L&N Eastern Kentucky Coal Fields, KY track plan HO
ARRM’s 100th track plan and first place winner for the 100th Track Plan Contest is Donald Dunn.
Donald’s idea is to model the L&N’s Eastern Kentucky (EK) Sub coal fields including Hazard, Dent, the Carrs Fork Branch, Leatherwood Branch and Rockhouse Creek Branch in the 1970s. Donald grew up in this area and later worked for the CSX out of Hazard–he’s always wanted to model this area. I loved the challenge of fitting a lot of branch lines and tipples into this space.
- Size: 25′ x 25′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 29″ mainline, 27″ branch line
- Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
- Designed by … Read more
The 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 … 
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.
The Clinchfield’s coal loaders were mostly located north of Dante, VA, and that’s the focus here. Three primary branches, the Freemont Branch, the Nora Spur and the Haysi, were all served by mine shifters (mine runs) and dumped hundreds of coal loads onto the mainline every day. The Haysi Railroad, operated as a Clinchfield branch line, is renowned among coal field fans for the radio controlled B-unit that worked its tracks. Dozens of loaders on the mainline and seven … 
The Interstate’s operations in and around Norton, VA and up the the Dixiana Branch were busy and interesting. In addition to the massive amounts of coal being generated on the branch, the mainline also saw a lot of movement of interchange traffic, particularly between the L&N at Dorchester Jct. and the Clinchfield at Miller Yard, the eastern end of the Interstate’s mainline. This layout (which was partially built in my former basement before … 