FJ&G, NY track plan HO

• Size: 13′ x 31′
• Scale: HO
• Minimum Radius: 24″ 
• Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
• Designed by Dan Bourque

The Fonda, Johnstown and Gloverville, better known as the FJ&G, wasn’t exactly a “coal hauler,” but it’s a fun little railroad nonetheless. Nestled on the fringes of the Appalachians in New York, the FJ&G served many industries along its line and connected with the New York Central. The primary industry in the area was leather, but in addition to dozens of tanneries, the FJ&G served many customers including manufacturers and coal dealers.

The Layout

This layout represents the FJ&G in the transition era when power was moving from steam to Alco switchers. By this time, the FJ&G consisted of a single line from its connection with the NYC at Fonda to a large tannery at Broadalbin. Industries were clustered in three areas, Johnstown, Gloverville, and Broadalbin with short bits of running between them.

Because the FJ&G used small motive power, I was able to use 24″ radius curves (27″ minimum for the NYC). Despite the double-deck design, there is no helix; rather, it’s what I’d call a “split level” design with the line progressing up half a level at at time through four scenes. The anchor scene on the lowest level is Fonda where the FG&J met the NYC at a small yard. The NYC is four tracks through this area, but because it’s a secondary player, I reduced it to two. The NYC also forms a double-track continuous running loop so 1-2 of four trains (based on the limited staging tracks) can be run without an operator for “moving scenery” while the operators work the FJ&G. Fonda is a long scene bisected by an overpass, so I opted to use the overpass to model the west half of the scene with the junction, turntable and station. The interchange tracks that dominate the east half of Fonda are mostly hidden, but the yard latter is modeled in the visible section for easy access.

The second scene (level 1.5 in the split level) is Johnstown which is reached by climbing the back wall. I recommend a removable backdrop behind Fonda to access both this hidden track and the hidden track between Johnstown and Gloverville. I was only able to fit in about half of the industries in Johnstown, but they include the iconic curved station and industries built on angles around the tracks. Two long industrial leads served several industries on the east side of town–I didn’t have room to include all the industries, but the leads are long enough to include cars to simulate the traffic.

After climbing on the wall behind Fonda, the tracks enter Gloversville (level 2), the heart of the FJ&G. Like Johnstown, I was only able to include about half the industries, but the key pieces of the scene are all present including the roundhouse, engine house, small yard, freight station, and passenger station. Also included are enough industries to make switching interesting. The industrial lead that left the main near the roundhouse is inaccessible from the aisle, so I envision a low backdrop in the corner allowing emergency access from under the layout.

The final scene is Broadalbin, the end-of-the-line. While there is squeezable access alongside the furnace, the layout is designed to make operators walk around Johnstown to follow their train. While this is normally not ideal, in this case it serves the purpose of putting “mental distance” between the two towns for the operators as Gloversville and Broadalbin are several miles apart. All tracks in Broadalbin are modeled including the turntable and short leads and tracks to serve the large tannery at the end of the tracks.

This plan is designed for a cinder-block basement, and one of the design constraints given was it couldn’t be suspended from the walls. In the design, you’ll see where 2×4″ stud walls hold up the layout, especially the middle and upper levels which can be supported by cantilevering through the stud wall (legs are used under Broadalbin). The lower right corner is also home to a washer and drying in addition to the furnace, so this area needed to be kept high. The lower left corner is reserved for other use, but an alternative plan might take Broadalbin around the corner as a high shelf layout, adding more running room between towns. An entry level DCC command station would be sufficient to run the number of locomotives required for this layout, but wireless throttles would be a definite plus as crews work around the peninsula and furnace.

Operations

This layout is essentially a large switching layout and could keep 2-3 operators busy for many hours with the number of industries modeled. I’m not an expert on FJ&G operations, but with the layout of the line, it’s easy to guess what operations must have looked like. Gloverville would be the base of operations for all trains. Two types of trains would originate from Gloverville: locals to switch industries up and down the line, and shuttle runs between Gloverville and the line’s only interchange with the NYC at Fonda. Interchange trains would work the yard at Gloverville to pick up and block cars going to the NYC, then move down to Fonda, perhaps picking up some cars in Johnstown along the way. At Fonda, several moves would need to be made to work around the train and swap out inbound and outbound traffic at the small interchange yard before heading back to Gloverville. For added fun, this crew could block cars for Johnstown while still in Fonda and drop them off along the way.

Locals would originate in Gloversville. At least two would be needed and potentially three to work Johnstown, Gloversville and Broadalbin. This could be a single crew working each local sequentially, setting out and picking up cars to drop off at Gloversville for the shuttle crew.

The NYC could be either live or staged (or a combination of both). A single operator could be given the role of working the NYC side of the interchange as well as running some through trains to bring more life to the layout. I don’t know how the NYC worked Fonda, but it might be fun to have locals from both the Albany and Buffalo ends of the line work Fonda, taking only the cars for their end of the line. If the washer and dryer were not an issue, I would recommend adding a ~6 track, stub-ended staging yard under Broadalbin connected to the hidden NYC tracks via a wye (you’d have to move the interchange tracks to along the wall). This would allow specific trains like passenger trains and locals to be staged while saving the double-ended staging for more generic through trains.

Things I Like About This Plan:

• Tons of switching
• Captures several classic scenes from the railroad well
• Continuous running option for a stub-ended railroad
• Double-decked with no helix

Things I Don’t Like About This Plan:

• Cuts out a lot of good switching to save space
• Not a lot of running room between towns
• NYC and Fonda very compressed
• Some awkward transitions through backdrops (e.g., bridges that aren’t really there)

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