would not require walk-around space.  I'm thinking this is a much more efficient use of space.  I would move that one bridge to hide the stub-end of the current Enola Yard where it buts up against COLA.

Thoughts?

[DKS]

Where does the original Juniata fit in here? Or is it destined for the great train basement in the sky?

[wm3798]

Interesting.  The size should make it work in just about any spare bedroom, with the only major drawback is that the Colonel would have to spend a lot of time on his hands and knees getting in and out of the pit.

Rockville is always going to be a sticky wicket, because no matter how you slice it, it's never going to look big enough.  Atlas viaducts might give the effect of lots of arches, but they're so small as to look goofy.  If you go with larger arches, there won't be enough of them.  Then there's the whole four track wide issue, which is going to make anything look too squat.  That said, you could feasibly do the bridge to be about five to six feet long, which might help.  You might look to Lord Zox's Kankakee bridge, which does a good job of tricking the eye on a 4' module for ideas.

Of course, no matter what, you're going for the flavor of the area, if not the actual dimensions (a healthy compromise, and one you've excelled with on the JD).

You also have the opportunity to work in potential future connections at the corners for the time your real estate becomes more permanent.

Another thought would be to see if you can buy Gregg's old house, which is out there in the panhandle somewhere.  It's already got a keystone number plate over the garage door, and sturdy benchwork built in the bonus room!

Lee

[Dave V]

@DKS, yes, I think the next step for the Juniata Division is salvage...  Curves too sharp, code 80 track, warped door, etc.

@Lee, Gregg lived almost two hours west of where I'll be working.  The Panhandle is actually quite huge.

Yeah, Rockville would be tricky, but how else could I convey the "crossing the river" aspect?

I'm still a glutton for the Middle Division, but have been wanting some urban and industrial scenery and switching.  I'm open to idea for lines in and around Enola that include industry.

[TrainCat2]

Howdy Dave, Welcome to Florida. The land of the Newlyweds and Nearly Deads!

Did Jerry ever sell his Rockville bride? Might be a good start if not. Also, if you mount the doors just below eye level, it would eliminate the jolly (brunswick) green giant perspective and make the entry into the center a lot easier.

[Dave V]

Howdy Dave, Welcome to Florida. The land of the Newlyweds and Nearly Deads!

Did Jerry ever sell his Rockville bride? Might be a good start if not. Also, if you mount the doors just below eye level, it would eliminate the jolly (brunswick) green giant perspective and make the entry into the center a lot easier.

We lived over on the Space Coast for 3.5 years already (Patrick AFB) so Florida is almost a homecoming.

Not to sound mean, but I'm not really looking for Jerry's bridge, mainly because it's a solid Hydrocal chunk and will likely be too heavy and brittle to move around with my constant 2-3 year moves.  I'm also not excited by the linkage system he'd set up for the interlocking.

Nope, I'm having another idea, one which promises to be more doable.  Rather than swing across the river from the north, I could instead do Cola to Shock's Mills bridge (a double-track stone arch of lessor stature than Rockville), up through Wago Junction to Enola.

Something like this:



Industries include the Brunner Island coal-fired power plant near Wago Junction (York Haven) and a paper plant south of Lemoyne.  Columbia has a small interchange yard between the Columbia Branch and the joint A&S/C&PD line along with the Reading Columbia Branch.

I was hoping for some steel mill action, but honestly even a 6'-long door scene just isn't enough to do it justice.

This plan seems more doable.  Plus, there was a little passenger traffic coming through Wago Jct in the PRR era and some very early Amtrak on the C&PD through COLA, which I can "extend" through 1980.

[MichaelWinicki]

Dave, I'm not as familiar with the area(s) that you want to model, but here are my thoughts...

These doors are pretty wide and other than Enola section, you have a lot of real estate from front to back.  Why not run a second line that runs the length of the other modules (or some distance on the other modules)?  This could be a branch line or one of the Reading lines.

[DKS]

These doors are pretty wide and other than Enola section, you have a lot of real estate from front to back.  Why not run a second line that runs the length of the other modules (or some distance on the other modules)?  This could be a branch line or one of the Reading lines.

I believe the doors in his drawing are all two feet wide--not a bad reach.

[Dave V]

Right, those are 2' doors.  The idea would be to allow room for yard and industrial trackage.  The good news is that this plan could at some future date be extended by even more doors.

Then again, theres a very large part of me that thinks I should wait until I retire from the USAF before changing anything significantly, because until I have a permanent layout space, I will have to make lots of compromises.

Nevertheless, the shortcomings of the island-style Juniata Division and its ugly code 80 track continue to bother me somewhat.  It's still much better than no layout at all.