Category Archives: HO scale

SOU St Charles Branch, VA bedroom track plan HO

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Southern St Charles Branch track plan HO scale by Dan Bourque
  • Size: 13′ x 14′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 24″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 33″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Southern LogoThe St Charles branch can be found in extreme southwestern Virginia. A neighbor of the Interstate Railroad, the lines of this branch extended from the Southern’s yard at Appalachia, Virginia, down the Powell River, and then fingered out along several creeks up toward the Kentucky border. Like many other Southern Railway coal lines, it was jointly operated with the L&N who had trackage rights on the St Charles branch from its connection at Pocket, VA. Traffic and tipples ebbed and flowed over the years, but CSX and NS unit trains continue to … Read more →

SOU Oneida, Tennessee and Brimstone, TN track plan HO

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Oneida, Tennessee and Brimstone HO scale track plan - lower level
  • Size: 27′ x 30′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 30″ (27″ Brimstone)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 32″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Southern LogoOne of the Southern Railway’s most famous lines is its Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) main through Tennessee and Kentucky where it was known as “the Rathole” for all its tunnels and bridges. Though this busy line ran through the heart of Tennessee coal country, it didn’t serve the coal operators directly. Instead, the CNO&TP interchanged with several short lines that ventured down into the valleys full of tipples to bring the coal up the slopes of the Cumberland Plateau to its mainline. These short lines included … Read more →

CRR Nora Spur, VA track plan HO

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Track plan CRR Nora Spur HO scale
  • Size: 12′ x 18′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 27″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 28″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

CRR LogoThe Nora Spur was one of the Clinchfield’s coal-loading branches in Virginia which left the mainline between Dante, VA and Elkhorn City, KY. The six-mile long branch hosted no fewer than six loaders between the mainline and the Blue Diamond tipple at the end of the line and featured grades in excess of 3%.

The Layout

This layout is designed to capture the feel of the branch and its operations in the early ’80s after the addition of the loader at … Read more →

MTR Library Branch, PA track plan HO

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Track plan Montour Library Branch - HO scale
  • Size: 12′ x 16′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 24″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 24″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Montour RR LogoThe Montour Railroad’s Library Branch ran between Library Jct. and Snowden, PA. The nearly 6-mile branch connected the Montour with the B&O and a PRR branch and served the large Montour #10 tipple at Library, PA.

The Layout

This track plan represents the Library Branch and a portion of the Montour’s mainline during the ’60s and ’70s. In addition to the Montour #10 tipple, the Montour #4 tipple on the mainline at Hills is represented along with … Read more →

L&N KD Sub track plan HO

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Track plan L&N KD Sub HO scale - Lower
  • Size: 32′ x 32′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 27″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 27″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

L&N LogoThe L&N’s KD sub connected the coalfields of Kentucky to its connections and power plants in the south. Originally the Knoxville & Atlanta or K&A, the line ran south from Corbin, KY to Knoxville and on to Nashville, TN. In addition to the flow of coal from the L&N’s Eastern Kentucky (EK) and Cumberland Valley (CV) Divisions/Subs, the KD Sub had a modest number of loaders along its main along with several small branches including the Clear Fork Branch (Clairfield Branch) … Read more →

B&LE and PRR Western Allegheny, PA track plan HO

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Track plan B&LE PRR Western Allegheny, PA HO scale
  • Size: 12′ x 18′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 24″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 27″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

B&LE Logo PlainThe Western Allegheny Railroad was incorporated in 1902 to serve the coal fields of Butler and Allegheny Counties in western Pennsylvania. The WA was originally operated by the B&LE until 1908 when the WA gained its independence. It was purchased by the Pennsy in 1926 as part of a plan for a new mainline to bypass Pittsburgh, but these plans fell victim to the Great Depression. Because it had no direct connection with the Pennsy, it was operated as an independent branch and interchanged its … Read more →

INT Roaring Fork Branch, VA track plan HO

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Track plan INT Roaring Fork Branch HO scale
  • Size: 11′ x 12′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 24″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 32″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Interstate Logo PlainThe Roaring Fork Branch was one of the primary coal branches on the Interstate Railroad. The Roaring Fork Branch left the Interstate’s mainline at Kent Jct, between the towns on Appalachia and Norton, VA. The Branch split at Dunbar, VA, and the ends of both branches hosted a slew of mining operations. During the Interstate era, this area was served by the Interstate’s Roaring Fork Mine Run; during the Southern era, these branches … Read more →

SOU Murphy Branch, NC track plan HO

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Track plan SOU Murphy Branch, NC HO scale
  • Size: 13′ x 14′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 24″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Southern Logo (plain)While not a coal branch, the Southern’s Murphy Branch in western North Carolina was certainly set in the Appalachians. The branch, which struck out westward from the Southern’s large yard at Asheville, NC, was loaded with great Appalachian industries such as pulpwood loading, paper mills, coal dealers, fuel oil dealers, furniture plants, etc. and even an interchange with the L&N’s own Murphy Branch at the line’s terminus in Murphy, NC. The use of old F-units and first-generation geeps into the early ’70s added to the branch’s … Read more →

CRR CSX Kingsport Sub track plan HO

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Track plan CSX Kingsport Sub HO scale
  • Size: 47′ x 51′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 30″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

CRR Logo PlainThe north end of the Clinchfield Railroad is an amazing piece of railroad, full of tunnels and spectacular bridges. Besides the scenery, the Clinchfield’s mainline and branches were loaded with coal tipples, and the connection with the C&O at Elkhorn City, KY meant a lot of overhead non-coal traffic. When the CSX was formed in 1986, trains roamed freely past Elkhorn City, and the former C&O yard at Shelby, KY became the new stopping point, but other than that, … Read more →

C&O Prince and Quinnimont, WV track plan HO

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Track plan C&O Prince to Quinnimont, WV HO scale
  • Size: 17′ x 41′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Mainline Radius: 34″
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

C&O Logo PlainThe C&O’s New River District ran along its namesake river through many small hamlets with coal branches twisting off it in all directions from small coal marshalling yards along the double-track mainline. The small towns of Prince and Quinnimont are representive of this district. Prince was home to a passenger station and the junction with the Piney Creek Sub with tangled with the Virginian Railway to the west. Quinnimont was home to a small coal yard, engine terminal and wye which led to the short Laurel Creek Sub … Read more →