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Layout Update - Locale Rehash

Written by Ian MacMillan

Sunday, 09 March 2008

Manchester Industrial Trackage

Industrial city switching, street trackage, tall buildings. Pretty much what I had been looking for in a layout for a while. But most of what I was interested in was in Chicago and I wasn't too keen on the scenery and the building types. Finding maps of B&M industrial trackage for Manchester, NH in the late '70's was excactly what I was looking for!

After looking over the track maps and overhead maps in Microsoft Live! I knew that I could build an intense switching layout that had realistic distances between industries, and retained New England scenery. A quick sketch of the space in the layout room found that I could model all of the industrial trackage off of the Portsmouth Branch from East Manchester to Manchester Yard, and still allow about 50' of main line run on the New Hampshire main line through Manchester north to Concord.

One of several Manchester Mills

The industrial trackage off of the Portsmouth Branch includes about 40 industries that are rail served, several run arounds, and spurs into brick mill canyons. While the Portsmouth Branch trecked through the industrial heart of Manchester, it was also a vital east/west link for the B&M, connecting the New Hampshrie mainline to the Portland mainline. This makes the "main line " of the branch suitable for possible commuter rail via MBTA or an extended Amtrak schedule (a la Downeaster). The edited photo above shows where the track traveled though the city, but does not show all the sidings. The trackwork is just too extensive!

Same layout history applies, and CR will be running the show here. While 6 axle monsters ploy the NH main line, beat GP38-2's will work the extensive industrial track.

Using Google Maps "Distance Measuring Tool" I was able to get accurate distances of tracks and streets without having to drive down to Manchester. This also made it easier as I could get the measurements now and not have to wait until all the snow melted. By getting measurements I could match them to the track plans and the visible ROW to get an idea of how much trackage I could include. I found that if I reduced the scale by half that I could fit all of the Portsmouth Branch from I-93 including the industrial trackage, and the NH Mainline from just south of the Main yard north to the Amoskeag Street Bridge.

Amoskeag Street Bridge

This means that the whole basement has a railroad that is about slightly less than full scale and has little compression. This will allow operations to be more realistic as there will be few "tricks" needed to make the trip over the layout feel longer than it really is... No more headaches While it may sound like there is actually less of a layout, you are actually getting more. There will be extended MBTA service to Concord and Regional Amtrak service to the White Mountains and the Seacoast that will provide additional traffic in addition to the hot shot freights bound for Canada that will go via the Northern to VT. Running at actual speeds on the layout the operations should help to make operators feel less rushed as the layout will be able to run on a 2:1 fast clock, and not the 6:1 typical of most model railroads.
Sounds like it will be pretty fun! Industrial switching, main line action, passenger operations, and New England rural/city scenery...What more could you want?

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