The Third Subdivision of Nickel Plate`s St. Louis
Transcription
The Third Subdivision of Nickel Plate`s St. Louis
11).. . 8-b· . 111,F®tUlT 11111ft®r 1118 Illiri •IliliVISIO# al PL P.- ElPil•F.,RM*198'141igm**,2,4 S,·B .r·· ...5 . Y.:i . I ... ...1 :·. i 1.· 5.. .•Sh.... 1 ./.St -1 ' '•': M: ,,,Fi:,5' r ..// ., ...... ,-· - ......4:i:...'»: 1% .., I *31111.1111 -1111.11 .• .......n:.t.. i'. 'A fr /7 4,•1. 4 4-i/Illi•• - -"fwi --7...• 1.-il-"13/.-. 1....2 I. L -·:e«-- - a I. I '.:'·t:. ·· "':···r 042"77.r u.#*., S. .' .*A ·c:,;-:.:'.·. 4/. :Mid.**'a**:....,•12, " :i.•*, •/1, 0 ie·" *= .:1 ..'..1..'•.'=11='•1•*=.. Af .,•'"f'•«, 042"er*.r'·'" -·I»·.,· . '...., 036.....·:.M..·...6 -:, t..... :...·:. f ..··.....'. ....: ·· '... ' ..•i.·.... :'·'....:,,·.:....,19 • .., '.. '":I:'.:.64.....,.."-. 1 b -,'.2.,.......,. .... 2......0 + -. I .'....»C :.A.*... . ..... -1 - - - < • I:: · 6.i: lilIX , Converting memories from the late-steam era By Tony Koester into an HO layout is offering new challenges •t all started with a move from Iowa to • Indiana in 1951 so my Dad could i manage a brickyard in Cayuga. This plunked me in the middle of some of the best steam action in the country: the Nickel Plate Road's Clover Leaf District main between Frankfort, Ind., and the eastern shore of the Mississippi at Madison, Ill. For the next four years, I spent a lot of time watching a parade of Berkshires and light Mikados storm thi·ough town. Alco PAs on late-night passenger trains were the icing on the cake for this young railfan and modeler. Cayuga is a modest town near the Illinois state line west of Indianapolis. It was also the spot where the doubletrack, and dieselized, Chicago & Eastern Illinois crossed the NKP - more formally, the New York, Chicago & St. Louis - as it angled southwest from Toledo to St. Louis. What made Cayuga special in terms of the NKP is that it sits in the Wabash River valley, which meant that the NKP 64 had to drop down to bridge the river, then climb out again. That was an especially nasty chore westbound, where a twisting 1.29 percent grade - a remnant of this line's narrow-gauge days - could slow Mikado and even Berkshire powered trains to a walk and often required crews to double their trains over Cayuga Hill. And I, for one, was right there watching the whole thing. Building a time machine Alas, steam disappeared from that part of the NKP on July 18, 1955, when Berkshire 730 made the last run. New GP7s and later GP9s from EMD, complemented by Alco RS-3s, took over the role the light Mikes and 700-series Berkshires had handled for so long. The passenger trains went away in 1958. The Nickel Plate itself disappeared into the Norfolk & Western on October 16, 1964, and finally much of the old Clover Leaf- a nickname left over from © 2014 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any MODEL SEPTEMBER formRAILROADER without permission from the publisher. 2000 www.ModelRailroader.com prior to 1922 when it was the Toledo, St. Louis & Western - was pulled up in the late 1980s. If I wanted to see this railroad run again, I needed either a time machine or a place to build a new ca. 1955 model railroad. I had the latter, but there was a catch: My basement was already occupied by the HO Allegheny Midland, a free-lanced Appalachian bridge line and coal hauler. But the AM had provided me with a lot of challenges and enjoyment for a quarter-century, and therefore was fully amortized. It was clearly time to move on to my lifelong goal of modeling the NKP's Third Sub, which ran 113 miles from Frankfort, Ind., to Charleston, Ill., and through my boyhood hometown. So in mid-December 1999, the AM was dismantled and hauled away. Modeling a flatlands race track By good fortune, the S and S-1 Berks of my youth migrated to Ohio coal fields after the St. Louis Division was h Nicltel •lates It. louis line / ,• 4 . t i ,..... * A:./ '., '' .4,/ S,t.•., -* 036 ... *... 4 .... ....... ....3 -1. I..... :..... 036 1. r, .... -- -,/.s.-i:e-·,is.. *;.... - .....4...:........, 036, .'...., '", ' /1 ... 142* 74*4- = : -* :• 443543---.. 4# 7 *4. 4 5*' / 4,1-'11 1 '4t 44-. , . 1'1;441*73 Frankfort, Ind., was a major NKP yard and shop facility in the 1950s. It will also serve as one end of Tony Koester's new HO line. dieselized and hence had ventured ontO the Midland Road. Moreover, most AM steam was based on NKP prototypes, so I can reuse a lot of the nonarticulated locomotives. Building accurate models of town and railroad structures is not a concern, -as 'I enjoy scratcht:':titcl.have extensive •les on --. ,--- -- -*© . JIM OSTLER, FRANKFORT PUBLIC LIBRARY COLLECTION 7--S . -r- -,-».F, C,.-:.6,-, .- i -i'.. - . 7.S Clover Leaf r.•17 crossings-1•1%• 71 / 0 10 • 20_ ,. 3,0 4,0 miles-_-1.lc2*E Linden i - © 2000. Kalmbach Publishing Co.,MODEL RAILROADER• A . ·Veederburg • Robert Wegner and Elisabeth Rowan £ -\ S • 9 1 11'. •v Cayuga L.____ , . liumtick 8&0# 1 1 PRRI , 0 Oakland 1 /. -6 . te .Ke • 1 CHICAGO 91 JNYC e. •f El» :It' "-'fi I ds" FRANKFORT gi \4 a. 1 4 BUFFALO 444<OF#/9 6% - ' Ito NY ) Erie CLE ELAND But miniaturizing key rolling stock and structures is to model only the rail1 ' -7• CHARLESTON l Peoria •·.Frankfort ' 2 4%. CaAton ; 40 e road's physical plant. To model the railf. ./ PA l it 40. 0. .LINOIS roading as well as the railroad, I would • . ; . • · Muncie ( Charleston have to replicate key characteristics of, ,/ ' INDIANAPOLI•S Zanesville WHEELING OHIO NKP operations and even certain i'' . -9/ INDIANA aspects of the jobs routinely performed t-'= M6deled segment STI L•U IS . ..... , / i. 5 . .. - 3.. F 7 by NKP employees. Modeling jobs There's a growing trend toward slower fast clock ratios, allowing us to model more of the jobs performed by professional railroaders. Some railroad jobs are boring, but others are quite fascinating, and not just the high-profile jobs - engineer, yardmaster, and dispatcher - that we concentrate on today. Consider, for example, the station agent and operator. At almost every town along the NKP, as elsewhere, there was an agent of the railroad. He handled LCL (less-than carload-lot) shipments. The agent often handled the operator's chores as well, copying train orders and messages from the dispatcher. To the appreciative ear, the cadence of a dispatcher dictating a train order is among the most memorable sounds of railroading. Why aren't we SEPTEMBER 2000 · MODEL RAILROADER 65 . .. 036-E-. I fi'•g -- -r - 0 . '..., 036-......-- -7...:rr:.f. -, t. ....1 41'... .941 I . 1., .S 49*1 e.-tryllld.6•4Aadfk'14'KiL: r -i,1- - . .i•,•91 . 1.-1.•uf -2{9&7=,fl . . ..1 72::0. '10 ., C • t . •rel,I• 042'.Ell·• •1 - -. ;:... 43 - ' • --•ST•.'1*3 1,- + ..6.»11 1-1-..2,21 P 2 ' ,. . . :1 .gi'•1•' i i., .... I i · . 1..,•,,· ..1.,Ne,9 ,,ilt, • 1 P.1/£af . ·.'f.:. . .' ... 'F. f'l ' :4.' i, •: 036*.• *3•F. "T+•.•-.i .//.WIFT'+..•..H•1 Tr 042Vifrif'-f -......... .'..i..3.... 1...'. a ..- I.I.R. ..'., . T P* ·!.t! .·· ·, - /...v.....&. L.--4, i. ---, ..S.--75*-,-1 CHARLOTTE SCHWAB MILLER COLLECTION i ./: 3 ' '. .i.. p ., ·tt 1. ' .,....... . =:. --... -:<'2.6 -,%2 ..=1=4*4 114 L.-111 13:1 •1 I 1 1"'1 I /, i #•4iudEFR•• Ill, s••'30: L kt-rt'. 1' •'• =45.:9 •.1-·--L- » ·.·t..e-'..-,21:.-». 036'....IZ, rt=.·« - .+ - -·. 3. E + i" *... .2.'.-.,r../..£..,10.- - 1.'·'«i·••'' $ #*-*-'7*d.eawik; ... -- .2. I., 12&4- 94..Utii . ' .': :'$&• 1 '11 -»1-f I' •: ... =.......,.•"«.=--..'• e.r . 1 ..It..:1 4 il .9:+ ItL 1%.- . n--=».,»==--*21--1 WILLARD HARVEY Above: The arched entryway of the NKP depot at Veedersburg, Ind., replicated the style of depots at Marion and Bluffton. The Nickel Plate crossed the New York Central's Peoria & Eastern line and the Chicago, Attica & Southern in Veedersburg. Today only the P&E and NKP passenger depots remain. locals' crews to ensure that the needs of the local shippers are met. Several hours of operation flew by in what seemed like minutes. By then I knew I was on solid ground with "the Nickel Plate project." This was going to work if I focused on the primary objective, which turned out to be more difficult than I expected. working harder to model such aspects of the prototype? Some of us are. Jack Ozanich, a professional railroader, and Bill Darnaby run their sizable HO railroads using timetable and train orders (TT/TO). What really impresses me about this method is the way it moves the decision making out of the dispatcher's office, where it firmly resided in the AM's "Simon-says" centralized traffic control (CTC) environment, and into the locomotive cab. [For more on TT/TO operations, see the August 1999 MR. - Ed.] Bored crews sitting in "the hole" waiting for a signal to change colors are replaced with rule book sharks trying to figure out how they can move on down the line. There's little risk of a A little help from my friends The devil is indeed in the details, but you can drive the demons out by having the right people banging on the drums. In my case, three individuals made especially important contributions. The first was Don Daily, a retired NKP-N&W-Norfolk Southern engineer who was the last fireman to qualify on steam in Frankfort. In addition to being a close friend since the 196Os, Don is a tireless researcher and font of knowledge about things Clover Leaf. I sketched a track plan for the Third Sub and sent it around to a number of experienced operators, including Bill Darnaby, for critique. Bill objected to its relatively short main line and the placement of the west-end staging yard Top: Alco-built Berkshire 707 completes its descent of Cayuga Hill and crosses the C&El diamonds in Cayuga, Ind., the author's boyhood hometown. Towerman William Schwab descends the stairs to observe the eastbound's passage. Westbounds had a tough time of it on the 1.29 percent between here and the Illinois state line. 66 MODEL RAILROADER · SEPTEMBER 2000 serious accident occurring from a mistake, but a sense of doing ajob well that develops among modelers who practice TT/TO operation makes the simulation extremely realistic and rewarding. Participating in TT/TO operating sessions on Darnaby's Maumee, Ozanich's Atlantic Great Eastern, and the La Mesa Club layout in San Diego's Balboa Park led me to believe that a model of the NKP's Third Sub that replicated the most important and interesting railroad jobs could be well worth creating. The busiest crew members on the Maumee are the agent-operators, who not only copy and distribute train orders and set train order signals but also work with the yardmaster and the 4 3 5i<r i /0 . * :0'.ii 7 .i'.! •·•I•'11111.-:• 1.': ..'' ip 4 ' ' 4 6 t•-4.1*tiffflimif *,•. 042,r =4••M•*$•01•* 042,W·:· 36.tz'.•.*.*· 042*e .S p'---2- -'-·-", 036 4- 3,-- -*:. fi..,f-'114 =.' r I "•. ... [email protected] I I . ..ti %. .. :r---- . ........ .'.-I ..... ...11,0.•2-".• ........'.4.9'11.W........ ... - .t *,4*#..=«t: ......'.. -: . ........t 1'' r-'.i• • .R' -P '•,Zt• ., *,-.•.-'W.W ·-... ··r:-4- ···c•.23'•--U , '.. -=C-·r-·'-·•-/16*).... 'i, -1',t 042 144 042, - *r+-•h:' • ' " .4 ·._ = .4..4. -3 -' ; '" .•tl S.'' I.. C .'-'/fly».I.- ': * / •••.:/ ...•*,01=24:'. 036=t'7,1 + 1- ,- -1 1 . ..2-"Ir'• 7.":.1••2 ..' -St....=,-'4•·, 042. . -- ....: -,4 . ...... ...., -1 JOE COLLIAS 1.** *b.342.. 0/*-*rw/Mt-<-'· ·.7- in the middle of the Third Sub at the Indiana-Illinois state line -the result of its single-level design. Instead, he advised, I should model the yards and engine facilities at both ends of the division so crews would have the sense of going to work, getting on the engine, making an extensive run over the division, and then tying up at the end of the run. That would require double-decking the railroad and, I protested, I didn't like multilevel railroads. Bill noted that he, the guy who built the multi-deck Maumee, didn't really like them either. "But I like what they let me do." He went on to say that in order to re-create the type of high-speed, single-track railroading featured on the NKP's Third Sub, I'd have to figure out liow to include eight scale miles (480 feet) of main line. Ten scale miles - 600 feet as on the Maumee, would be even betten Yikes! . .Nickel Plate S-1 class Berkshire no. 724 eases a westbound freight by the yard office and into Charleston, 111., in the summer of 1950. The desire to re-create this kind of railroading has lead Tony Koester to design a large multideck Nickel Plate layout to replace his AM. The prime directive Remarkably, the instant I understood that to meet the primary objective - to create an accurate model of the Garages are for... turnback curves? The plan that accompanies this article is largely Frank's work. I sent him topographic maps and official NKP NKP's Third Sub that supports TT/TO operation during runs between division points - I would have to build a multilevel layout, my attitude about them changed overnight. I had relearned an important lesson of layout design: Define your primary objective very tightly. When major compromises in reaching your objective loom ahead, either change the primary objective or compromise only subordinate objectives. Then decide whether you can live with the result. Bill suggested I send a copy of the plan to another NKP modeler, Frank Hodina. Frank made another key observation: Putting Frankfort yard in the alcove where South Fork yard was on the AM [see February 1997 MR for the AM track plan. - Ed.] forced a similar bend in the middle. Frankfort is straight as an arrow, he reminded me, and compromises to such an important prototype feature like that shouldn't be taken lightly. I revised the plan to a two-level design featuring around six scale miles of main line, then fired it off to the board of .chosen critics. This plan included the second yard at Charleston but located it on the top level above the central peninsula, thus potentially clogging not one but two main aisles with people who invariably gather around yards like relatives in the kitchen during the holidays. And it still had a bend in Frankfort yard, the result of my desire to retain the AM's staging yards. "Still too short," said Bill. "That bend at Frankfort has to go," said Frank, who closed off further debate by saying that he'd put a revised plan in the mail. "I think youlllike it," he ventured. That was a major understatement. It was stunning. SEPTEMBER 2000 · 'MODEL RAILROADER 67 .....,- .....S=•,3.... i.·N·", A . I. - .....3 : I le.t: ': ... . W .• '1, , -IT..... ':•·7 .-L - lig- ' 43 11.. r: -.. . ..i. ...6 I .5-" , .... :. ... -»73, ff'.. il•. 11 1 1-1-11-1 1 -1 1 :it-:f.3.......: , ' ... .8. . 121.1:1:1=,1:*1:• t-', _7.3 .'·•.. 042·•.;·• . .''..'.•• •-IXI//2122=-·.1.';•-''•-' -.1-..··if·.i·t .-•:.·--4.'•: .... , . 4 .... 4 · ·' ' it', /4 b e : =2 " li r M «1.:. -:: FI'..1 1 :-1•LATS:'r+Erju --tkiliaj.Lia,""fi,f.:;*1·*ST . . ...,-=--.,r,-......'"•.:f:'2 . ......k ....... ,.... =./. . . :- t-: ·-:= 3 .r.·-r.···- 44::,., •• •, · · '.·,.. ,;• - .d:.Li.4. «:. E:. 4-87... ../mii:9' t... ...,-· . ":M '...:"t : (.....,'11.:' .....:.9 J ' Frankfort was and is an industrialized city of modest size, with feed and grain elevators scattered along the NKP main adjacent to the business district. The two tracks are the former Clover Leaf and Lake Erie & Western mains - after 1922 both were in the NKP fold. track diagrams for each town I wanted to include. During a field trip along the Third Sub, I located some scale engineering drawings of key sections of the line in Illinois, and Don provided drawings of Frankfort yard. Then Scott Stephenson did Frank and me a huge favor by redrawing Frank's plan in AutoCAD, which makes updates and even major revisions much easier. Frank ignored the mental baggage that I was carrying around from my quarter-century of living with the Allegheny Midland. While I looked at the adjoining garage as a place exclusively for a car, for example, Frank saw it as a place for a turnback curve - and another 50 feet of main, counting both levels. The front of the car could nestle under one side of that curve, we later decided, as long as the stepped partition wall was properly fireproofed. Frank's plan moved Frankfort to the long wall of the basement, which had been made even longer - about 63 feet 68 MODEL RAILROADER .1 * SEPTEMBER 2000 by removing the wall that had divided the original AM from the newer Coal Fork Extension in what had once been the family room, and by using part of the garage. The bend was, of course, now gone. Frank located Charleston on the upper level above where South Fork had been on the AM. Since Charleston • needed to be high above the floor due to the around-the-room spiral climb as the railroad progressed westward, he moved the yard out from the wall and provided an isolated and elevated yardmaster work area between the yard and wall. Sanity check When the new Third Sub plan was posted at a regional NMRA convention next to a plan for an Appalachian coal hauler, which featured the flowing curves so typical of that region's followthe-river railroads, a friend wondered aloud as to my sanity. Where, he asked, are all of the flowing curves so typical of - .. '.:. -4.J ..t':...:.':S •' ......1. 11*iti,·=«·...,3,!i,EN) D.6....•6 '*Or.*MIT./.*aill'' R; ....- .r·i•_4•r- Qr. "•':.4 :t..., ·. ili-. · ' .,1........ 3* . . r- .'.R.... 4-WI-J'."•"' .*'i·.2 .,•&22 /0. 11' 1 * 4 1 F *.. 9 :,t ' •al" /. . 4, .> . ,si. 1..*... I,it«1 .. :42.:·:.•I.•t'.•28 1 .... .... ......., y .f'. t.35,44-'.'r-64 I -3- 2 ..FI.C.i 7 'i" IS·.··:·,1.·r....: ,\ -,1.-.......+, ., ..: :....: 036 . ..'.':.).it:.... I l- •• F -.-:- - ............... i.......... *: - '* :) :. .# :- • I _• . '.-2.. ... .-·pl:'. :.1 Ill.4 . ........".., 036.... -·/7 1.- 1.-1:'hii:.-:..· 4...•.7*'..A. "·:,1 -+· - '-: r ..4,I t... ..'.2.. ··' ,-........... =......t :.:-.•*i...i'. .-".-'... , ..../.... - 'll:'.'.,-.,.......-,-I...... - 042-·... 042...S=.....1 =7=. lit. 042 , ..........'....•.-./. #St===4 036il. t *....I--, 036....4 036.7 --': *4. .. ../ I _:2.., 036 042·I:-9-.I'%* *,=,»,=».2,01//0/,// the AM? Why is the main line so boringly straight? Why is .it on a narrow shelf unrelentingly parallel to the fascia and aisle? And why was I trading beautiful mountain vistas across parallel ridges for the unending blandness of the prairies tucked into the shadow-box constraints of multilevel benchwork? He had a point. When Bill Darnaby, Don Daily, Perry Squier, and I recently drove along the entire Third Sub and found ourselves in the middle of a featureless prairie where one had to squint to see a grain elevator on the distant horizon, I couldn't help but mutter, " How could anyone consider a Colorado or West Virginia setting when they could model 'scenery' like this?" Bill saw it differently. Since I had but a narrow shelf upon which to place the railroad, a constraint of having to squeeze at least eight scale miles of main line into the basement, the very lack of major scenic elements was a bonus. There was nothing to edit out, no towering mountains to be truncated by a closely spaced upper deck. Besides, small towns with grain elevators and interchanges are cool. 1 •1. S. b' . ..'ll-.-'. r---1=" /1 :/, 1 i' ' 4; E :. .....#itf, - d.'., K. .-·· 4,3'& 9'•, A , B':. :r•=-. B1. ..·····.· 042,·· ····••1···*/-, ·.-i.,t·...2 ' t 1 2 :1.:19.11'i-il ,•*ft.6•.tiv: -- ':\·I'lil-:' 8 . I.. 036 . ' 036 I. ." ..... 'Xti•'5..:. ·· i ..·i. t.·,.,:,·.::: ·•·:· 7. *:.... ..... . d 4 -. : ' IL_.,2 .:.- 1 LIA--frn#ukal# ':bm.#657- 444 v -- - -li 1 042 042· 042*4.· 042··· 042.-• 'S'..·.. /77%/WEBA,Fl•••I' • -1 11• 1'•11'·•'•· ·11••• • .........,3/t'.:1'. f yi .:-:.., 13......• 'r.,=: . .0.- 1, ..=,7 036....., 2.,., r....:,·A •r.:.2.1 T --1 t.:;:i: ....'.. 036f'.:: 1.6, 1 L:.•.1:::1.:..:·0.:•:;:...t:.7-::. I "1 .. :................... . . .... ..... ..... .........'ll 036... ....... .-,.......-......... -../--.-« #. 1 *= .-I ,6 1.ilii.illii **Mk*:,· , 3I84/,Il., · 042,· 2".-•*· 042r· f-· . 042. 042 042 lilI ..... 042 042 .r-6 042' n,6; 042 0042· 4i2...1042 . 042 ·042 042. ...042I 042,042042I.'042,1 042·042 042 042.1 . '..... . 042• ' 042 7 042.,9,·lh·,*,1,*• ...... /..1 4.. '..• I' . i:i,tii•:: .. ..:.19:20:,Zi·*Ml .. > i.I.-#, '-- ' .: .'*42 '.:-22,53:'/,9'>- ... 6 v ............ r Er<EJUSH .'.. 44 .*. i'• •Ir..7--'-' 11 Ii.::::! :il:' ':::'1::::'0...t'...<•. ··a. . \., 't 1.iii '. --. S#14 + 6 I..3-7.3 -4 • 442 0360 . t. Al ... 1.. ill 1.-2 Rmi.':•t- ' ,4 1 73 t..:: ·Ic--I-•--alt_..1':. ': :'.· ·. Exi-».. · -:•.T.t•:.,. '/.kiBU 2*491 ·' 036 •·• 1 1% .i·,··'••..... •.i it t. ,i..':,..l.·g,1,·6 ,, 9< • , ' :. ' l..·... :·, ·I.. ··· 4.49.. :.....-.-.......'.'.. i:ft..1 1.......... w..·-·· --- .......».E.» 'r•'.. -I-..:'.- ttffit,t'4,"•3••i."Illi". "." •,i•: ,, .·AS··'·•»5••."·Sl•' d .',-, 036.,t..... .......... •t.''f'%;Ff'.*f.. : Al i.*.th d,9,Li lit.......... CS il:,th t *4,.- 1 ./imlill'll,Ir* . . 11,4 r.....1/Kilrie:•,:Et'. 39'.-1 2-z-,ts.:ns?=•:==:=»1.-S =2 -·.:·*.Lii;-:,C•. * *'., ,- ......./Ii-I.I.'-./-/4-I; ..1--'•,= , .......:..... - 4 .. .... .:...... 036. ... ... -.....-. 036......:... -21..,»•.--•....1.1,1.,t-'.'.t.-, -1, .. :I.G.........: ...'" 3..Li· .. .. ·- 9..: '• '• , 0: 1.er- '24'.4...'.p. 31*·, f 042' --- 036<,·I '.-.4 ..,A' F." '.. .... ..': ./r"'......1*01*4Aj+&69•t...' ... . 1 ift . ·' «St /t,1 •111*, •1*2..4, ..*. 036 17,42·. 1. 11,1,£-b••-1-•1 &1 -I-FI 1 1- -- -1- 31't,«•,» - •·t• "·*·A44 J•:6·=i(.,·. 1 '1:Iii»" 1- . 1 1• 1:i '11 4 u· r '.» Sti,:221.·*78(:,:A,·.:13.-: t.. '-'E ri,.- ;·. 2-:r -...., 4,;'T•.'#'1•.•,•4f..'-Wz.fi•..•£"6,.9•M--1 : ... . .",N-' K...., IA.,"-'·-'•.·-,%&·:'··'·',:1.2.'.··' I.-7>.'t'•·,44#<•.e ...... . ..........-'» 2,#O&r• 3 JIM OSTLER, FRANKFORT PUBLIC LIBRARY COLLECTION I Severely, and deliberately, linear The long, narrow, and perhaps monotonous shelves are a key aspect of the railroad's design. In fact, the backdrop was kept close to the main even at the end of the peninsula, although there was room for a deeper scene on both levels, as this reinforced the linear nature of the railroad. The railroad was arranged to get as much mainline run out of the floor space as we could manage while replieating the prototype's long tangents. This supported the primary operational objective: giving crews enough railroad to become immersed in getting a train over the division. On the Third Sub, that meant using the rules governing timetable-and-train-order operation overlaid in some areas with automatic or manual block signals. We'll cover some of the planned operations next month but, briefly put, the movement of trains was governed by what was printed in the books of rules and the employee timetable. When that needed to be modified - if an extra train was needed, or a train running late threatened to adversely ... -- 37-'f-3--·-- ..4 ·r'i BOTH: TONY KOESTER "Industry" in Cayuga consisted of an eclectic mix of businesses including a grain elevator ( above). West of town is the brickyard (top) managed by the author's father from 1951 to 1958. Today it operates what are reported to be the last coal-fired kilns in the countrg. affect train movements - train orders were issued. Sections of automaticblock and manual-block territory served as overlays to the IT/rO system to enhance safety and efficiency. Covering manual-block operations in detail is beyond the scope of this article (and this writer) at the present time. Learning how the manual-block system worked on the NKP, and then figuring out how to model it, requires more homework. Consider the following: A block operator kept the block signal, which looked like a train-order signal, in the stop position until an approaching train whistled to acknowledge it, then - if the next block was clear raised the blade. The presence of a train order or message to be picked up was indicated by a metal banner hung on the block signal's mast. Modeling the engineer-operator interplay and somehow "hanging" the banner looks like it will be a'n interesting challenge. And why is such a long run needed? One could obviously model TT/TO operation with a single town, although ' much of the interaction between the various players in this game would be lost. It's important to understand that, were I modeling a different type of railroad, especially one that was slowerpaced, then a much shorter main line could have readily supported enjoyable TT/ID'operation. It was the type ofrailroading I plan to model and the desire to model a run over the entire subdivision that pushed me toward the eightto-ten-scale-mile goal. Climbing the walls - literally An important aspect of multilevel layout design is the need to climb between decks. One method is to use a spiral helix, which looks like a coil spring. But there can be significant disadvantages, chief among them tlie fact that a helix takes up a lot of floor space and mandates a lot of hidden running. A more comfortable approach for SEPTEMBER 2000 · MODEL RAILROADER 69 Swift bean plant f 1 / ....•..: Westbound caboose track -A Westbound yard 1, 2 x 4 stud wall Westbound Oil yard office company | \\ 1 \ 1 7, \ -> - ··iliz,j,,···7.,··S,. .-/ ·13" = Eastbound • Icehouse RIE 036track lick Run 1111•111•111•111•11-1•111 1•1- !\ -»»=-1 03 =131'nc•.1--coa,1 ««"d-1Eastbound ya:d 1 - -11--11--• •••11 •11•111 Freight house • Elevator •FRANKFORT, IND. / Concrete Mon611 (Cl&L) \ 9 /Team 0 Monon interchange •"'·u'*•-9.1.«•,• raIL-c. LINDEN, IND. •Dept5,4·AA(track 1\ i Shop • Store house 9,nder Veedersburg) · '.........:-:*7.5,.....: 036....31 •:3 ./.. ...11.11" -.'"I-- "-..»" "'..-'.A;"'-•' --.-, 1 Stel•ped"" 1,· -'•TI·Peo,it'• "•1-••- ' " %/ i partition,wall ·,· •1Dv.staging -&574;,rj4I:F+•'·:f,#,EfiT.L.....»,,.«•I;=.-7, Tpl •'•»-' 036:...•--·.· .,:•2<532_ - --"S"St 036.'.5.... t- .. \'»'., 036 036,-1•.\ -> \. 5 |,..6, r ,,·'. ,-· Castihg: factory " otbck 811 El*ator / \ TTower Depot . coail Ballasted\3<3: " -p&E_-2&¢INY.Cl -._-- Co-•p•.,ittl, ouse penk.---tanks--F ' -- < : Chioago,'Attic-Q & .1 Creek-deck------:---25.,<'\ f'.Southern,(abandoned 1945) - • Brickyarg trestle : \• i depot VEEDERSBURG, IND. o• Post 11...t ... 72 - 2- 1.:.1 1 I ; ':·i·r . ...•., .:... ••1 I ilt : .,., -,Deck,girder bridge--i-: - Coal Cree• 1.,--.:: L.....2-:. -t':i 1 1 ' : '- 'ADoor from garage / , \ Lift-out • •'• , .• (relocgted) ; 1.7-:.:.--4.-=- '·T6'middle level••• 4. A•. _.1 036(caybg.9.,Infl 1 ./ section • 036Fireplace· ,. 2 foundation ·, ' Stairs up 1 1 -I .....1.. '' . ; .1 1 Dryer *111 .S-- ... ' 'I Zfful-11»2•- --3 --Galage_ .. · - 2.«tu···', I 4i •pydbi lei 1 *8= I -"f ,««e i 254 •231 1Water softenc r Salt tan• ·' - /\0= Clover Leaf •i Second Sub. .- 11•- L;'-1-1 11 ('el"os) stagm, Scale: •32" = 1'-0" 48' grid _ ...-' 2- LOWER LEVEL r 036c-• ', Water heater 1.* i U• me was to do what Bill had done with the Maumee: Let the railroad climb around the room and along either side of a central peninsula, rising enough after each lap to clear the lower level before starting around again. A major concern on any multilevel layout is that the lowerlevel tends to be a bit too low and the upper level a bit high. I decided to start out with Frankfort at 43" off the floor, since the 43.5" height of Sunrise yard on the AM had worked well. I wanted to maintain a modest climb ( 1 percent or less) westbound to put Cayuga, Ind., 12" or so above the east-end staging yard. This rate of climb would ensure that a Mike or Berkshire could handle my "standard" 30- to 35-car freights. It would also allow me to stiffen the grade slightly to 1.29 percent west of Cayuga, replicating the Third Sub's ruling westbound grade. Longer trains might stumble here and have to double the hill, just as on the prototype. east. The climb eases to 1 percent or less west of Humrick. All towns are level to avoid switching problems. The summit at Charleston is 69.5". That's high by anyone's definition, but there's no way to avoid it. The elevated yardmaster's platform behind the yard and pull-out steps for road engineers should make it tolerable. For me, at 6'-3", it will be at eye level, but even the modest amount of switching that takes place at Charleston would be impractical without the raised floor. Town elevations range from around 48" at Linden and 54.5" at Cayuga, close to ideal based on AM experiences, to 63" at Metcalf and 66.5" at Oakland. The latter towns will be fine for viewing for some operators but too high for others, and too high for switching without pull-out platforms for almost everyone. Minimum curve radius was set at 42" based on tests Bill made before designing the Maumee. Sharper curves 30" curves on the AM with no problem - but with the tender hooked to the last drawbar-hole position. I'd rather avoid such visual compromises on the NKP. Next month We'll conclude our first look at the Nickel Plate's Third Sub of the St. Louis line in October by considering other design concerns such as people and lighting. We'11 also take a look at the planned operations. 0 Tony Koester, shown here on an early datagathering trip along the NKP, reports groundbreaking on the Third Sub was held up as he edited Model Railroad Planning 2001, our annual layout design magazine. Benchwork got started in June. - . M JA...'.r · I 1'. ,·, BOB WALKER r--=• 442:3==-*. tre:•S=i,;Siccoenatsitnoufoths,%21• =seexcesesicva•• o•oh• 't-li••; tens•irnsg. (1•'-•*%1 River valley but an advantage to the much hotter (and superior by direction) manifests headed to markets in Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, and points ,The story of.the NKP's·Toledo-to-St. Louis line appears in the Fall 2000 issue of Kalmbach's quarterly Classic Trains. · 70 MODEL RAILROADER · SEPTEMBER 2000 Tests on 38"-radius curves on the AM showed that was a little tight for NKP Berks, suggesting that 42" is also a good radius. The 2-8-4s negotiated the Kemps Canning Monon co. (cl&0 / 1 / 17 inspection pits 9 1 1 t ->- 1 1-- - 1 (, 5-1 - 11 1 1 1-• .//// 1 ----- 1 /45•••Z<</ /,i 3 -et,1,11,S. U Ttwer » Machine \ shop . I Co:ch shop / 1 Pennsylvania RR-• 100-ft. tum{abld Operator's shanty- . 1/ EngineeriJg office Cold Bepot), •, , C. .>.39 Sky backdrop -West passing tra6k , North wye l< PRR inter.hange PF R depot< th /22. 1'. 33=••21 -, PRR-- " NKP depot ) cu Ivert / / Hougabtracks ·,· 1 AKH<•F e-Lima ) staging / H»- 1 To gravel• pit - IfITI 1 - --3- r• - 11*lilI 2 .. -.1\\V 1• Wabash River 4 ..- Star darcI 01 -I-- : Lumber)'ard'•' 042••••C&,El CAYUGA IND. < 11 •1* 795<19'pot Fable Hiusr .1.. .1 Grain elevator•Mf/F\:.362' hotel . .. ./ 19,# .: Cr\ 0 ...,-·../. C&El interchange /·47·· • · ..... \. ·' CD . .,"' /.,2 . 1 |-A MIDDLE LEVEL section ».1/7/ *f:i,j 211=•k , \ Al/ -," Through-truss iridge---Lift-out- ==nil. 1»31.'P%1 ••ss./ coal -1 .13•.5, 1 11 1 ..:81,.lit 1 »'4'401:.1 \ , 1 Ste•,1.1 water tower \1< *setioul- /1 !601/2-• · \ -· -=»»»»»».,"·\4.2.= n. --Tower' MILW HUMRICK, I•L. E•evator H•use track •ge 1 irtterrhingA 1 Indiana-1 linniq tracks E&0 state line Joint B&) NKP Interchange Post-O depot tjacks METCALF, ILL. \ 8&0 1/ Deck g rder Elevator • . . »/=.> 11 bridg" • ' ' · m f-1 ·r ......==3 "' · 1x 1 • Little \ 2\ \\ Ve milton 13\ •Rt,er # · 0-- U 4,\ Po•t -1 01') 1 . it 0 1 To lower le jel (Veedersburg, Ind.) - l, <./ \ ___-To.upper_level_._ • (Charleston, Ill.)- 036 • LE&W Dist. A FT 1 •l•v•o•21-1•ckert••t31'lt'' El,v,tor I t.km-sa i . 1 -. 0361 MILW East p'ccing track =Zeeight •house •lf \ rA ./ , 1 -8/: t..1 : '- 11 i 1 dipe..........\< . 9:». -/.,/1 .. ............•./ 1 .1 ' bid gravel pit and dump 1 Eiectric" -LEl--ri 036. 036'•-77--01 (3 panel ·. 1 1.." t '·•=rr==1=rr•·"•.«"'·" < j 1 1 Ille Niclcel •late's \1 .. .; Highway through-truss bridge (3) 2 x 12 beams \ -: Fourth Subdivision staging (to St. Louis) 691-37 1 ,<--* Duck-under access 1 Ils 2bfrr:.s -• It :1111 FAIR GRANGE, ILL El..# Lift-out section H.U.1, 45,ialil t»t», , M///•1. -r f,»2 .W / 1 CHARLESTON, ILL. Ogle steel coal dock / • Inspectioi pit - • "- ---- »-=-, ,-2 -1 To middle leiel (Oakland 111.) 1 r+ A | Oil tank 1i 16 -1- . ' 01 CROSS-SECTION A-A ... -•'."I'CLesh,P Big Fc•ur Freight conne6tion house • Hotel 4 '1 . 1 .\ .\'.41 41 1 To"I•r \D,pot 9 1.:'' . .. Sand ..'il..,f' 1. .... ..•, 1 1-2'-11. 90-,foot *j1 . Raised floor for · · yard operators i Translucent eye-shield panels Foundation wall / \ \ 'V EK Std f 1 uorescent 1 x 3 wall-- t I f xture beh nd va arce CHARLESTON, ILL. 7 2' foam boardMILW ·"· f --- HUMRICK ILL OAKLA , ILL. · t- · Elev. 691/2" METCALF, ILL. HH 0. wallboardinterchange. E Elev. 661•2 042 Elev. 601/2 48 f uorescent Elev. 63' \4 \ ·., CAYU'G,•.---1 i Dell'hos / f xture beh nd fasc a Foundation 1 2. 1VEEDERSBURG , IND r Elev. 54!h'-L 1-1 - (Second Sub) •4 x3 p ywood wall E 1 ev 51 UNDEN IND 7 and Lima ·, 1' FRANKFORT, IND benchwork on Eev 1 4••7 3staging Air space • 4 Elev. 43' upper eve s .. , ,> 1 -ip» 036-,«,»« e. J----•4 hardboard i W raised ,. \S • fasc a and va 1 ance -' floor for Gusset ; W plywood -• 1 \ Gusset ,; Charleston sub-roadbedI f *4 x 3}h p 1 ywood W , Existing i yardmaster ' : 1. 2 x 4 benchwork on lower level : ,-.- stud wall •216 1 / floor Joists 2 x 2 legs New 2x 4-4 recessed 9' i stud wail g 101/4for toe clearance t -1 2 x 4 spacer• | 1'-334 0421'-33/4' : 7 1 4'-19 2'-6' -4 3'-6' 3'-2' r--81:Zfm • ILLUSTRATION BY RICK JOHNSON •U • BASED ON CAD DRAWING BY SCOTT STEPHENSON Steel water Yard•office tower• 1 LA UPPER LEVEL . Ohio Oil.·Co. ' Stock perts ..' k '·1 .:.... . ·4 1 ., 1 CCC&StL (NYC) 1 0-210 1 SEPTEMBER 2000 · MODEL RAILROADER 72