- Size: 80′ x 80′
- Scale: O
- Minimum Radius: 66″ (60″ non-mainline unless otherwise noted)
- Minimum Aisle Width: 36″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
This might be my favorite track plan I’ve ever designed! Not because it’s huge (it is), and not because it’s the most accurate (it’s not). It’s because I think it really captures the feeling of Appalachian coal hauling railroads in southwestern Virginia in the late steam era, and I think this design (one of my first “mushroom” designs) with lots of narrow scenes near eye level would really transport viewers and operators to another place and time. Before you give me a hard time about drawing a 6400 square foot track plan, I’ll tell you this was a request from someone who actually has plans to build it. I hope they have lots of friends to help, and I hope to be able to visit it someday!
This track plan focuses on the interactions of several coal-hauling railroads in southwestern Virginia (and a small slice of Kentucky). The Clinchfield is the focus and star of the show. The Interstate Railroad plays “supporting actor” and is modeled in an edited version of its entirety, and the N&W, L&N, and C&O all play supporting cast. In the late steam era, small yards were plentiful as were coal branches, and this plan has plenty of both. It’s designed so one can follow trains on their path through the Appalachians on either the CRR or Interstate and interact with all the other players on the way.
The Layout
This layout is enormous primarily because it’s O-scale with a generous minimum radius. The original sketches I made were traditional double-deck designs, but in O-scale that means scenes that are very compressed vertically or decks that are far from optimal height. I became intrigued with “mushroom” designs while helping a friend design another O-scale layout, so I thought I’d try my hand at it with this plan. For those unfamiliar with a mushroom, it’s a design made popular by the famous layout designer John Armstrong. It’s a double-deck design with multiple levels stacked vertically, but each deck is viewed from a different side. A platform on the upper deck side means both levels can be viewed more from an ideal height like a single-deck layout. If you’ve never tried to draw a mushroom track plan, it’s challenging! In addition to the challenge of the mushroom, I also had the challenge of trying to include 5 railroads, lots of wyes (including one where all legs are operational mainlines), and a request to have some coal branches in a separate room like Dave Stewart’s Appalachian & Ohio (an amazing model railroad I’ve had the privilege of operating on). I added to that my own desire to not have any duck-unders.
The result is something of two connected mushroom layouts in a single space. The first layout (lower left half) focuses on the Clinchfield from Elkhorn City, KY (end-of-the-line and its connection with the C&O) to Miller Yard, VA (it’s connection with the Interstate). The second layout (upper right half) focuses on the Interstate Railroad from the west and east ends of its mainline: the yard at Andover, VA (and a portion of the Roda and Derby Branches beyond) to Miller Yard. Both “layouts” are a down-up-down design with each end on the lower deck with a long mainline run on the upper deck in between the ends. The N&W intertwines with both layouts as it parallels the Interstate from the ends of its track at Norton, VA and then parallels the Clinchfield through St Paul, VA before heading to staging. Finally, the L&N parallels the Interstate to the end of its line at Norton including the critical Dorchester Jct. where complete trains were interchanged with the Interstate for delivery to and pick-up from the Clinchfield with the Interstate completing the final leg from Dorchester Jct. to Miller Yard. On both of these layouts, certain towns, sidings, and branches are “edited out” to focus on the elements that are essential to operations and that capture the essence of these roads. Incidentally, one of the edited sections is Appalachia, VA where the Southern Railway interchanged with both the L&N and Interstate–there just wasn’t room to model it convincingly, and the Southern is not the focus as it doesn’t interchange with the Clinchfield here.
The “coal branch room” occupies the lower right and is home to two Clinchfield coal branches (Nora Spur to Blue Diamond and Fremont Branch to the Moss Prep Plant) and the Interstate’s branch to Glamorgan which allows mine run crews some visual and physical separation from the mainlines and a prototypical feeling of isolation. One of the things I’m most happy about with this plan is that every area of the layout can be reached without a duck-under! There are a few “walk-unders” (lowest at 78″), and a series of steps down and back up to go under the benchwork. The path to the coal branch room I’ve labeled as the “man tunnel,” and I envision curtains closing it off and making it darker, similar to how Dave Stewart handles his coal branch. Perhaps it could even be decorated up to look like a mine shaft. In most cases, the walk-unders are in convenient spots. The one exception to this is in the lower right corner where the Clinchfield goes to staging and the Interstate branch comes off the main. For this, there’s a duck-under of ~48″ for those who don’t wish to make the trek around the room for the walk-under entrance.
Staging is all on the lower level and includes four separate staging yards for every railroad except the Interstate. Staging, sidings, and yard tracks support trains of at least 26′ length which is enough for an articulated locomotive, about 30 twin hoppers, and a cab – a good-sized train for O-scale! The CRR and C&O staging are connected and turn this half of the layout into a continuous running loop with the potential for “endless trains” on the busy Clinchfield main. Each staging area also has a means of turning locomotives, either a wye or a reversing loop. There are 10 (TEN!) total wyes in this plan, and for every one of them all three switches are accessible from an aisle (sometimes the aisle on another level, but still accessible). Both turntables (Dante and Andover) are long enough for a 4-6-6-4 Challenger or 2-8-8-2 Mallet. The N&W’s turntable at Norton isn’t modeled, but it was too small to turn large locomotives anyway–this plan follows prototype practice and borrows the Interstate’s wye to turn locos at Norton.
Construction of this layout would be challenging but far from impossible. There are lots of angles to help support cantilevered benchwork, and I’ve designed the backdrops (dark gray lines) to be able to incorporate 2×4″ studs to make things strong. Much of the construction and materials would be dedicated to the raised platforms for the upper deck, some as high as 48″ off the floor, most at 24″. Only one lift-out is required–it’s on the wye between C&O and CRR staging in front of the emergency exit (which I thought would be a good idea for a layout this size). This is designed to be built in a free-standing metal barn, and the doors can typically be cut in wherever needed. There are also at least two exit points from every area, though some might require a duck-under as indicated by the additional yellow arrows (these duck-unders aren’t required for operators to follow trains).
Operations
This layout could actually be operated by a single operator running trains in sequence, but it’s big enough to accommodate at least a dozen. First, I’ve drawn in some desks for two separate dispatchers: one for the CRR and C&O, and one for the Interstate, N&W, and L&N. Trains on the Clinchfield would be split between over-the-road freights, mine runs, and yard jobs for Dante and Elkhorn City. Additionally, a helper crew would be needed at Elkhorn City to help trains up the 1.8% grade against southbound trains from Elkhorn City to Towers through “The Breaks”–this section is modeled as one piece to allow this operation. Dante would serve as the hub for coal operations with several mine runs originating daily. One mine run would serve Bear Wallow Hollow – an endless series of switchbacks, short tail-tracks, and grades just like the prototype! Another turn would serve the mines along the mainline. The Nora Turn would serve Blue Diamond and Big Rock daily, and at least two Moss Turns would transport raw coal from other branches up to Moss for processing and haul clean coal back to Dante for inclusion in coal drags north and south. Boody Turns would take blocks of N&W-bound coal (mostly clean coal from Moss) the short trip from Dante to Boody. Another 2-3 operators would be needed to handle the decent number of through freights including non-coal merchandise traffic handed off by the C&O for points south and passenger trains. Five passing sidings from Towers to Miller Yard would give the dispatcher plenty to do!
Another 2-3 operators would be needed to handle the Interstate. This would include working the yard at Andover making up mine runs and classifying outbound coal traffic by railroad. The others would operate the Interstate mine runs to Derby/Roda and the Glamorgan Branch along with two “Hill Crews” to work the tipples on the main, handle N&W interchange traffic, and run the traffic between the L&N and Clinchfield on the Dorchester Jct. to Miller Yard section.
The N&W and L&N would need another 2-3 operators, one to handle the yard at Norton, and the others to handle interchange traffic between the L&N and N&W, the L&N and CRR (handed off at Dorchester Jct), and the N&W and CRR at Boody. This would be mostly coal trains, but there were some merchandise traffic between the railroads as well including daily freights between the L&N and N&W, restricted to Plate C cars and smaller due to the tight tunnels on the N&W. All of this would really give operators and visitors an appreciation for the intricacies of how these railroads intertwined and interacted in this area of southwestern Virginia, especially with thundering sound-equipped steam locomotives echoing through the narrow corridors!
Things I Like About This Plan
- Captures the essence of multiple railroads
- Complex track arrangements with no duck-unders
- Some very neat scenery opportunities, many with scale bridges
- Vast majority of track viewed at optimum height
- Tons of operation and lots of variety (coal drags, manifest freights, passenger trains, yard jobs, pushers, mine runs…)
- It has a man tunnel
Things I Don’t Like About This Plan
- Edited out some intervening scenes that would have been neat to model
- Complexity of building a “mushroom” design
- Tight vertical clearance over C&O staging
- Four helixes! Some are only a couple turns, but still