I model the NYO&W, and I'm working on a connection to the DL&W. I know the DL&W had well maintained mainline ballast (as opposed to the O&W).
But what I need to know is what the color would have been?
Thanks, Joel
I guess you could say it depends. .. on what locale of the DL&W you are concerned with. Ballast stone is local so depending where the stone is secured from the color changes. It also changes over time as it is quarried. Different areas in the same quarry yeild different colors of stone. Having said that the stone in northwest NJ was quarried fom Limecrest quarry and was really light almost white. Todays stone on the New Jersey Transit owned former DL&W is a mix of light and darker gray with some brows mixed in. So it is difficult to be wrong in whatever color ballast you choose...just don't go for the pinks or tans. Mix and match in the grays will do it. In yards you can include black as theree are still coal cinders to be found
Thanks for responding, guys.
Those are two very different responses.
Maybe some more detail on my part will help.
I'm modeling the area around Binghamton N.Y.
Does that help?
J
Sure does. I was giving you info around the Hoboken to the cut off area out of Port Morris where I worked. I have a friend who lives in Vestal NY just north of Binghamton. Let me get in touch with him and see if we can get you a more accurate description. He has been a Lackawanna modeler for many years.
Good question but would have to rely on photos. What used to be DL&W is now CP and NS and the ballast, I suspect, is considerably different than it was 50 years ago. But I have some local expert friends and will pass the question along. - Bill
There are pics of several stations in Morning Sun books where you can see ballast.
Just curious, are you modelling the interchange in Norwich?
Hi Bob: Unfortunately, I don't own any of the Morning Sun books, haven't found any used ones, and don't care quite enough to spend the money on a new one. I was hoping someone would have a picture to share.
I'm modeling Walton to Sidney and the Delhi Branch. Norwich and Cadosia are in staging. Due to the configuration of the existing layout and trackplan, the DL&W connection had to be a fictious one, and doesn't make too much sense on a map. But in my world, it connects to the DL&W at Binghamton, so I can run DL&W equipment.
Joel
In Binghamton proper, where you could interchange with the Erie, D&H and LV, as well as the Lackawanna, or East of town where you'd just have the one connection over near Conklin yard, or a truly fictitious yard somewhere off toward Chenango Bridge or so. That could be interesting. Good luck with the layout! (Sorry I'm not much help with ballast colours, but "gray with cinders" looks alike to me.)
Hi Bob: I've chosen a fictitious town to semi-represent Chenanago Bridge ( called Shellysburg), with direct connection to fiddle staging in Binghamton, just so I can introduce the Erie, LV and others onto the layout periodcially. Since I model Sidney, I already run some D&H. ( I was a D&H guy for a long time, went to college in Oneonta, once upon a time).
I've settled on the grey with cinders as being close enough. The color and quality of the ballast will make the DL&W trackage clearly different than the O&W, as does the D&H trackage fot he crossing in Sidney.
What are you modeling?
I keep changing my mind between the Elmira, Sayre, Owego and/or Triple Cities areas. I have Erie, D&H, LV and DL&W engines, and most of my N scale stuff is transition era, so I could theoretically model any of those towns. (I grew up in Elmira, have relatives in the Sayre/Athens area, and live in the Triple Cities -- thus the area of interest.) The problem is, I also like EL, so I could do the LV-D&H turns along with EL trains between Sayre-Binghamton, including the LV's Auburn branch in staging. But, I also had fun shooting CSX in Syracuse last summer, so now I'm interested in them, too. The only way CSX would work for the Southern Tier is if I imagine the Chessie successfully took over the EL in 1976; then I could have the ex-LV as a regional carrier, or a piece of the NS system. Too many options, not enough time or money!
I have 8.5' x 25 to play with, and am thinking multi-deck (one LV, one Lackawanna/EL), but who knows. Part of me would like to use part of that space for HO equipment, but leave 12'5' up one side, 8.5' on the end wall, and another 20' down the other side for a J-shaped N scale layout (again, maybe on 2 levels). Another part of me says, leave the HO stuff boxed till I'm too blind to use N and turn the whole thing into an N scale layout.
(Edited for clarity and to add information.)