Introduction To My Model Railroading Activities
My activities in model railroading include building
a layout, belonging to the NMRA, and working on a club layout in Morgantown, WV.
My layout, the Geneva, Ithaca, and Sayre, is set in the Finger Lakes region
of upstate New York, and is based loosely on the Lehigh Valley
Railroad during the late 1800's. Rolling stock follows LV prototypes, but structures represent several railroads and locales.
So, I'm not a purist. In fact, a scratchbuilt enclosed water tank is based on an Erie RR prototype,
a pagoda-style station was built by the DL&W, and other structures are from various places in the Finger Lakes region.
An article about my layout was published in the
January 2000 NMRA Bulletin, and an article I wrote about building flatcars was published in the
April 2003 NMRA Bulletin.
My principal interests are the history and the modeling of railroad before 1900. I enjoy the look of these early trains, and try to imagine them as part of a serious economic endeaver, rather than as the cute toys that early trains of this period are portrayed. Modeling this period complements my interest in old homes, architecture, and antiques. My experiences in renovating an 1859 home have trained me to look for everyday things that characterize the period, and to imagine life back then.
This site shows photos and trackplan of my old model railroad, some articles I wrote for the newsletter of MCR Division 2 of the NMRA, and a bibliography of articles on shortlines that have appeared in Railroad Model Craftsman .
I am planning and have started construction of a new layout in a room above our garage. The space is larger and will give me more flexibility. In addition, I am going to use a different approach to benchwork and track design. As opposed to my current layout, it will be based on an actual prototype in track plan and operations, hence my reason for putting together the bibliography on shortlines. I hope to put up some pictures as work progresses.
Articles and Information
I have found a lot of inspiration from articles in Railroad Model Craftsman. Here's a
Bibliography of Shortlines in that magazine.
A number of years ago I wrote several articles for the newsletter of Div. 2 of the MidCentral Region of the NMRA which sum up my
model railroading philosophy. They are entitled Sense of Time and Place and
Period Modeling.
Here's a page about Boxcar History and Models