by Alex Schust, Mason Cooper, Ken Bowen and Buddy French
Norfolk & Western Historical Society 2011
Review by Dan Bourque
Bluestone, Norfolk & Western Branch Line is the first of a series published by the N&W Historical Society with each book covering a significant branch or series of branches in the N&W’s coal fields. The Bluestone Branch was one of the N&W’s first major branches in the … Read more
Appalachian Railroad Modeling welcomes another railroad to the fold, the Montour. For those unfamiliar with this short line, the Montour was created to haul coal from the hills around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Along the way, the Montour interacted with a lot of other coal haulers including the Pennsy, P&LE, B&O, P&WV, N&W and Union RR. Part of its charm was its use of little EMD switchers as mine-run power on its tight curves and small tunnels, making it a great subject to model. While the Montour’s rails may be gone, it lives on as a popular hiking trail.
The main Read more
The 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
New to the site are some photos of some very nice Western Maryland models set on a diorama of Confluence, PA by Kevin Yackmack. Kevin scratchbuilt the Confluence depot in the background and custom detailed and weathered the WM models.
Also new are some prototype photos I’ve recently re-discovered on my computer and have now uploaded to the site. Included in these … Read more
Appalachian Railroad Modeling welcomes a new contributor, Fred Lagno. If Fred’s excellent work looks familiar, it’s because it’s been featured in Model Railroad Planning and NMRA calendars. Fred’s eye for detail, excellent scenery and photography style lend a realism to his scenes and models that all of us can learn from. To see more of Fred’s work, see the Chessie models page.
Tom Patterson has shared more photos of one of his incredible scratchbuilt loaders. This truck dump, named Harney No 2 on Tom’s layout, is representative of the hundreds of these little operations that dotted the lines of Appalachian coal hauling railroads. While Tom’s railroad is freelanced, he studied dozens of prototype tipples to create his … Read more
The 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
The new and improved Appalachian Railroad Modeling is finally here! It’s been months in the making (about 120 hours to transition the hundreds of pages and thousands of images), and I trust you’ll find this new site easier to navigate, richer in content, and better for mobile browsers and different sized screens. Best of all, you can now post comments!
For me, the new design also means easier updates, so rather than large updates every few months, expect smaller but more frequent updates. Also included are a new set of advertisers and links to products I believe you’ll find relevant, … Read more
Appalachian Railroad Modeling is celebrating its 15th year this year!
Thanks to all those who have contributed to this site’s success over the past decade-and-a-half, and I look forward to the next 15!
Review by Dan Bourque
eBooks can be a tricky proposition for buyers because you can’t browse them like you would a book in a hobby shop. I first came across Model Trains for Beginners when I saw it advertised on many model train websites. While I’m not a beginner, I still found myself wondering “is it a good book and worth the price?” I revisited this book when I was looking … Read more
St Paul, Virginia, was a unique piece of railroad. The N&W, travelling from East to West, and the Clinchfield, travelling from North to South, intersect and run parallel through the town with wyes at either end. The CRR and N&W interchanged at Boody, and there were a few small industries in town. St Paul offers a lot of variety in operation depending on the time period modeled. Up to the 60s, the N&W and CRR were the only game in … Read more
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