Hi all, I wanted to share my current idea for an NC&StL layout. This would obviously be a "dream layout" (emphasis on dream) and certainly require more than one deck. Any suggestions as to actual layout design are more than welcome, as I've only really got the concept at the moment. The NC&StL never actually reached St. Louis, though they certainly tried. In the late 1870s they were in negotiations to acquire the St. Louis & Southeastern and the Owensboro & Nashville, but the L&N managed to snatch it out from under them. The StL&SE would eventually become the L&N Evansville Division. In 1880 the L&N acquired the NC&StL, though the latter remained independent until 1957. This layout assumes the L&N wasn't able to acquire the StL&SE or the O&N, and the NC&StL now boasts a St. Louis-Atlanta main line and control of the Central of Georgia. The layout, set in 1945-1954 range, is essentially the L&N Evansville Division from E. St. Louis to Evansville, Indiana. The handsome J-3 "Yellow Jackets" are hauling passenger trains like the "Dixie Flyer" and the "Georgian" for the time being, though new EMD E-units will soon take their place. Several other railroads appear through interchanges, while I hope could be modeled as "living" interchanges, as Bill Darnaby refers to them.
Didn't you have this same thing in the Prototype forum at one time? Sure looks familiar.
Just wondering.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewi Didn't you have this same thing in the Prototype forum at one time? Sure looks familiar. Just wondering. Mike.
OK, just wondering, it just looked all so familiar.
Some of what I run on small lay out, involves a lot of "what ifs", between the WC and the CN.
I responded to your other thread, so I guess I'll respond to this one.
If I understand your concept correctly, you want to keep everything the same on the L&N Evansville Division in the 1950 range, except you'll be running NC&STL (and Central of Georgia?) equipment instead of L&N equipment, correct?
Interchanges, industries, timetables (with the idea the railroad runs to slightly different places than the L&N did), and all types of equipment would be as close to accurate for the Evansville Division as possible.
Wouldn't the easiest way to do this is to just research the L&N Evansville Division in the 1950 timeframe and model that?, but just paint the locos to NC&Stl schemes. And swap out more L&N cars with NC&Stl and CofG cars.
Instead of approaching it like you're designing a completely new what if scenario, just approach it as if you're building a layout to model the L&N Evansville Division in 1950.
And the section of the Evansville (Indiana) division you want to model is basically the part that runs through southern Illinois.
- Douglas
Doughless I responded to your other thread, so I guess I'll respond to this one. If I understand your concept correctly, you want to keep everything the same on the L&N Evansville Division in the 1950 range, except you'll be running NC&STL (and Central of Georgia?) equipment instead of L&N equipment, correct? Interchanges, industries, timetables (with the idea the railroad runs to slightly different places than the L&N did), and all types of equipment would be as close to accurate for the Evansville Division as possible. Wouldn't the easiest way to do this is to just research the L&N Evansville Division in the 1950 timeframe and model that?, but just paint the locos to NC&Stl schemes. And swap out more L&N cars with NC&Stl and CofG cars. Instead of approaching it like you're designing a completely new what if scenario, just approach it as if you're building a layout to model the L&N Evansville Division in 1950. And the section of the Evansville (Indiana) division you want to model is basically the part that runs through southern Illinois.
I would suggest researching that Division, or asking your questions in a different way. Maybe ask the public about the L&N on that stretch of land in the 1950's, something that members of a historical society could answer, then take that information to update it for your scenario. I think if you approach it by asking folks to think about your fantasy history, then discuss how that would have impacted real history, is presenting too many moving parts for people to process.
Having said that, if the NCstl acquired that division as well as the CofG, it would have a straight shot from EastSTL to the Savanah port, since the CofG went from Chatanooga to Savannah by passing the Atlanta congestion.
Perhaps the coal fields in southern illinois would have benfited from that more direct port access. Perhaps your railroad would run more coal hoppers on that stretch than the L&N did. Or more cars of many commodities, like grain boxcars for example. I think there are also oil wells in Southern IL, but there may not have been enough to increase tank traffic.
In this scenario, the NC will have a St. Louis-Atlanta main line, and the L&N will have a Cincinnati-Atlanta main. The C&El will connect the NC with Chicago at Evansville as they did with the L&N, and I expect the Monon will do the same for the L&N at Louisville in this scenario.
Can someone please explain the financial "families" of lines with regard to the South? By this I mean J. P. Morgan's Southern and the ACL-L&N-CG. Who would the super-NC most likely ally with against the ACL-L&N? I expect the Southern and Seaboard could be natural allies.
Doughless Having said that, if the NCstl acquired that division as well as the CofG, it would have a straight shot from EastSTL to the Savanah port, since the CofG went from Chatanooga to Savannah by passing the Atlanta congestion. Perhaps the coal fields in southern illinois would have benfited from that more direct port access. Perhaps your railroad would run more coal hoppers on that stretch than the L&N did. Or more cars of many commodities, like grain boxcars for example. I think there are also oil wells in Southern IL, but there may not have been enough to increase tank traffic.
Most of the coal mined in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky went north on the IC and the Q. I've got a lot of photos of LN hoppers in IC coal drags in the 50s so the L&N must have served some mines. I think most of the export coal would have moved through the port of New Orleans getting there by barges on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. There was a huge rail/barge coal interchange in East St Louis. Coal heading for there got there on the IC and the CB&Q had trackage rights on the B&O line into East St Louis.
There was a lot of oil production in the area during that time and there was a refinery in Centralia, IL. Centralia was served by the IC, CB&Q, Southern and M&I during that time. The IC, CB&Q and Southern all had lines into East St Louis (the Q with traffic rights on the B&O as mentioned earlier). The L&N crossed and interchanged with the IC about 20 miles south of Centralia at Ashley IL.
Hope this helps.
Jeff White
Alma, IL