Model Railroading
A lot has happened since the my first model railroad in Birmingham -- and that railroad is no longer (1993-2007). We moved in spring of 2007, and I began planning a new Birmingham District Railroad. I learned a lot from the previous railroad and will preserve it for posterity on this webpage. Visit the former railroad here.
But it is time to put the new Birmingham District Railroad on the web. Planning started in 2007, and construction started in September, 2008. Construction has been aided greatly by friend Craig Gardner, and I appreciate Craig's help very much. Thanks, Craig. You are a good modeler and a great helper and friend. This photo shows our first workday, September 27, 2008. You can see the L-girder construction and the "holes-in-the-wall" for the trains to go between the two layout rooms. We continue to make progress -- will it ever be finished? I hope not!
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This railroad represents the Birmingham District, the name given to the overall industrial district of the Birmingham area. With this idea, the theme is to represent the key elements of the iron industry and the railroad's role in that industry. So, the railroad will feature a blast furnace, coke ovens, iron ore mines in Red Mountain, coal mines and a limestone quarry as well as related industries. The railroad is an "out-and-back" format, featuring a formal staging (and "fiddle" yard) that accesses the railroad mainline, which is a large folded dog-bone configuration. From the mainline, there are branch lines for Red Mountain, the coal mine district, an industrial switching district and the blast furnace/coke oven complex. The railroad is in two rooms and features both "around the wall" and peninsula areas. Benchwork is L-girder and open grid method, and was designed using 3rd PlanIt software, which I can recommend, from Eldorado Software. This software enables one to start with the railroad room and work to a complete 3 dimensional layout that may be operated in 3D as well. For example, the benchwork was all planned in 3D, and all of the roadbed was cut out by preparing layouts on 3D plywood sheets and transferring this to real plywood. The software also enables careful planning of geometry and vertical profiles. Track libraries are available including PECO turnouts, my preferred choice. One may create rolling stock and locomotives for the 3D operation. The software is very versatile and powerful. Back to the railroad -- I learned things from the previous layout. Some of these include walkaround format without duck-unders or doorway bridges. There is no hidden track other than tunnels, and staging is in the open for ease of access. I did continue with building sky backdrops and with most of the corners curved ("coved)) using masonite. We did put in valence lighting. The layout will continue to use DCC, and Digitrax is my preferred choice for control. |
Click here to see: Track plan Schematic Basic Benchwork Criteria
You may enjoy another interpretation of the Birmingham District in this article:
Birmingham 1950 (Copyright Carstens Publications, Inc., 2003; used by permission) is an article from Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine. Special thanks to RMC Editor Bill Schaumburg. Enjoy!
