Why Norway, Maine?
Why am I modelling the Grand Trunk's Norway, Maine branch?
This is probably the most important question as regards my layout.
Norway was the smallest branch line terminal on the Grand Trunk New England Lines, and perhaps even in the entire state of Maine. Its yard (if it can be called that) and terminal area contained only five switches, as far as I know. This worked well for me as I wanted to model a small branch line terminal,. I also wanted to build my layout in a small space, and make it somewhat portable, as well.
In addition, I already had a six foot long by thirty inch wide module constructed. As I played around with rough designs for Norway, it became apparent that the yard arrangement at Norway would fit on the module very easily. This was appealing as it did not require the construction of new benchwork for the town.
As well as having a very small amount of track, the terminal at Norway was located in a very small area. The Norway terminal was located in a roughly 900 foot by 250 foot space, which scales out to be around nine feet by 33 inches in HO scale. This meant that I could model the Norway terminal at nearly full width and two thirds length, a respectable amount of compression for a model railroad.
One of the other main reasons that I picked Norway was its interesting variety of structures. In the 1950s, the era I model, the Norway terminal area contained a perfectly model railroad sized frame station, a small freight shed, a lumberyard, a grain store, and an oil company, to the best of my knowledge. This terminal was then bordered on two sides by residential streets with an interesting variety of houses to add interest, atmosphere, and realism to the layout. This was a very important factor in my decision making as scratchbuilding structures is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.
The final main factor in my choice of Norway was the way it operated. In the 1950s, it was operated by a small local freight. The line was moderately busy, with a few cars most of the time, but its operations were not overwhelming. Its operations should allow relaxing operation of a short freight by myself, and should not take up a large amount of time.
I will post a current track plan tomorrow.
This is probably the most important question as regards my layout.
Norway was the smallest branch line terminal on the Grand Trunk New England Lines, and perhaps even in the entire state of Maine. Its yard (if it can be called that) and terminal area contained only five switches, as far as I know. This worked well for me as I wanted to model a small branch line terminal,. I also wanted to build my layout in a small space, and make it somewhat portable, as well.
In addition, I already had a six foot long by thirty inch wide module constructed. As I played around with rough designs for Norway, it became apparent that the yard arrangement at Norway would fit on the module very easily. This was appealing as it did not require the construction of new benchwork for the town.
As well as having a very small amount of track, the terminal at Norway was located in a very small area. The Norway terminal was located in a roughly 900 foot by 250 foot space, which scales out to be around nine feet by 33 inches in HO scale. This meant that I could model the Norway terminal at nearly full width and two thirds length, a respectable amount of compression for a model railroad.
One of the other main reasons that I picked Norway was its interesting variety of structures. In the 1950s, the era I model, the Norway terminal area contained a perfectly model railroad sized frame station, a small freight shed, a lumberyard, a grain store, and an oil company, to the best of my knowledge. This terminal was then bordered on two sides by residential streets with an interesting variety of houses to add interest, atmosphere, and realism to the layout. This was a very important factor in my decision making as scratchbuilding structures is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.
The final main factor in my choice of Norway was the way it operated. In the 1950s, it was operated by a small local freight. The line was moderately busy, with a few cars most of the time, but its operations were not overwhelming. Its operations should allow relaxing operation of a short freight by myself, and should not take up a large amount of time.
I will post a current track plan tomorrow.
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