Freelanced Model Railroad?

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Intermountain

Andre,

Iain had little, if anything to do with the design of the present layout -- he was busy with other issues at the time I planned the thing -- although he certainly looked the plan over and we went back and forth on some issues it wasn't really as much of a collaboration as the old SNE layout was.

The new layout has a lot of elements from various parts of New England, although so far everything is meshing fairly well -- even to my eye. Most all of the equipment will be CV (with some B&M here and there), and I can't resist MEC Harvest Green and Yellow, though that stuff stays on the shelf until no one else is around to see me watching it run around the layout.

Seriously, the layout will be something like Paul Dolkos' B&M -- a compilation of scenes and elements from various places arranged in what I hope will be a logical and appealing manner.

I haven't been completely immune from narrow gauge, and have done some narrow gauge modeling (Sn3) since I moved out here -- another reason for the apparent slow rise of the New England layout. I decided that an Sn3 module was fine, and I didn't need to fill the basement with an Sn3 layout when there were boxes of my pet HO New England models (and lots of detailed and finished freight cars) in the store room.

I think Andy S was a little disppointed though -- he kept offering to give my resin freight cars a good home . . . .

Marty,

If you don't mind my asking, what convinced you to give up the SNE idea? From what you wrote in MRP 2000, the SNE concept did seem to satisfy your desire for CV based modeling without the limitation of a strict adherence to CV prototype.

You could do a lot worse than having a layout similar in concept to Dolkos's B&M. Two of the most tattered and dog-eared issues of MR I have are December, 1995 and April, 2000. I particularly liked his "Working The Mill Job" article in the April, 2000 issue. OTOH, I'm not sure I'm really competent to comment on anyone's layout, since the only layout I ever had was a 4x8 one I had in my early teens (about 1959-1960). However, a month ago, my wife and I bought a house which has a nice clean and dry basement in rural Maine, so now I not only have to figure out what to put in it, but also have to face the fact that it's put up or shut up time as I no longer have any excuse for not having a layout. However (and this is a BIG however), it's a lot more fun to try to figure out what to do with a basement than to dream of what you could do IF only you had a basement.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with making sure no one's watching when you run your MEC equipment with the CV equipment. A couple of years ago, I picked up a Bachmann Branchlines British Rail Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T while visiting the UK. Being in the Blue Riband Line (UK version of Spectrum, I believe), the engine is DCC ready and is equipped with a NEM 362 coupler pocket, which means that I can equip it with Kadees without any hassle. Now picture your CV N-5a double-headed with with one of these: http://www.semg.org.uk/steam/std4t_1.html

Andre

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JamesT1

Thanks guys for your kind words about my sadly spacially challenged bit of "New England".

QUOTE: Odd that you should mention the Maine Central Mountain Division. Herron Rail Video has a nice tape or DVD of the MEC Mountain Divison of about 1950. It includes some nice footage of B&M's summer season train, the Mountaineer. I don't know if the video is available in PAL format, however.

Is this a new tape/DVD or has it been around for a while? I'd really like to get my hands on that (NTSC tapes are not a problem for me my VCR can handle it[:D])

I got the New England bug when my wife and I vacationed there a couple of years ago, I remeber standing at Crawford's Notch Depot and thinking - great scenery, this would make a great model railroad - if only I had the space ....

James,

I got the video about 2 years ago. Herron does sell some PAL format videos through Steam Powered Video in the UK. The MEC Mountain Division video tape is stock number 017 and the DVD is stock number 017D. Herron's web site is at http://www.herronrail.com. I'll warn you that the picture quality is only adequate since the original film was shot by an amateur. The sound dubbing is quite good, except in one or two spots. I think you can glean a lot of modeling information from it. I certainly enjoy it every time I watch it.

How long have you been a member of the Alton MRG? I was at an exhibition in Alton a few years ago when we were visiting the UK. I also took a ride on the Mid-Hants at the same time. The last time I was in the UK (2002), I went on an excursion behind the "Princess Elizabeth" (class 47 London Paddington to Bristol, the "Lizzie" from Bristol to Plymouth). I'll say one thing for you British. When you run a mainline steam excursion, you do it with style and class.

Andre

P.S. I'm writing this only 20 miles away from where MEC #470 sits on display.