Boston & Maine Railroad
New Hampshire Mainline, c. 1979
Introduction
Welcome to a virtual tour of my HO-scale model train layout. First some
background, and then we'll go railfanning. Construction of
the current 10x16 foot layout began in 1995,
using steel studs and pink foam. I documented my method in an article
that was published by Model Railroader in April 2000. Wiring for a
Digitrax DCC system was completed in 1999, and the layout facia and skirt
were applied in September 2000.
October, 2000: Held my first open house, just friends and other
guys from work. Trains ran well... and we all had a good time. I will have
another one this fall. It is a great way to motivate me to get work done!
July 8, 2001: Picked up a Digitrax UT-1 throttle at Arlington Station.
Great product! Edward, my five year old, and I got it running and were soon
operating two trains on the layout. Installed the switch motors at CPN18 and CPN20, now we have have one controlled siding.
I came up with a new way to wire the turnouts, and am putting the final
touches on another article for Model Railroader.
Steady progress has been made with scenery, so it's almost time for another set
of photos.
August 24, 2001: One of my wife's friends gave me a gift certificate
to E-Hobbies, so I
bought some B&M Trailers, construction vechicles, and some figures. And
6 feet of picket fence. See the photo. Thanks Lisa!
April 28, 2002:
The "shop crew" started work on an Amtrak AMD-103 and heritage baggage car.
This is contract work being performed for Kenyon Karl, to support his
efforts to promote passenger rail in New Hampshire. Learn more, and see
pictures by visiting
his website. Exterior work has been completed, DCC decoder installation
will be performed next.
March 3, 2003: Its been a busy year, with little
progres on the layout. In fact, the layout was taken down last fall, in preparation
to be moved to our new house. It appears this will happen in May!
August 17, 2003: The layout has moved into the new house, with surprisingly little damage. Half of the layout has already been setup, and I think I'm on schedule for my annual
open house at the end of October.
September 21, 2003:It has been a busy weekend on the railroad! All but six linear feet (or so) of the
old layout is assembled, and half the new staging yard. The yard ladders were
built with code 83 rail, and I've had to "butt-solder" pieces where I couldn't
get railjoiners. Hopefully this won't be an issue later. Once I get some work
completed on the HVAC system, the rest of the layout can be assembled. Open
house is one month away!
New!September 20, 2005:
Amazing that two years have gone by since this page has been update... and not much has happened on the railroad. We added some scenery here & there, installed more decoders in some engines. But in the last week, the Montreal Loop has been added.
This reversing loop connects track #1 and #6 of the staging yard, with the primary function of allow The Granite State Express to head north out of Manchester... travel to Montreal... and return.
Lets go railfanning!
(All photos take prior to the layout move!)
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Manchester NH
The layout was built to operate as a point
to point layout, with two staging yards on each end. A small section of
track allows for continuous running. The North end of the layout is Granite Street.
Manchester is the only modeled yard, and engine facility. Today, we see
two Geeps in the house.
A workman wipes his brow, as he takes a break.
A modern Amtrak depot serves both commuter trains and the
Granite State Express. The last commuter train of the morning can barely be
seen in this picture. The yard tower still stands at CPN28, where
a passing siding, the yard lead, and the Portsmouth Branch all come together.
According to the timetable, the commuter train will be leaving in about 10 minutes.
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Manchester Yard
The Manchester Yard has seen busier days, and today is down to only six or
seven tracks, depending on how you count.
The western tracks are used mostly for setting up the local trains. Eastern
tracks are used to service the piggy back ramp. The mainline and passing
siding split the yard in two.
The crew of B&M 1231 is getting ready to head South
with a empty hopper and flatcar. They're planning to head to Nashua, pick up
several loaded ballast hoppers, and then spend the afternoon spreading
ballast as they return North. The brakeman waves as the engine heads out.
Turning to our right, we snap another picture
as the train passes behind the crane, the caboose tracks, and the yard office.
The tracks in the foreground continue to our right and become the (unmodeled)
Goffstown Branch. We jump
in the car, and drive south...
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South Manchester
We stop at CPN24. As far as the railroad is concerned
we're 24 miles from the junction at North Chelmsford, the start of the New Hampshire Mainline.
The signal shows "stop", and the work train watches an aging, but clean,
B&M 4266 glide past with two Budd RDC cars in tow. The train will continue
under I-293, past Sweethart Plastics, and then across the Merrimack river
toward its next stop in the town of Merrimack.
It won't be too long
before FP40s take over the commuter runs, and this F7A will be restored
by the Conway Scenic Railroad.
Hearing that EDCO (East Deerfield to Concord) is waiting at CPN20, we drive like crazy to try to catch the meet...
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Reeds Ferry
Two miles north of the Merrimack depot, at CPN20,
we're just in time to watch the last RDC sail past. The crew
of the freight train id's the tail end, and
the dispatcher throws the switch, and the freight trains starts north. The crew
doesn't waste much time, since they need to get their tail end clear of
CPN18 so that the commuter train can continue south.
We have time to catch the lead engine as it goes by. It dwarfs our chase car.
Now back on the road, toward Merrimack...
(By the way, the real town of Merrimack
has a 30 mile per hour speed limit, so don't try chasing trains like this!)
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Merrimack
The platform is deserted, and the train is
in motion, heading toward Nashua, Lowell, and on to North Station. The work
train will soon come by, and then one of the Manchester switchers will
drift south, working SweetHeart Plastics, Harcros, Jones Chemical, TechWood,
and the Budweiser Plant. If we stayed aroung long enough we would catch
COED (Concord/East Deerfield) and Amtrak's Granite State Express.
But, we have to earn a living, so we pack the camera up, and head to the office.
We'll be back another day...
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Future Plans...
Well, a model railroad is almost never finished... My future efforts are
to complete enough buildings in Manchester to make it look like a city.
I also want to complete the last half base scenery for the entire layout.
I need to build two staging yards, install more decoders, scratch build
the Merrimack depot, finish the...
