Penn Central in Ohio on a 2x3

[robwill84]

So, the Genesis of this plan was "those Walthers steel urban underpasses are neat, I wonder if I could incorporate one into a small layout". Searching for examples of underpasses in real life led me to Elyria Ohio, home to Ridgid tools, a picturesque downtown, a small foundry and lots of steel underpasses. For the trackplan I came up with a slightly enlarged and modified version of Trenton Transportation. Total size is 37" x 25.5".

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I purchased some 1x3s and 1/2" foam and this is what I have so far:

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I'm debating if I should have the turnout at the top to service "Stout Tool Co." or not. Without that turnout, there are two industries inside the loop. A foundry and a fuel oil/coal delivery siding. There is no run around, but my limited operational plans call for using my 70 tonner in conjunction with scrap gondola loads for the foundry.

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An operating session would go like this- the locomotive on the mainline would uncouple from its train with a tank car of fuel oil and a gondola loaded with scrap. It would back onto the siding at the front of the layout and make its way down the grade into the switching area in the center of the layout. Meanwhile, the 70 tonner has coupled up to an empty gondola at the foundry and pulled it onto the trailing siding in front of the business district. Empties are swapped out for loads, and then the 70 tonner pushes a loaded gondola into the foundry. It then returns to its single stall enginehouse and the other loco returns to its train.

There's a lot to do before all that though, I need to finalize the height of the elevated oval, and get all the Unitrack wired up. On the JNS forum I read about a method of soldering to the bottom of sections of individual pieces of track that I'm going to try. Everything is still pretty up in the air at this point, so if you have any ideas or suggestions let me know!

[Chris333]

Sweet! but where does the underpass go? 

[robwill84]

Good question! One is going in right here next to the downtown district-

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There is going to be at least a couple inches behind the elevated section to curve the road around and have it disappear around a bend. Then the second one is going to be slightly cut down, right in the front of the layout-

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I plan to use the slope sided pieces on most of the front of the layout.

[robwill84]

I think I've decided to leave the turnout at the back out, and model front-facing "public" side of the Stout Tool Co. building at the back of the layout. I'll probably kitbash a Walthers Roberts printing building for that.

[Dave V]

OK, I now have a new favorite build thread.

Loving this! I especially love the modernized office front on the Vulcan Mfg. Well done!

[flight2000]

Nice!! I grew up in Elyria, so know exactly where you are modeling.  Still remember when Conrail dumped a bunch of coal cars off the elevated sections in downtown back in the mid-80's.  What a mess that was. 

Photos are about half way down the page....

https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/cr/cr.html

Cheers,
Brian

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh hell yes.

This rocks.

[btrain]

This is awesome! I currently live in Elyria and for the small space this is modeled in, you’ve got the look and feel of downtown and the surrounding industries spot on. I can see that water tower already with the iconic Ridge Tool logo on it.

[btrain]

I forgot to mention, if you’re looking for a cool engine house. Elyria had a small roundhouse from LS&MS days near the foundry where the Norwalk Branch started. As far as I know, it existed until the creation of Conrail. It could possibly be made to fit in a corner, with an Atlas roundhouse kit cut down to one stall.

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Photo by George Payne.

If you’re looking for more details for the layout, the Facebook group “Lorain County, Railroad Past” is a treasure trove of good stuff.

[robwill84]

I forgot to mention, if you’re looking for a cool engine house. Elyria had a small roundhouse from LS&MS days near the foundry where the Norwalk Branch started. As far as I know, it existed until the creation of Conrail. It could possibly be made to fit in a corner, with an Atlas roundhouse kit cut down to one stall.

(Attachment Link)
Photo by George Payne.

If you’re looking for more details for the layout, the Facebook group “Lorain County, Railroad Past” is a treasure trove of good stuff.

Yeah, I really wanted to go all out modelling Elyria, with the former NYC passenger station, the freight depot, Cascade Park and waterfall etc but I had to kind of reign things in for this small size. I'm going to try to add a very small slice of the Black river to the front left of the layout. I am going to replace the beige brick building in the downtown scene with a modified Lunde Park Place building as a stand-in for the Loraine National Bank building. Also I think the building right next to the underpass will become Loomis Camera with its huge sign covering all of the second story windows on the building.

[btrain]

You mentioning Loomis opened a flood of memories for me. I spent much of time talking to the owner, Howard  about all sorts of stuff. Much of it not suitable for certain company, but I think he would have fit in fine here on the Railwire. That local landmark store front sign of his still exists, and lives down at a museum in Cincinnati.

https://chroniclet.com/news/398311/loomis-camera-sign-on-display-in-cincinnati/

[robwill84]

You mentioning Loomis opened a flood of memories for me. I spent much of time talking to the owner, Howard  about all sorts of stuff. Much of it not suitable for certain company, but I think he would have fit in fine here on the Railwire. That local landmark store front sign of his still exists, and lives down at a museum in Cincinnati.

https://chroniclet.com/news/398311/loomis-camera-sign-on-display-in-cincinnati/

Ha, that's cool. I read an article about the shop closing that mentioned a lot of downtown merchants were pretty mad about the size of it and its garish nature. Sometimes things that are eyesores at the time become beloved historical monuments.

[robwill84]

Ok, I've finalized the height on the retaining walls and I'm working on some ideas for finishing them. On the underpass on the front of the layout I'm going to have one side use the sloped pieces from the Walthers kit, and the other side I want a block wall similar to what you see on Bridge Street in Elyria-

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I'm experimenting with carving up some 1/2" extruded foam-

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 I think the blocks are a little oversize but I can live with it. This was just a prototype, I can make the blocks more square and less "pillowy". With two layers of 1/2" carved foam I can go six tall on stone blocks, then a strip of concrete and a cap piece to match the Cornerstone abutments.

[Lemosteam]

I have a box of these if you want them, or a mold that will make a full wall.



Mold looks like this https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28266.msg394840#msg394840

This is what I used the single stone faces for:
http://

[wm3798]

This looks like a DKS style micro build.  Really digging the progress.  I think this style of layout is going to be a fairly significant trend as people work out their various solutions to their personal housing crises, whether you're an old guy downsizing, a retiree escaping to an RV, or a youngin' trying to move out of mom's basement.

Can't wait to see the scenic effects you'll be treating us to.

Lee