Black River & Western

[DKS]

That is so awesome.

But now my ops brain kicks in... how ya gonna run it? There's no good turnaround or runaround at either end. Do you have room for a fake "off scene" loop at either end?

No loops. When I run it, it'll be just how BR&W does it. I may do some kind of automated control thingie--who knows.

[davefoxx]

That is so awesome.

But now my ops brain kicks in... how ya gonna run it? There's no good turnaround or runaround at either end. Do you have room for a fake "off scene" loop at either end?

There are runarounds at Flemington and between Ringoes and Lambertville.  I don't know how the prototype operates, but pushing cars to the two endpoints wouldn't be implausible.  If this is a layout for single-train operation, it could work.  Certainly, though, more staging or runarounds/loops can never hurt a plan.

DFF

[DKS]

Certainly, though, more staging or runarounds/loops can never hurt a plan.

Nothing personal, Dave, but I believe loops and/or more runarounds would indeed hurt or even break this plan. As for staging, BR&W never does enough to warrant such. They shuttle between Flemington and Ringoes for tourist trains, using the runarounds to keep #60 on the head end; on rare occasion they yank a few tank cars from the one industry in Flemington, push them up to Three Bridges with a small diesel, and drop them. Then, once in a great while they stage steam freight ops, where #60 shuffles a few vintage cars around. The only operational liberty I took was to "reopen" the line down to Lambertville, which was handled push-pull style, since there's no runaround there. And I did that mostly so I could model Lambertville, my favorite town.

My goal with this plan is to remain as faithful to reality as I practically can; Ringoes in particular is quite accurate, since it is the heart of the railroad. The rest was done understanding full well that many miles of track had to be compressed down to feet and sometimes inches. As we all know, real life is ginormous. (I made a 100% accurate N Scale model of my property, and it's nearly as big as a bed.)

[davefoxx]

Nothing personal, Dave, but I believe loops and/or more runarounds would indeed hurt or even break this plan. As for staging, BR&W never does enough to warrant such. They shuttle between Flemington and Ringoes for tourist trains, using the runarounds to keep #60 on the head end; on rare occasion they yank a few tank cars from the one industry in Flemington, push them up to Three Bridges with a small diesel, and drop them. Then, once in a great while they stage steam freight ops, where #60 shuffles a few vintage cars around. The only operational liberty I took was to "reopen" the line down to Lambertville, which was handled push-pull style, since there's no runaround there. And I did that mostly so I could model Lambertville, my favorite town.

My goal with this plan is to remain as faithful to reality as I practically can; Ringoes in particular is quite accurate, since it is the heart of the railroad. The rest was done understanding full well that many miles of track had to be compressed down to feet and sometimes inches. As we all know, real life is ginormous. (I made a 100% accurate N Scale model of my property, and it's nearly as big as a bed.)

With more understanding through your more detailed explanation in your last post, I agree that you should leave the track plan as-is.  I like how you're doing this as the prototype exists, with the only liberty being reopening the line to Lambertville.  As I indicated in my last post, pushing cars to the endpoints of the layout is plausible, and, here, it's prototypical!

Kudos,
DFF

[Dave V]

Nothing personal, Dave, but I believe loops and/or more runarounds would indeed hurt or even break this plan. As for staging, BR&W never does enough to warrant such. They shuttle between Flemington and Ringoes for tourist trains, using the runarounds to keep #60 on the head end; on rare occasion they yank a few tank cars from the one industry in Flemington, push them up to Three Bridges with a small diesel, and drop them. Then, once in a great while they stage steam freight ops, where #60 shuffles a few vintage cars around. The only operational liberty I took was to "reopen" the line down to Lambertville, which was handled push-pull style, since there's no runaround there. And I did that mostly so I could model Lambertville, my favorite town.

My goal with this plan is to remain as faithful to reality as I practically can; Ringoes in particular is quite accurate, since it is the heart of the railroad. The rest was done understanding full well that many miles of track had to be compressed down to feet and sometimes inches. As we all know, real life is ginormous. (I made a 100% accurate N Scale model of my property, and it's nearly as big as a bed.)

It's nice having a prototype whose operations and operational challenges are of a scope that they can be recreated exactly.  Hey, if the prototype can work without a runaround at either end, then by gum, so can you by <gasp> doing what the prototype does.

I think people forget that when you're modeling a prototype as closely as you can that their "constructive criticism" works against that purpose.  I remember laughing out loud when someone called me out on having the Alta mine tramhouse at Ophir crossing the RGS mainline--exactly as it did in real life for 50 years--as unprototypical.

[CRL]

The only serious operational problem I see is the lack of sufficient tail track on the point end of the switch on the former LV main. There’s not enough tail track to accommodate a locomotive, much less any cars, so the former LV main is a dead line from an operations standpoint.

Of course, if you don’t intend to do anything other than push a few cars to the interchange track and leave them, then it’s fine.

[Chris333]

I watched some videos of the real thing and they had a switcher at each end of the train   

[DKS]

Of course, if you don’t intend to do anything other than push a few cars to the interchange track and leave them, then it’s fine.

The LV line is purely cosmetic.

I watched some videos of the real thing and they had a switcher at each end of the train   

I'd not seen that--good to know, thanks. The pics I have only show motive power only on one end.

[DKS]

Awesome!
Did you get a CF-7 from Randy? I love them in that big BRW scheme.

I did not get a CF-7.

Lol, you of all people asking if he got a CF-7 from Randy LOL

I'm almost positive that there's a small drawer labeled "CF7 Kit" in the layout room.

Hmmm... got so much sh!t, I don't even remember it all...

That's what Cody and I are here for (and to dig ditches).

Just found it. So the real answer is yes. I'll have to get custom decals made, though.

[Chris333]

The one I happened to watch:

[VonRyan]

Cody just found it again. So the real answer is yes. I'll have to get custom decals made, though.

Fixed that for you 

[YouraverageSPF]

As someone who has been to the Black River and Western several times before and loves the line to bits, let me just say that you are absolutely doing god's work!

[Chris333]

I just noticed the old rail line some how has Google street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.374238,-74.9492747,3a,75y,23.32h,102.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s99055zxFnURxBIws-xNdXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[wcfn100]

Street view tricycle.

Jason

[DKS]

Fixed that for you 

That's what I meant. Came out wrong, sorry.

I just noticed the old rail line some how has Google street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.374238,-74.9492747,3a,75y,23.32h,102.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s99055zxFnURxBIws-xNdXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Google has been adding trail-cam views for a while now. I hate Google, but they have brought us some valuable tools.