INT Dixiana Branch beginner track plan HO
- Size: 8′ x 20′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 18″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 40″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
This beginner’s track plan is designed for one half of a long garage, and it’s designed to use commercial switches and flextrack laid on cookie-cutter sheets of plywood. The subject is the Interstate Railroad’s Dixiana and Glamorgan Branches north of Norton, VA.
Track Plan
I designed this plan with enough of the prototype’s tipples and associated switching to keep a couple of operators occupied for a while. However, because most beginners (and most non-beginners on … Read more
The White Oak Branch originally started as the White Oak Railway which served the mines at Lochgelly and Summerlee. The White Oak interchanged with the C&O at Carlisle, WV, and the Virginian at Oak Hill Jct., WV. The White Oak was sold to both the Virginian and C&O in 1917. Even though it was sold to both railroads, in reality the C&O would interchange cars at Carlisle, and the Virginian (later the N&W) would move them to the mines.
This layout packs a lot of track into a relatively small bedroom. It focuses on the C&O’s Hawks Nest Branch, a small steam-era coal branch near MacDougal, WV, and a small portion of the mainline from Thurmond to Charleston, WV. The branch was only three miles long. This track plan is based on 1921 track charts and contains the three mines listed. None of the mines were listed as active by 1966.
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The Martins Fork Branch, despite its name, was actually a mainline on the L&N’s Cumberland Valley Division. The line extends from Loyall, KY to Smiley, VA where it goes through the Hagans switchback to meet up with the old CV main. As a mainline, it handled most of the coal traffic from Loyall bound for the Southern, Clinchfield, and N&W. In addition to being a mainline, it was also home to several loaders and other, smaller coal branches, including the Crummies Creek Branch with its Lick Branch Spur which … 
