American layout in Ireland & New Zealand

[Mayner]

Some photos from a modular layout started in Ireland nearly 20 years ago, that made it to New Zealand.

 

The camera never lies LV GP38-2 in Conklin Yard Binghampton

Wood chip paper on attic ceiling photoshopped out! The locos were re-paints of kato CSX GP 38-2 locos.

In real life all LV GP38-2s went to the Delaware and Hudson on "C Day" and ran in LV colours for several years with LV decals blanked out. I had another pair repainted into D&H solid blue scheme.

 

D&H U 30c & SD45 lead a northbound through the yard

 

Track was Peco Code 55 which looked a lot better than the Code 80 usually used in N Scale

 

layout has been stored for the last 8 years or so

[DiveController]

I know i've said this before but the Delaware & Hudson livery is a beauty, hints of the NIR bumblebee in there

[Mayner]

Kato RS2 switching industries

 

LV "Snowbirds" leading a South bound through the yard The release of the Atlas C628s filled a major gap for modellers of North east roads such as the D&H & LVR in the 60s & 70s.

U30c heading a North Bound across Harpersville Trestle

 

PA1s on a Northbound freight

 

EL SD45s

The move from an attic in Dublin to a garden shed in Auckland opened up enough space to change from a folded 8 to a dogbone track layout with a peninsula down the middle. I was originally intending to build an On30 narrow gauge layout in the space available and went back to N because I could not fit in the RGS Orphir loop in the centre isle.

 

Most of the new layout did not get beyond the baseboard and laying the main line stage the layout was dismantled and the modules stored following a move to Hamilton and I moved up from N to G Scale in the garden

[patrick]

Nice choice of era and locale for a layout John. The railroads of the North East USA had so much of interest and character before Conrail. Thanks for posting, I always enjoy seeing pictures of this layout.

[Mayner]

While most of the bankrupt North East roads lost their identity when they were merged into Conrail, the D&H I anything became more varied and colourful as it expand operations westwards towards Buffalo & Chicago, South and Eastwards to Newark, Allentown, Philadelphia and Washington. Motive power colour schemes became move varied as the D&H acquired a mixture of new and second hand medium power 4 axle locomotves. New "Lightening Stipe" G39-2 were joined by a fleet of nearly new GP39-2 from the Reading & GP38-2 & Alco C420s from the Lehigh Valley. The second hand locos continued to operate in RDG Green &LV Red, The D&H introduced a solid blue scheme with tiger striped ends before reverting to the traditional blue and gray lightening stripe scheme before the 1980s GTI takeover and bankruptcy.

There seems to have been a certain amount of asset stripping in the late70s when most of the high horsepower 6 axle Alco & GE Units and the PA1s were exported to Mexico. Ironically the big Alcos returned in the 90s when Canadian Pacific took over operation of the D&H

[patrick]

 

While on the subject of the North Eastern railroads before Conrail here is a real interesting film on the plight of Penn Central.

[jhb171achill]

That is an amazing layout! Excellent!

[billyboy]

That is class.

[Mayner]

The original module is basically an amalgam of features from the railroad yards in Binghampton New York. The parallel main lines and industrial buildings were inspired by the parallel Erie & DLWRR New York-Buffalo main lines through the city http://www.railpictures.net/photo/81259/

 

D&H U30Cs arrive from Buffalo as a pair of D&H U23B prepare to depart east towards Allentown

 

The Agway feedmill is a landmark at the south end of the old D&H Bevier Street yard http://www.railpictures.net/photo/92992/

 

Grain Elevator yard throat loco & caboose stabling point

 

 

The Binghampton model was extended to include two yard modules and installed as part of a 'permanent' loft layout in 2002. Power supply was converted to DCC with infra-red wireless operation. Switches on the module were powered by Seep point motors actuated by Triang-Hornby point levers, points in the staging and out in the country used Peco point motors controlled by Lenz Stationary Decoders

 

View of the yard looking East main line clear. Lash up of Alco D&H RS32 & RS11s & ex LV GP38-2s await their next assignment. A pair U23b await departure on track 1 My Kato GP38-2 unlike the real locos turned out to be un-reliable when converted to DCC & traded in for a pair of Kato PA1s & a pair of Atlas U23Bs may final N Gauge locos

 

Module baseboards were birch ply, track Peco Code 55 on cork underlay with Woodlands Scenic ballast, & very noisey

Edited July 28, 2016 by Mayner