Concord Model Railroad Club

Here are some ideas, drawn from various New England railroads.

My goal is to provide some inspriration for small track plans that could be easily modeled in a small space without a lot of compression. Tourist railroads, museums and small shortlines often fit this category.

Clark's Trading Post is the home to the White Mountain Central. They run a thirty minute out and back ride, powered by restored logging engines. They also have a 65ton diesel. It is a neat track diagram, not becuase of its complexity, but instead, a very simple design. This makes for some interestig moves as they juggle three steam engines, the diesel and the REO Rail Bus. (More pics)

During their annual Railroad Days, there is a flury of railroad activity. Here is a brief description of what was running. The regular passenger train was three coaches. There was a small diesel-powered freight train, one box car, and caboose. The siding by frieght station was long enough for this train to get in the clear. The third train was a logging train, with two log cars. The fourth train was a little 0-4-0 with "excusion-style" seating on a small MoW flatcar. The tracks down by the wooden engine house were used for storage of several boxcars, and three non-running locomotives. When I saw it, the Reo Rail Bus was parked inside the brick engine house. Several more logging cars, and flatcars were stored on the "woods siding". Additional passenger cars were stored at the end-of-track.

How to Model: If space allows, I would use two six foot modules, with all the structures, including the covered bridge on one module. Use some vertical separation between the passenger station and the wooden enginehouse. I think as much as two inches would work. Split the difference, and set the brick engine house in the middle. The other module would have track winding through the woods, and the "woods siding". The end of track is hidden under the I93 bridges. If you prefer four foot modules, put the covered bridge and "woods siding" onto one module, with the rest of the structures on the other. Maybe skip the wooden engine house, which would give you more visible track?

I have not personally visited the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum yet, but they have a site plan on their website. Looking at old topo sheets, they're located at a former wye, which explaines the shape of the property. Modelers might want to include at least one of the former legs of the wye. One advantage of modeling a museum is that you could display a wide variety of locos and rolling stock, regardless of time era. (More pics)