The Housatonic RR in N scale

[Pomperaugrr]

This Layout Engineering Report will be covering my modeling efforts in building the N scale version of the Housatonic RR (HRRC).  I have posted a lot of progress shots on the Railwire, but did not have a cohesive thread on the layout.

This has been a project that started over a decade ago and then sat dormant for a while as family and job obligations took their rightful priority. During the pandemic, I started to make some more progress and will use this to bring you up to speed and share current progress. I will attempt to update this thread when time permits, with current progress and some photos showing the progression over the years. I apologize, in advance, if the entries seem a bit out of order.

Some history: The original Housatonic Railroad was chartered in 1836 and was later acquired by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1892. At that time, the railroad was 175 miles long, with 60 passenger depots. Though the last passenger train ran on April 30, 1971.

A portion of the railroad was then land-banked until 1983 when the line from Canaan to New Milford, Connecticut was reopened and the Housatonic Railroad name was used again. The railroad expanded to Pittsfield, MA in 1991 and expanded again in 1992 to include the line from Derby, Connecticut to Beacon, New York. The railroad now consists of 161 miles of rail lines devoted to freight transportation. It is headquartered in Canaan, CT and also serves a major customer (Specialty Minerals) via a short segment of the former Central New England (CNE) railroad line.

For now, here are some layout specifics:

The shelf layout is built in a 13' x 21' room with extensions into a closet and a future extension into a 6' x 10' walk-in closet. The layout currently runs along the walls as follows: 6' x 13' x 21' x 13' x 11' and the track railhead height is 58" from the floor. It is in a spare bedroom on the second floor of our home which is both air conditioned and heated.

I am modeling the general time frame from 1995 to 2015. The layout is designed as a large switching layout, with the intent of making model industries reflect the appearance and actual car capacities of the customers of the real HRRC, along with other readily identifiable buildings and locations. Some of the customers have since gone out of business or changed names, but they live on in my N scale world. The actual Housatonic RR passes through some beautiful New England scenery. I omitted a lot of the scenic running areas, in order to have larger realistic industries and operation potential. I also have included a fictional scenic location on the layout, which is named after a dear friend of mine from the Montreal area. I admired the tall steel viaduct on his layout and said I wish the Housatonic had something like that. Louis said, it is your model so include it. I used modeler's license and added "Letourneau Gorge" as part of the layout. I attempted to make it look plausible, even though there is no bridge like that in Connecticut.

The layout is intended to operate as more of a switching / point to point, but I have allowed for continuous running with a track that runs along the entire length of the backdrop and passes through some of the buildings. The entire length is accessible for cleaning and maintenance, as the buildings and their roofs are removable. The Housatonic RR interchanges with CSX in Pittsfield, MA (staging tracks in the closet - lower left side of the track plan). Trains are brought to Canaan, and then sorted for road jobs on the southern and northern ends of the line. Loads and empties are then reassembled into a train to be brought back to CSX in Pittsfield, then rinse and repeat. There is one foreign road that uses Housatonic trackage, which will allow for me to have foreign power on the southern end. First it was the P&W, then Guilford, and currently Pan Am (for now ) runs stone trains from the Tilcon Quarry in Wallingford, CT to the Tilcon Stone Plant in Danbury CT. They run the stone trains during the construction season over a portion of the HRRC trackage.

I originally started the layout with Lenz DCC for control. I have subsequently switched to ESU wireless DCC, since the majority of my locomotives have now been converted to DCC sound. I removed all of the throttle jacks from the fascia, since the throttles are now wireless walk around control. Trackwork is all Atlas code 55 n scale track and turnouts, with Micro-Engineering bridge track on bridges and the viaduct. All equipment is running on low profile wheels, mostly metal, with some still to be converted from plastic low profile wheels.

This is the most recent track plan I had drawn up (2017  ), and some modifications have been made on the layout to improve operations and reliability of trackwork. Please note that the small room shown on the top left will be a future expansion and the track plan there is far from what I have been recently thinking about. For now, the track runs from the continuous running track all along the backdrop, along a temporary shelf in the closet and comes back out to cross Letourneau Gorge.

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[Pomperaugrr]

Current progress:  I have been trying to take about an hour each evening this week to work on scenery.  Last night I advanced toward the diamond by the Canaan, CT Union Station.  I touched up some ballast and did a little work on the overflow parking area by the station.  There is still more to do here, especially at Becton Dickenson, on the left.  I will then push across the diamond and do some detail on the background scenery past the station.  The actual station was rebuilt after a major arson fire in 2001.  It is currently owned by the Historical Society and houses a museum, micro-brewery and a couple of retail shops.
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[chuck geiger]

This reeks of perfection!

[amato1969]

Love it!  The diamond/interchange scene is very well done!

  Frank

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One thing I don't think I've mentioned in my fawning over your layout before: one of the things that I find very striking is the way that you are accurately capturing the fact that there is growth everywhere.

Like that "field" to the left of the JD dealer in Canaan. On some layouts that would just be a bunch of ground foam. But you filled it in with brush, the way it likely actually is.

Bushes, then trees, grow up everywhere in the northeast, and it's something I've often see modelers struggle with capturing. You're nailing it.

Now just give those trees some miracle gro and you'll have reached nirvana.

[Pomperaugrr]

One thing I don't think I've mentioned in my fawning over your layout before: one of the things that I find very striking is the way that you are accurately capturing the fact that there is growth everywhere.

Like that "field" to the left of the JD dealer in Canaan. On some layouts that would just be a bunch of ground foam. But you filled it in with brush, the way it likely actually is.

Bushes, then trees, grow up everywhere in the northeast, and it's something I've often see modelers struggle with capturing. You're nailing it.

Now just give those trees some miracle gro and you'll have reached nirvana.

There will be Super Trees someday Ed.  I am just adding layers as I go along to get the 58 linear feet of layout covered with some acceptable scenery.  Once the last of the blue foam is gone, I will focus on detailing the industries and adding the fragile detailed trees will be the last phase.  I just don't want to invest the time now to damage them as I work on the industrial areas.

As much as I love seeing trains occasionally getting screened by foreground scenery, I am actually cautiously removing some foreground trees and replacing with lower foliage.  The railhead is 53" from the floor.  I am 6'4" tall and have no problem seeing and reaching over the trees to throw turnouts or use an uncoupling pick to spot cars when switching.  That is not the case for most of my visitors.  As I go along I am trying to open up the foreground a bit to allow for better access, viewing and photography locations.  This is an example, where I removed about 6 foreground trees last night and replaced them with lower, more resilient foliage. 
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[Ed Kapuscinski]

There will be Super Trees someday Ed.  I am just adding layers as I go along to get the 58 linear feet of layout covered with some acceptable scenery.  Once the last of the blue foam is gone, I will focus on detailing the industries and adding the fragile detailed trees will be the last phase.  I just don't want to invest the time now to damage them as I work on the industrial areas.

As much as I love seeing trains occasionally getting screened by foreground scenery, I am actually cautiously removing some foreground trees and replacing with lower foliage.  The railhead is 53" from the floor.  I am 6'4" tall and have no problem seeing and reaching over the trees to throw turnouts or use an uncoupling pick to spot cars when switching.  That is not the case for most of my visitors.  As I go along I am trying to open up the foreground a bit to allow for better access, viewing and photography locations.  This is an example, where I removed about 6 foreground trees last night and replaced them with lower, more resilient foliage. 
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That's one of the perennial challenges, right? Balancing accuracy, aesthetics and "usability". There's no real rule or training for it, just doing what you're doing: technique and further refinement.

I hear ya on the banishment of the foam. It's why I paint stuff so early in the process. I know I'm gonna end up cutting into it, but it's so nice walking into the layout room and NOT seeing a sea of foam staring back.

[Cajonpassfan]

There will be Super Trees someday Ed.  I am just adding layers as I go along to get the 58 linear feet of layout covered with some acceptable scenery.  Once the last of the blue foam is gone, I will focus on detailing the industries and adding the fragile detailed trees will be the last phase.  I just don't want to invest the time now to damage them as I work on the industrial areas.

As much as I love seeing trains occasionally getting screened by foreground scenery, I am actually cautiously removing some foreground trees and replacing with lower foliage.  The railhead is 53" from the floor.  I am 6'4" tall and have no problem seeing and reaching over the trees to throw turnouts or use an uncoupling pick to spot cars when switching.  That is not the case for most of my visitors.  As I go along I am trying to open up the foreground a bit to allow for better access, viewing and photography locations.  This is an example, where I removed about 6 foreground trees last night and replaced them with lower, more resilient foliage. 
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That's just a beautiful scene, very very nice!
Supertrees can wait, it's the overall impression and scope that count in my book...
Otto k.

[basementcalling]

One thing I don't think I've mentioned in my fawning over your layout before: one of the things that I find very striking is the way that you are accurately capturing the fact that there is growth everywhere.

Like that "field" to the left of the JD dealer in Canaan. On some layouts that would just be a bunch of ground foam. But you filled it in with brush, the way it likely actually is.

Bushes, then trees, grow up everywhere in the northeast, and it's something I've often see modelers struggle with capturing. You're nailing it.

Now just give those trees some miracle gro and you'll have reached nirvana.

The layout is fantastic. What happened to your other thread here about it?

Ed with tree envy? I did have that on my 2022 bingo card.

[Pomperaugrr]

It may still be here somewhere, but most of the older photos are long gone.  I'll try to keep this one updated.  I've mostly just been posting in weekend updates lately.

[MDW]

Always have admired your work in the weekend updates - following your progress on this Layout Engineering report will be great. 

Michel

[Pomperaugrr]

I spent a few hours this weekend working on scenery in the Cornwall Bridge area. The old station is now a private residence. There is still some work needed around the station and I want to airbrush a little more weathering on the road.  It has come a long way over the years.  Then and now.

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[Cajonpassfan]

Nice work, great scene. Do tell us about your trees....
Otto

[Pomperaugrr]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Nice work, great scene. Do tell us about your trees....
Otto

The conifers are made by "Architrees."  I have about 300+/- of them.

The deciduous trees are primarily those cheap neon green wire trees from China.  They come 10 to a bag. I collected a bunch of them a little at a time over the years.  They come mashed together in a plastic bag.  I spent 2 full 8 hour days, shaping them with tweezers and re-flocking 1,800 of them, one by one while we had no power after tropical storm Isiais.

[Pomperaugrr]

​I finished up a little bit of work on the old station platform. I figured it was time to actually show some trains again, instead of just scenery shots. Here is Northbound NX11 heading through Cornwall Bridge, CT.

Mental note to self: Clean track well after scenery projects. I apologize for the sound cutting out briefly. ​​