Category Archives: Track Plans

Listing of ALL track plans on Appalachian Railroad Modeling. For more tailored results, select a category from the sub-menu of the Track Plans tab above.

B&LE Conneaut Branch, OH track plan N

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ARRM’s 99th track plan and second place winner for the 100th Track Plan Contest is Jason Petty.

Jason’s idea was to model the B&LE’s Conneaut Branch in a bedroom. Local to this area, Jason likes that this piece of railroad has docks, yards, helpers, and big trains of coal and ore. I love that this gave me a chance to design a layout for unloading end of coal operations at a major port, something I hadn’t done before.

  • Size: 10′ x 15′
  • Scale: N
  • Minimum Radius: 15″ (except as otherwise noted)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

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C&O Hot Springs Sub, VA track plan N

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C&O Hot Springs Sub, VA N Scale Track Plan

ARRM’s 98th track plan and third place winner for the 100th Track Plan Contest is Jonathan Myers.

Jonathan suggested a layout of the C&O’s Hot Springs Sub in N-scale to fit a 10’x12′ bedroom with a closet. He recommended this line because of the bucolic scenery and mixed passenger/freight operations.

  • Size: 12′ x 12′
  • Scale: N
  • Minimum Radius: 15″ 
  • Minimum Aisle Width: N/A
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

C&O LogoThe Chesapeake and Ohio’s Hot Springs Sub ran 24 miles from a connection … Read more →

INT Stonega, VA track plan N

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INT Stonega, VA N scale track plan
  • Size: 8′ x 10′
  • Scale: N
  • Minimum Radius: 15″ 
  • Minimum Aisle Width: N/A
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Interstate LogoStonega, VA, located just north of the Interstate Railroad’s headquarters in Andover, VA, was home to a large wooden tipple and four banks of coke ovens throughout the steam era of the Interstate. While its layout was simple, operations were anything but, and multiple mine run and yard crews worked this busy operation each day.

The Layout

This layout is designed to fit along two walls in a bedroom, basement or garage. It’s designed in N-scale and limited … Read more →

WVN West Virginia Northern, WV track plan N

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WVN West Virginia Northern, WV N scale track plan
  • Size: 12′ x 14′
  • Scale: N
  • Minimum Radius: 12″ (15″ for B&O)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 24″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

WVN logoThe West Virginia Northern was a short line that ran 11 miles from Tunnelwood, WV to Kingwood, WV. Begun in the 1800s, the WVN was always a small operation, using small locomotives to haul small trains to and from a series of small loaders. For most of its existence, the source of empty hoppers and the outlet for WVN coal was the B&O via a connection at Tunnelton. With so much “small” operation packed in … Read more →

PRR Clearfield Branch, PA track plan HO

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PRR Clearfield Branch, PA HO scale track plan
  • Size: 23′ x 15′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 30″ (except 27″ on hidden helix tracks as noted)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 26″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

PRR LogoThe Pennsylvania Railroad’s Clearfield Branch ran from a connection with the Pennsy main near Tyrone, PA up over the Allegheny Plateau and into the rich coal fields. While the line stretched beyond Clearfield into NYC coal country, the heart of the Branch was the small yard at Osceola Mills, PA in the middle of the branch at the base of the north side of the plateau. From Osceola Mills, the Clearfield Branch continued northward toward Philipsburg and Clearfield, while the Moshannon Branch ran … Read more →

INT Dixiana Branch, VA track plan HO

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INT Dixiana Branch, VA track plan HO
  • Size: 12′ x 16′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 26″ (except 24″ on hidden tracks as noted)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 28″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Interstate LogoThere are probably close to a dozen track plans on this website dedicated to this area of the Interstate RR in southwestern Virginia. It so happens this is one of my favorite coal branches in the Appalachians, and the Interstate is the railroad I model (in the Southern era). It also happens I’ve recently moved and am looking to start building a layout again, so this particular track plan is one … Read more →

N&W Dry Fork Branch, WV track plan HO

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N&W Dry Fork Branch, WV track plan HO
  • Size: 15′ x 24 ′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 30″ (except 28″ on non-mainline tracks as noted)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 27″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

N&W Logo (Tuscan)The Norfolk & Western’s Dry Fork Branch was a major artery through the coalfields of southern West Virginia. The branch connected to the Pocahontas Division mainline along the Tug Fork at Iaeger, WV to the north and to the Clinch Valley Sub to the south at Cedar Bluffs, VA. The heart of the Dry Fork Branch was the yard at Auville, WV, near Iaeger, where mine runs were assembled and mine run power kept.

The Layout

This track plan represents a … Read more →

N&W Jenkinjones, WV track plan HO

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N&W Jenkinjones, WV track plan HO
  • Size: 11′ x 20 ′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 30″ (except as noted on tail tracks)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 33″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

N&W Logo (Tuscan)Jenkinjones, West Virginia was a company town that lay at the end of the N&W’s Tug Fork Branch, almost to the border with Virginia. Toward the end of the steam era, Jenkinjones was home to three tipples that all loaded company coal from the Pocahontas #3 seam. The tipples were reached via switchbacks after a grueling climb up 2.5% grades making this a tough piece of railroad to operate.

The Layout

This track plan represents Jenkinjones in the 1940s-50s when all three … Read more →

SOU L&N Clear Fork Branch track plan HO

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SOU L&N Clear Fork Branch track plan HO
  • Size: 12′ x 16 ′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 24″ 
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

Southern LogoThe Clear Fork Branch on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky branched from the L&N’s mainline but was owned by the Southern Railway and jointly served by both roads. The Southern reached it via trackage rights from a connection to it’s Jellico line a couple miles north of the branch. The branch was several miles long, but most of the loaders were stacked in the last half of the branch between Clairfield, TN and Fonde, KY.

The Layout

This track plan captures the Clear Fork Branch from Clairfield to … Read more →

L&N SOU Middlesboro, KY track plan HO

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L&N SOU Middlesboro, KY track phan HO
  • Size: 15′ x 20′
  • Scale: HO
  • Minimum Radius: 30″ (unless otherwise noted)
  • Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
  • Designed by Dan Bourque

L&N LogoThe L&N first reached the hamlet of Middlesboro, KY (then Middlesborough) around 1890 on it’s quest to tap the coalfields and build a bridge route to the Norfolk & Western in western Virginia. From Middlesboro, the L&N used (and later acquired) the Southern’s (KCG&L) tunnel near the Kentucky/Tennessee state line at Cumberland Gap to reach Tennessee and then Virginia. For a few decades, this route formed the mainline of the L&N’s Cumberland Valley (CV) Division. The Middlesborough … Read more →