B-and-M Eastern Route progress

[jbvb]

I'm modeling the Boston & Maine's Eastern Route in HO standard gauge in my 207-year-old house's attic. The attic has its pluses and minuses - plenty of space, just up the stairs and finished, but the combination of the sloping ceiling and a 36" minimum radius meant I could only do an around-the-walls plan. Also, it can get a bit hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

The layout incorporates my Rowley MA modules, presently the only finished scenery, in the rural northern half of the attic. The southeast corner is where I'm building my compressed version of West Lynn, MA including the General Electric River works and the West Lynn creamery.



This photo shows the mainline curve passing the future creamery (spur under the file) and the Saugus Branch (long staging tracks) coming in from the left. I'm spiking rail on the branch, building the switch comes next. The flying plywood is actually pretty rigid with the flange below and the backdrop partially installed, it will get better when I bring the backdrop around to the left edge of the photo.

[nhguy]

Looks real good to me. I'd like to see a few more photos. Do you make your own ties? What are you gluing them down with?

[jbvb]

I posted a few pictures of this project to "Subroadbed, Roadbed and Track" over in the Model Railroad Construction forum, and the Rowley modules are on my site: http://www.faracresfarm.com/jbvb/rr/gallery/index.html The southwest corner has a bunch of structures, but they aren't in finished scenery yet. I'll post a panoramic shot or two over the weekend.

Ties in this area are a mix of Campbell Profile, home-made and Mt. Albert Scale Lumber, glued to homasote with yellow carpenter's glue. I use the tie jig/tape process, but usually hand-place switch ties.

[Edit Long Afterward]

Borrowing an idea from John Siekirk, I made up a short index to this thread and am pasting it into my otherwise prosaic second post:

RR-Line B&M Eastern Route Progress index (page #, date or range, highlights of activity):

3. 2008-2009 Operation through West Lynn via shoo-fly to old test loop. Railroad St. in Bexley, carved Tunnel portal.
.... 2008-12 MRC Prodigy throttle control bus thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/13176
.... 2009-02 N. E. Farmhouse (Creative Laser Design) thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/13678
4. 2009-06 Bexley scenery & structures, benchwork & track for Newbury
5. 2009-2010 Remove test loop, benchwork & track for Draw staging, Newburyport West
.... 2010-04 Merrimack St. overpass thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/18188
6. 2010-05 Draw staging switch machines, benchwork & track for Newburyport.
7. 2010-07 Draw control panel
8. 2010-07-29 Brass spike at Nbpt.
9. 2010-10 Newburyport West panel, Newburyport area backdrop
.... 2010-10 Guardhouse for the Gear Plant thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/19959
10. 2010-11 First XTrkCAD track plan
11. 2011-02 Newbury backdrop
12. 2011-04 Little River bed, landforms
14. 2011-05 High St., Winter St landforms, W.Lynn Backdrop complete, begin Clam Box.
.... 2011-06 Before Galvanized Steel Highway Guardrails thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/22017
.... 2011-09 Improvements to Con-Cor P-54 coach & MB-54 RPO/Baggage: https://railroad-line.com/node/22863
.... 2011-10 Discuss LED light strips for layout lighting thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/22997/page2
.... 2011-11 Start Gothic Arch Dairy Barn build thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/23315
.... 2012-02 Clam Box construction photos on pg. 32-44: https://railroad-line.com/node/23918/page32
.... 2012-04 Start Post-1850 New England Farmhouse thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/24774
16. 2012-06 Clam Box finished, begin Rice Farm house
17. 2012-09 Bexley Enginehouse area scenery, Robinson Rd. overpass.
18. 2012-12 Start track for GE Receiving, finish West Lynn yard
19. 2013-02 Little River bed, marsh grass, Four Rock bridge begun
.... 2013-03 Start 'Detailing P1K RDC for B&M' thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/27801
.... 2013-05 Start 'Prototypic Dwarf Signals' thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/28096
21. 2013-06 Begin High St. overpass construction
22. 2013-06 Finish High St. overpass, start EE AP documents, Hytron building.
.... 2013-10 Preparing for timetable and card-order operations gets serious: https://railroad-line.com/node/29303
25. 2013-11 Working on timetable
27. 2013-12 Rice farm barn (Sylvan)
28. 2014-01 Rowley rock cut complete, Rice farm fencing begun
.... 2014-01 Building BCW ex-RDG passenger car kits: https://railroad-line.com/node/30004
29. 2014-02 More photos of Rt. 1A for upcoming RMC article.
30. 2014-02 Mike's house on its adjustable foundation, Hytron printed windows & sign
.... MRC 16-bit sound decoder in Atlas RS-3: https://railroad-line.com/node/30272
31. 2014-03 R.E. Walters built from RRKits EF-13.
32. 2014-06 First pit at Bexley Enginehouse, first try at painting Newbury backdrop.
34. 2014-08 Pouring Little River, 2nd Newbury backdrop painting.
36. 2014-11 Finish Little River marsh grass.
.... 2014-11 Start Upgrade GHQ Hay Wagon thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/31866
38. 2015-02 Start Acme Fast Freight building.
.... 2015-02 Start '3D Background Tenements' thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/32664
38. 2015-03 Start Gorin Machine building.
.... 2015-04 Start 'AMB Yard Office' thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/33013
.... 2015-05 Start 'Lineside Signals' thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/33232
41: 2015-06 Finish Acme Fast Freight, install Mieke's West Lynn yard office
.... Mieke starts Bexley Depot build: https://railroad-line.com/node/33279
42: 2015-06 East Bexley interlocking in service.
43: 2015-08 Outdoor lighting in Rowley area; yard light build in: https://railroad-line.com/node/33262
44: 2015-10 Signage in Rowley area
45: 2015-11 Mieke begins cloth skirts for layout
47: 2015-12 Bexley station site scenery begun.
49: 2016-03 Signals operational from Bexley Tunnel to Newburyport Draw
52: 2016-11 NE-5 caboose gets Tomar Adlake markers thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/35887
53: 2017-01 Signals operational from Saugus Draw to Newburyport Draw (except for two bracket arms I need to scratchbuild)
55: 2017-02 Boxed Pony Truss overpass thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/36245
58: 2017-05 Construction of the Downtown Newburyport peninsula begins
62: 2017-12 Downtown Newburyport roadbed complete
65: 2018-02 Downtown Newburyport track complete
.... 2018-04 5 Strong St. scratchbuild thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/37886
71: 2019-09 6-4-6 sleeper Old Orchard Beach w/interior earns Merit
74: 2019-12 Bexley Tower kitbash begins
.... 2020-02 DynaCompuTron-A-Matics kitbash thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/39793
.... 2020-02 28 Winter St scratchbuild thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/39817
77: 2020-02 Bexley Depot stairs, railings, platform canopy lights
79: 2020-04 Bexley Depot inter-track fence
80: 2020-05 Midland video camera on simple drop-center camera car.
82: 2020-12 Seashore Trolley Museum track work photos
84: 2021-01 Work on Franklin St. in Bexley, webcam remote viewing experiments
.... 2021-02 PRR FM flatcar scratchbuild thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/40780
.... 2021-04 Kanthima's Scratchbuilt Structures thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/40926
.... 2021-10 Maintaining Twin-Coil switch motors & Eshleman Turnout Links: https://railroad-line.com/node/969230
.... 2022-01 Optical Occupancy Detectors thread: https://railroad-line.com/node/981221

[jbvb]

Tonight I ran the first train onto the West Lynn section. But before I it got far, I had to recharge the Train Engineer's batteries. Still...



Because I had the photofloods out, I also shot the area around the Bexley engine terminal (just east of the Bexley Tunnel, which substitutes for Salem and its Salem Tunnel, which I hadn't room to model).



Looking timetable East, the body of the yard disappears in amongst the house's frame timbers.



Timetable West, towards the tunnel. The structures are commercial kits, minimally customized. Turntable and ash host are Walthers. Yard office is the BEST Salisbury Point Station kit. Visible track is handlaid code 83.

[Rick]

James, you're making good progress on your layout too. I need to get my butt in gear and finish the basement so I can play too.

[elwoodblues]

James,

It looks like you have a great layout there and great progress to date. Looking forward to seeing further progress on your empire.

[Mike_Hamer]

Nice progress, James! Great to see another B&M'er on the forum. Love those buggies! :up: :up:

[jbvb]

Buggies are brass from Overland (wood 104600 series) and Alco (steel NE-5 type), my paint, thanks.

[Ian_MacMillan]

Looks pretty good Jim!

[George_D]

James,

I'm just getting caught up with this thread. Your modules are terrific. You did a great job of creating the look and feel of rural farm country. It makes a nice setting for photographs of your rolling stock.

It'll be interesting to watch your progress on the layout.

George

[jbvb]

There are about 2000 new ties in this picture, maybe 1/8 cut down from Mt. Albert's 16 footers. I'm looking at the wood in the kindling bucket and thinking I prefer the Campbell Profile Tie approach, where theirs are over 20 scale feet long, so both sides of most cuts are usable. I'm using .0125" Homa-Bed to raise the main and middle siding above the running tracks and GE plant, and it's a joy to work with. Next time I might buy his shims rather than sanding my own.

[jbvb]

The Hub Division Modular Group's container got packed Saturday, and I don't see my Rowley modules until April 14 (setup for Intermodellbau in Dortmund). So Sunday I finally got back to West Lynn. I had gotten the ties above stained and ballasted, and now I've spiked enough rail so I need another couple thousand MicroEngineering spikes. Won't be worth a photo until I get into the switches for the Middle track, though.

[brakie]

Looks like you are making good progress.. :up:

[Don_Brimmer]

Nice work James, keep the photos coming!!

[jbvb]

I've finished a couple of switches and the first train has run as far as the West Lynn "middle" track switches. Another couple packs of joiners, spikes and a bundle of rail are on the way (via the LHS, not internettrains.com, thanks).