The design of any model railroad is influenced by a number of things. The most commonly named in the model railroad press are time, space and money. For me skills as well as energy and willpower are equally important as the first three named. There are also others to take into account.
Design consideration may be constrained by:
- time
- money
- skills
- energy and wilpower
- space
- benchwork
- chosen prototype and period
- yard location
- type of operation
- chosen scale
Some design considerations may be more important than others and during the design process it can change as well.
Case in point: my woodworking skills are not great so I opted to go with an Ikea Ivar storage system as my basic benchwork on which modules and segments will rest. However, I'm having problems locating Oskaloosa's South Yard and in particularly the wye at the south end. It's a very big element and doesn't fit into the Ivar directly so I might have to scale back on the way I want to operate the layout. I'm confident I'll find a solution so I can include a functioning wye and with it the operational benefits of including the beginning of the 11 district and the through freights I can then operate. This in contrast to not making the wye functional and then having all freight cars come from North Yard / staging in the shape of transfers. There is drama missing there and what attracted me to the M&StL in the first place where picture of through freights passing the passenger station. I might have to become good enough at woodworking or find another way to include this important part (to me) of the railroad.
Friday, 29 January 2016
Sunday, 17 January 2016
3 A list of all the interesting places along the line
It's high time I post a list of all the interesting places on the Oskaloosa to Albia line of the M&StL. I'll use the mileposts as markers. Mileposts were calculated with St. Paul Union Depot as the 0 milepost. Most places are so large and / or diverse that I've subdivided them for better presentation of information.
1 MP 301.1 Oskaloosa
- 1a Depot and trackage to North Yard including freight customers north of depot but excluding North Yard itself (with enginehouse) and College area
- 1b Freighthouse, team tracks and related freight customer tracks
- 1c South Yard
- 1d Wye including CRI&P and CBQ trackage below wye in cut
- 1e 11th district to Monmouth and continuing on as 12th district Peoria, both in Illinois, including trackage to freight customers like Clow Valve and interchange with CRI&P
- 1f ex CBQ trackage taken over in 1934
- 1g CRI&P trackage
2 MP 302.6 Tracy Junction, since washout of the bridge over the des Moines River at Tracy in 1947: Fosterdale Junction
- 2a Tracy Junction area but excluding the Beacon area
- 2b Fosterdale Rutherford coal washer and possibly coal mines nearby
- 2c Rochester
- 2d Tracy bridge over Des Moines river and sand and gravel companies
- 2e Tracy crossing of Wabash RR and Tracy CBQ yard (shared with CBQ)
3 MP 303.2 Beacon
- 3a Beacon M&StL
- 3b Beacon CRI&P including spur to coal mines and junction of line to Oskaloosa and K&D mainline to Evansville and Des Moines right near trestle
- 3c Beacon ex CBQ trestle across CRI&P and possibly coal mines
4 MP 304.9 Excelsior
5 MP 306.7 Givin
- 5a Givin M&StL including tracks to coal mines east and south of CRI&P crossing
- 5b Givin bridges over Muchakinnock Creek
- 5c Givin CRI&P including spur to coal mine west of line
6 MP 311.2 Eddyville
- 6a Eddyville CRI&P interchange and spur to sand and gravel company
- 6b Eddyville M&StL depot including spur to sand and gravel company besides Des Moines river in town
- 6c Eddyville Des Moines river bridge
- 6d Eddyville CRI&P depot
7 MP 313 Bridgeport including ISU coal fired power plant but not Cargill (too late)
8 MP 315.9 Coalfield
- 8a Coalfield station sign (depot?)
- 8b Coalfield spur to coal mines
- 8c Coalfield multiple bridges over Miller Creek
9 MP 318.8 Lockman
- 9a Lockman junction to coal mines
- 9b Lockman coal mines
- 9c Lockman trestle
10 MP 319.4 Hickory
- 10a Hickory station sign
- 10b Hickory hill including big trestles over Miller Creek
11 MP 323.2 Maxon
Interchange with CB&Q
12 MP 324.6 Albia
- 12a Albia Depot & freighthouse (joint with Wabash)
- 12b Albia yard, engine facilities, freight track
- 12c crossing of Wabash, M&StL and interurban Iowa Southern Utillities (ISU) including facilities, if any, of the latter interurban
13 MP Rizerville
Junction of line to 1 coal mine and line to Hocking parallel to Wabash and ISU, passing track
14 MP Hocking
Coal mines of subsidiary Hocking Coal Company
That's a long list of items to consider for a railroad in a small room and clearly not everything will make it onto the layout but not bad for a railroad line only 23.5 miles long, right? Also, not all places existed at the same time so there is that to consider.
It feels like I'm trying to fit a gallon (of 3,785 liters) of railroad in a liter of train room...
1 MP 301.1 Oskaloosa
- 1a Depot and trackage to North Yard including freight customers north of depot but excluding North Yard itself (with enginehouse) and College area
- 1b Freighthouse, team tracks and related freight customer tracks
- 1c South Yard
- 1d Wye including CRI&P and CBQ trackage below wye in cut
- 1e 11th district to Monmouth and continuing on as 12th district Peoria, both in Illinois, including trackage to freight customers like Clow Valve and interchange with CRI&P
- 1f ex CBQ trackage taken over in 1934
- 1g CRI&P trackage
2 MP 302.6 Tracy Junction, since washout of the bridge over the des Moines River at Tracy in 1947: Fosterdale Junction
- 2a Tracy Junction area but excluding the Beacon area
- 2b Fosterdale Rutherford coal washer and possibly coal mines nearby
- 2c Rochester
- 2d Tracy bridge over Des Moines river and sand and gravel companies
- 2e Tracy crossing of Wabash RR and Tracy CBQ yard (shared with CBQ)
3 MP 303.2 Beacon
- 3a Beacon M&StL
- 3b Beacon CRI&P including spur to coal mines and junction of line to Oskaloosa and K&D mainline to Evansville and Des Moines right near trestle
- 3c Beacon ex CBQ trestle across CRI&P and possibly coal mines
4 MP 304.9 Excelsior
5 MP 306.7 Givin
- 5a Givin M&StL including tracks to coal mines east and south of CRI&P crossing
- 5b Givin bridges over Muchakinnock Creek
- 5c Givin CRI&P including spur to coal mine west of line
6 MP 311.2 Eddyville
- 6a Eddyville CRI&P interchange and spur to sand and gravel company
- 6b Eddyville M&StL depot including spur to sand and gravel company besides Des Moines river in town
- 6c Eddyville Des Moines river bridge
- 6d Eddyville CRI&P depot
7 MP 313 Bridgeport including ISU coal fired power plant but not Cargill (too late)
8 MP 315.9 Coalfield
- 8a Coalfield station sign (depot?)
- 8b Coalfield spur to coal mines
- 8c Coalfield multiple bridges over Miller Creek
9 MP 318.8 Lockman
- 9a Lockman junction to coal mines
- 9b Lockman coal mines
- 9c Lockman trestle
10 MP 319.4 Hickory
- 10a Hickory station sign
- 10b Hickory hill including big trestles over Miller Creek
11 MP 323.2 Maxon
Interchange with CB&Q
12 MP 324.6 Albia
- 12a Albia Depot & freighthouse (joint with Wabash)
- 12b Albia yard, engine facilities, freight track
- 12c crossing of Wabash, M&StL and interurban Iowa Southern Utillities (ISU) including facilities, if any, of the latter interurban
13 MP Rizerville
Junction of line to 1 coal mine and line to Hocking parallel to Wabash and ISU, passing track
14 MP Hocking
Coal mines of subsidiary Hocking Coal Company
That's a long list of items to consider for a railroad in a small room and clearly not everything will make it onto the layout but not bad for a railroad line only 23.5 miles long, right? Also, not all places existed at the same time so there is that to consider.
It feels like I'm trying to fit a gallon (of 3,785 liters) of railroad in a liter of train room...
Thursday, 17 December 2015
2 Distractions
I have to put the design of the home layout on ice for a bit due to lack of funds. I plan on using Ikea's Ivar storage system as benchwork as I need to store stuff under the modelrailroad. I also want the layout to be easily covered to protect it and I want good lighting.
I'm one of those people who needs to see things in the flesh modelrailroad wise before things sink in as I still have problems visualising N scale. Got some information from my American sources and it seems I have to do some serious thinking as not even a 50 cm deep Ivar is deep enough to contain 4 (of 8) sorting tracks, 2 (of 4) arrival / departure tracks, siding, main and more freight tracks than I thought there were in the South Yard of Oskaloosa Iowa. Not to mention the trackage taken over after the CBQ left town in 1934.
I also need to think about the way I want the storage of trains handled. Current thinking is surround staging on the upper deck featuring Albia Iowa and Hickory Hill down to the Des Moines River at Bridgeport / Eddyville with active interchange by Wabash in Albia and CBQ in Maxon.
The lower deck will contain South Yard at Oskaloosa down to the Des Moines River at Eddyville. Staging here could be done on a deck below that as the line to Peoria would need to curve into the room and thus a small helix could be used.
Lately I've been thinking about using an elevator to go from one deck to another as there is not enough length available to go from one deck to another unless I go to a helix that blocks too much of the small room (which is 360x205 cm) and I don't fancy a twice around through the same scene to gain height or even more.
But all the research is an enjoyable thing so that's no great problem. I do need to think of a way to present it here. If only to make better sense of the information and to see where there are still holes in the information. Would also help in presenting it in this blog.
Meanwhile, a German friend offered to help me with the design of the home layout as well as the reconstruction of some Fremo americaN modules I want to reuse. Theme for that is a section of track just south of Interstate 80 in Grinnell Iowa called G&M Junction and a broad curve just south of it. The M in G&M stands for Montezuma and is a nice place to model also, particularly since the Rock Island had a slightly larger station right next to it but coming from the south wereas the G&M (later Iowa Central then M&StL) came from the northwest via a small place called Ewart.
And then there is Story City Iowa. Another end of the line station on a M&StL branch. This line had its junction at Minerva Junction just northwest of the division point of Marshalltown Iowa and went in a northwesterly direction. The line was build by the Iowa Central & Northwestern, an Iowa Central subsidiary.
I have enough plywood lying around to do Montezuma or Story City. The latter I might do as it is simpler to build and above all easier to transport by train, all straight modules. The Story City line has been reasonably docmented and the line will be a subject for the next layout of a well known M&StL modeller in the USA.
This shows the situation at G&M junction in 1937. The curve is just south of it *with the two groups of trees at the east side and will include the road crossing the railway. Source is http://www.historicaerials.com/
Anyway, that's it for this time.
I'm one of those people who needs to see things in the flesh modelrailroad wise before things sink in as I still have problems visualising N scale. Got some information from my American sources and it seems I have to do some serious thinking as not even a 50 cm deep Ivar is deep enough to contain 4 (of 8) sorting tracks, 2 (of 4) arrival / departure tracks, siding, main and more freight tracks than I thought there were in the South Yard of Oskaloosa Iowa. Not to mention the trackage taken over after the CBQ left town in 1934.
I also need to think about the way I want the storage of trains handled. Current thinking is surround staging on the upper deck featuring Albia Iowa and Hickory Hill down to the Des Moines River at Bridgeport / Eddyville with active interchange by Wabash in Albia and CBQ in Maxon.
The lower deck will contain South Yard at Oskaloosa down to the Des Moines River at Eddyville. Staging here could be done on a deck below that as the line to Peoria would need to curve into the room and thus a small helix could be used.
Lately I've been thinking about using an elevator to go from one deck to another as there is not enough length available to go from one deck to another unless I go to a helix that blocks too much of the small room (which is 360x205 cm) and I don't fancy a twice around through the same scene to gain height or even more.
But all the research is an enjoyable thing so that's no great problem. I do need to think of a way to present it here. If only to make better sense of the information and to see where there are still holes in the information. Would also help in presenting it in this blog.
Meanwhile, a German friend offered to help me with the design of the home layout as well as the reconstruction of some Fremo americaN modules I want to reuse. Theme for that is a section of track just south of Interstate 80 in Grinnell Iowa called G&M Junction and a broad curve just south of it. The M in G&M stands for Montezuma and is a nice place to model also, particularly since the Rock Island had a slightly larger station right next to it but coming from the south wereas the G&M (later Iowa Central then M&StL) came from the northwest via a small place called Ewart.
And then there is Story City Iowa. Another end of the line station on a M&StL branch. This line had its junction at Minerva Junction just northwest of the division point of Marshalltown Iowa and went in a northwesterly direction. The line was build by the Iowa Central & Northwestern, an Iowa Central subsidiary.
I have enough plywood lying around to do Montezuma or Story City. The latter I might do as it is simpler to build and above all easier to transport by train, all straight modules. The Story City line has been reasonably docmented and the line will be a subject for the next layout of a well known M&StL modeller in the USA.
This shows the situation at G&M junction in 1937. The curve is just south of it *with the two groups of trees at the east side and will include the road crossing the railway. Source is http://www.historicaerials.com/
Anyway, that's it for this time.
Thursday, 22 October 2015
1 Introduction
Hello and welcome to this new blog in which I will document the gathering of information for, the design of and hopefully the building of a N scale model railroad set in 1950s Iowa and based on the south end of the 10th district of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad between Oskaloosa to the north and Albia to the south.
Who am I?
My name is Naomi and I'm an archivist (by trade and inclination) living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I have long been fascinated by the M&StL. I can trace this back to a chance buying of a photograph, showing red and white EMD F units approaching the Oskaloosa, Iowa, passenger station from the north, back in 1988 at a meeting of the Contactgroep NMRA Nederland. I had just joined that group and at the twice a year meeting there was a man selling all kinds of postcards and photographs he had collected when he lived in the USA.
My second purchase was a postcard of Wabash Railway EMD F units at a location in southern Ontario, Canada. Another fascination (but less intense) was born. Much later I found out that both railroads had one point in common. That point being Albia in southern Iowa.
For a long time I didn't know what to choose to model and since my railroad interests are rather broad, I collected lots of stuff like books and magazines but never actually build a home modelrailroad. The usual other things like time, space and money interfered too. Around 2006 I made the choice to concentrate on American prototypes and specifically the M&StL. Since then I have dabbled in building modules as I became a member of Fremo and have participated in meetings of the Fremo americaN N scale group since 2009.
However, a severe physical illness (the result of a medical treatment gone wrong) in 2011 and following years (I'm still not in the clear) let to severe mental health problems as well. So I never got around to fixing the problems I had with the modules I had build.
It's only now, october 2015, that I feel well enough to try again. I sorely missed having something to run my model trains on. I didn't even have something to let my locomotives go back and forth or in a circle. I'm convinced it would have proven quite beneficial for my mental health if I had.
So, come along as I try to organise my thoughts, gather information from numerous sources and finally start getting active again in model railroading.
Who am I?
My name is Naomi and I'm an archivist (by trade and inclination) living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I have long been fascinated by the M&StL. I can trace this back to a chance buying of a photograph, showing red and white EMD F units approaching the Oskaloosa, Iowa, passenger station from the north, back in 1988 at a meeting of the Contactgroep NMRA Nederland. I had just joined that group and at the twice a year meeting there was a man selling all kinds of postcards and photographs he had collected when he lived in the USA.
My second purchase was a postcard of Wabash Railway EMD F units at a location in southern Ontario, Canada. Another fascination (but less intense) was born. Much later I found out that both railroads had one point in common. That point being Albia in southern Iowa.
For a long time I didn't know what to choose to model and since my railroad interests are rather broad, I collected lots of stuff like books and magazines but never actually build a home modelrailroad. The usual other things like time, space and money interfered too. Around 2006 I made the choice to concentrate on American prototypes and specifically the M&StL. Since then I have dabbled in building modules as I became a member of Fremo and have participated in meetings of the Fremo americaN N scale group since 2009.
However, a severe physical illness (the result of a medical treatment gone wrong) in 2011 and following years (I'm still not in the clear) let to severe mental health problems as well. So I never got around to fixing the problems I had with the modules I had build.
It's only now, october 2015, that I feel well enough to try again. I sorely missed having something to run my model trains on. I didn't even have something to let my locomotives go back and forth or in a circle. I'm convinced it would have proven quite beneficial for my mental health if I had.
So, come along as I try to organise my thoughts, gather information from numerous sources and finally start getting active again in model railroading.
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