All model railroading magazines and books recommend working from source photos, but where do I obtain these from?  Usually my primary source are various books on the prototype railroad or area.  Morning Sun Books offers a wide range of railroad and area specific books that I generally use.  Arcadia Publishing books can also be useful for establishing building styles and scenery.

I’ve attempted to take photos in person too, but this is kind of difficult since I model the 1960s.  Often buildings have been remodeled, changed, or at the least painted since then.  But there are still possibilities.  With this in mind, I’ve now also created a separate set on my flickr account to track these – Layout References.

So far I’ve mainly documented a coal dock and a warehouse in the Woodberry neighborhood of Baltimore that I think would fit nicely on the PBL Layout.  I’ve also photographed some of the old mill buildings, workers houses, and a church.  These may be useful on a future garden railroad project…

For the layout I have selected PC Board ties from Fast Tracks and Code 83 Rail from Micro Engineering.  The rail is soldered directly to the ties with Silver Bearing Solder from Radio Shack.  If anyone else is considering this route – it works well, but use PLENTY of resin!  I plan to handlay all the turnouts except a #6 3-way, and a #4 double slip.  Those will be built using kits from BK Enterprises.

You’ll notice in the photo above that the ties are spaced a scale 6′ on center.  That’s because the ties do not need to look prototypical since the trackwork will be buried in pavement.  Therefore, I chose a tie spacing based on the minimum needed to maintain alignment, to minimize the amount needed.

I’m building a new layout!  I’ve been in construction for about a year now, so there’s plenty of progress to report.  But first, I’d like to give the background on the actual layout.

The layout is based upon the Philadelphia Belt Line in the 1960s.  The PBL was originally built as a switching line to give equal access to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), Reading Company (RDG), and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) to the bustling Philadelphia waterfront.  It still serves this purpose even today, now operated by Conrail Shared Assets (jointly owned by CSX and Norfolk Southern), with trackage rights by Canadian Pacific (CP).

I was intrigued by this branch from the start since it gives a realistic excuse to run power from PRR, RDG, and B&O on tight geometry in a small area.  The decade isn’t really for this layout – I plan to eventually build a larger empire (once I actually have the room for it) and selected that era for other features (E44s, Silverliners, early SDs, etc).

I am treating this layout as a learning experience to support my eventual larger layout goals.  Because of that, I’ve made the following choices:

• Handlay all track – A useful skill to learn, and hopeful a way to accurately model the constrained trackwork of the prototype
• Operate with DCC – Again, very useful in support of a larger layout (and operating on club layouts)
• Develop some sort of car operating system – Still a vague idea, but I’d like to run car cards or some other method to route loads and empties
• Scenery Skills – I can’t remember the last time I built buildings and streets, so it’s going to be useful to once again build a cityscape

In the end I shot 384 photos this weekend.  After my initial review for focus, lighting, and composition only 200-some (I accidentally deleted the exact number).  I then, as any good boyfriend should, gave the gf final review and approval.  This left only 122 for posting to flickr.

The lesson – in the face of adversity and a picky client, overshoot to ensure you come away with something usable!

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For my first endeavor, have you seen the website WalkScore?  Punch in an address and it gives you a score of said locations walkability.  Which made me wonder, what have my scores been across my life?

First, a BIG caveat – Walk Score has zero transit data for any location I’ve ever lived.  My adolescence was in a rural town with no transit whatsoever, so that is not surprising.  But it is surprising that neither CATA nor MTA have provided their data yet.  I am sure that this fact is unnecessarily hurting the scores of my post-college locales, and I will rerun this analysis if and when data is available.

So, what is the take-away lesson.  It does appear that my walkability improved during college (it is a commonly noted trend that college students are far more likely to use non-automobile transport modes), only to then plummet for several years.  This drop-off is ironic, since those are the years I regularly rode MARC Train (an MTA property, so unfactored in this analysis).  My new locale has relatively high walkability, owing to its urban location.  I guess overall I can consider this progress since I have been working to improve my options to take non-auto modes.  The graph definitely indicates that that has occurred.  However, I am disheartened that only my current residence has managed to crack the 50 mark.  This clearly indicates that there is still much work to be done.

]]> http://www.batmansavesbaltimore.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=107 0 http://www.batmansavesbaltimore.com/blog/?p=99 http://www.batmansavesbaltimore.com/blog/?p=99#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:15:34 +0000 batman http://www.batmansavesbaltimore.com/blog/?p=99 Friends – I have decided it is time for me to replace my sheets and comforter on my bed.  And so, I am now searching for replacements but am disappointed with what I find.  And so I am asking you readers for assistance.  What should I buy?  Where can I find it?  Some ideas that I have been unable to find online:

• Checkerboard (as in a ska pattern)
• Actual maps (like a topographic map or historic, real map)
• Star map or solar system map
• Bizarre branding, like Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Any other ideas or suggestions?

With that in mind, I was excited to find ESPN #52 in Reading Yard.  As East Penn wound down it had been sitting on the railroad bridge over High Street awaiting interchange, but I had no idea where it was headed after that.  My guess is that its headed to Emmaus for interchange to ESPN’s operation on the north end of the former Perkiomen Branch.  Incidentally, I have also observed green containers in East Greenville on the Perkiomen, similar to those that used to show up in Boyertown.  I’m guessing ESPN is consolidating operations to the former Perkiomen.

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Those who know me can probably guess what I would do if I were running the railroad.  Although its not a new or original idea, I would extend the branch to meet the former RDG Perkiomen Branch somewhere near Palm, PA.  This would give direct rail service to Martin’s Stone Quarry outside Bechtelsville as well as put Bechtelsville and Bally on the line.

Since the county is in charge, it may prove useful to create a railroad authority under their Economic Development Corporation to own the trackage, then contract a shortline operator.  This is precisely the model that has made SEDA-COG an enviable success.  If this is pursued, I would insist that the authority also purchase the north end of the Perkiomen Branch (another ESPN property), the Pottstown Industrial Track, and some of Stowe Yard (outside Pottstown), as well as negotiate trackage rights on NS from Emmaus to Allentown Yard.  This would give approximately 40 miles of track plus 5 miles of trackage rights – a mainline from Pottstown to Emmaus and a branchline to East Greenville.  Interchange could take place at Stowe Yard (outside Pottstown) and Allentown yard (reached via trackage rights).  Existing industrial parks/areas served are in Pottstown (downtown and the former Occidental site), Stowe (former Doehlers Jarvis site), New Berlinville, Bally (if a spur is built to the former Bally Case & Cooler), and East Greenville.  Combined with the steady revenue of stone trains from Martin’s Stone Quarry and existing industries this could be a powerful economic development tool to lure more manufacturers to the area while reducing truck trips.

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At my roommates suggestion I also attended Journey to the End of the Night in DC Saturday.  Though tough shooting conditions (low light, lots of movement, unpredictable locations), I did manage some photos.

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