C&I Colver, PA track plan HO
- Size: 12′ x 18′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Mainline Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 48″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
The heart of the Cambria & Indiana Railroad was Colver, PA. Even though it was located on the end of a short branch line, Colver was home to the C&I’s engine house, car shops, a prep plant and tipple, and a small yard where C&I mine runs originated. In addition to serving the C&I’s own massive fleet of coal hoppers, the C&I shops regularly performed maintenance and repairs for other railroads as well, so this adds even more variety to the area. The compact arrangements of these elements make this … Read more
This layout is designed for the guy who wants to be able to run mine runs without having to reset hoppers all the time. In fact, because of the two empties-in/loads-out tipples and corresponding loads-in/empties-out interchanges, mine runs can shuttle back in forth endlessly, or you can just sit back and let trains run in a circle around the layout.
The L&N had coal branches of many sizes and varieties. The Crummies Creek Branch was one of the shorter coal branches on the Cumberland Valley Division, but it was home to several loaders all packed into a small area. The Crummies Creek Branch split from the Martins Fork main at Popeville, south of the yard at Loyall, Kentucky. It was the southernmost of the coal branches on the Martins Fork, and its profile was strange because it dropped down from the main before climbing again. Shortly after leaving the … 
The B&O’s Cowens and Pickens Subs, later the CSX Cowen Sub and most recently the Appalachian & Ohio Railroad, has always been one of the major coal branches in northeastern WV. In its current iteration (2010), the line is about 120 miles long with 153 miles of track including smaller branches, it serves seven unit train loaders, and it connects with three short lines. While most of the grades on the line are “coal train friendly” (upgrade for empties/downgrade … 
Sometimes in the coalfields, even the fiercest of competitors join forces for a common benefit. The Cherry Tree & Dixonville was formed in 1903 as a paper company owned jointly by the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad. The CT&D was essentially 34 miles of coal branches which extended from the PRR’s Susquehanna Extension Branch and the NYCs Pittsburg & Eastern line from Clearfield, PA, the heart of NYC coal operations in Pennsylvania. The NYC operated mine runs on the CT&D out of … 
The Adena, Cadiz & New Athens Railway was run as a branch of the Wheeling & Lake Erie, and later the Nickel Plate, N&W and NS. The line extended 10 miles from Adena to the large Georgetown Preparation Plant at Cadiz, OH where it met up with the Pennsylvania Railroad and later the PC and Conrail. The NKP and PRR worked the preparation plant jointly. Between Adena and Cadiz were several short branches and tipples, especially in the Georgetown/Hanna area. The Hanna Coal Company’s Georgetown #12 mine had 5 tipples alone … 
The heart of the WM’s coal fields was Elkins, WV. The yard at Elkins was the sending and gathering point for mine runs and locals working the four lines west including the B&O connection to Belington, WV, the branch to Mill Creek, WV, the winding line to Webster Springs, WV and the branch to a connection with the C&O at Durbin, WV. These lines supplied the WM with loads of coal and lumber products. From Elkins, the loads needed … 
This layout is great for those who like both the Baltimore & Ohio and the Western Maryland pre-Chessie and like a slow pace and lots of switching. The Western Maryland’s coal operations in West Virginia were mostly centered around Elkins, but there was an interesting exception a bit further west. The WM served three small coal branches out of the tiny town of Chiefton, WV. The interesting thing is that the WM main runs nowhere near Chiefton. Instead, the … 
Elmore, WV was the heart of the Virginian Railway’s coal operations. Besides being the major coal marshaling yard and and the base for mine runs and helpers, Elmore (along with nearby Mullens) was home to large facilities for big steam working the coal branches and mainline west and the electrics working the helper grade east and mainline to the Virginia coast. It was precisely for these attributes that a friend wanted to model this area.