Quote from: Jerry on October 21, 2025, 10:18:45 AMI don't know how I keep missing your updates?

That is a fine looking layout you have there!

Jerry

Thanks, Jerry.  I've been quiet for several weeks; camping trip, other stuff.  Probably be early Dec. before I can get back at working on the RR.

Quote from: Philip on October 15, 2025, 09:36:11 AMWas that Coaltrain who your speaking of? Great layout you have!

I don't recall, Philip.  It was so long ago, and he just dropped out.

Thanks, Dave and Curt.  I got the backdrop technique from a series of posts on RR-line; the guy was building a layout set in West Virginia during Autumn, and he had developed a pallet list of the tube acrylic paint colors that matched the shades of Woodland Scenics coarse ground foams.  He also had in-progress pictures and how-to's on how to use sea sponges to dab on the paint.  It was a revelation!  I painted my backdrops about 3-4 linear feet at a time.  I should look thru my archived posts from way back then to try and find the "recipe" ...

Thanks, Curt.  Wifey mentioned the other day that I seem to be more motivated to spend time at the layout, because it's become such a pleasant environment after almost two years of 1-2 hours a day of "work."  There's something to be said for that.

This segment will follow the B&SGE's Buchanan Branch to its terminus in the real-world place called Cowans Gap.  Emerging from behind the blast furnace complex the branch climbs a 3% grade on a sweeping curve butting up against the backdrop.  B.S. (before scenery) the clearance diagram allowed the largest loco's (K27 2-8-2's) to pass, but the addition of a 1/2" thick foam shale cut above the overpasses reduced that to the little C19 2-8-0's.  Fortunately they are powerful enough to haul the empty ore cars and other local traffic up the grade - but no continuous runs for anything bigger during open houses.



The track comes off the curve to pass behind a mountainside that is only about 3" deep but is designed to give the impression that the branch dives into the mountains.  The section with hand carved rockface is removable for track cleaning.  I promise to someday continue the rock work on the rest of the mountainside... honest.

That crazy train on the PRR, by the way, is not something that gets run during ops sessions; it's my NMRA collectibles train run for visitors from time to time.  The caboose is a Western Maryland prototype in 1970s Chessie livery; it reminded me of my days as a kid waiting for the morning drag out of Hagerstown, MD to pass thru Chambersburg on my way to high school ... which meant that I would be late for homeroom!



The tall trestle and the road overpasses below it are the work of the late-Don Reed.



Not far above the trestle the branch enters the village of Buchanan, which exists because of the So. Penn Furnace Co's iron ore mine and processing plant.  The village, itself, is represented by the dome of the Russian Orthodox church poking above the woodline (based on the one in the former coal company town of Woodvale on the E.B.T.) and a printed image of company houses pasted to the backdrop visible through the draw behind the mule barn.



That little red barn is a basswood kit by Webster Classic Models, and the tipple/processing plant is the Walthers Glacier Gravel kit, with conveyors repurposed somewhat.  The depot is a kit for the E.B.T.'s long-gone depot at Coles, while the enclosed water tank across the tracks is another Tom Middleton scratchbuild of the one at the same location on the E.B.T.

The two tracks converge just beyond the waste conveyor to pass through a hole in the wall disguised by a deep rock cut and tree tunnel ...



... to emerge at Cowans Gap, the end of the branch and site of another, smaller iron ore mine.

By the way, Buchanan gets its name from the PA state forest of the same name, which in this era (1930s) is being planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps - one of whose camps is just off-scene to the right of the ore tipple.  From left to right, the covered bridge is the snap-fit Walthers offering, the store is another of those structures scratch-built by someone else for sale at a train show in the misty past, the depot is a JL Innovative Designs McDougall Telegraph Office that I modified with wooden shingles, brick chimney, and other details, and the tipple is cobbled together from pieces left over from the Glacier Gravel kit and Evergreen styrene siding, with scratch-built walkway and railing.



Camp S-54 houses the young men who are planting in this area and building the future Cowans Gap State Park.  It receives occasional shipments via the stub of the Kalbach Branch (a remnant of the logging RR of the Kalbach Lumber Co. that clear-cut this area in the early-1900s, thus the CCC being here); the Kalbach Branch passes through another hole in the wall to enter hidden trackage that reappears at the other end of the modeled B&SGE (Tuscarora Valley Jct).

That's it for this entry.  Next time I'll backtrack to the Richmond Furnace area and the PRR's piece of the operation there.

... as I was saying, 

Having finally gotten back to work on the B&SGE side of the Path Valley Lines, I've begun the process of making the mock-up of the East Broad Top's iconic concrete coaling bunker at Rockhill, PA into a 3D model using the instructions and some components of the old (ancient, actually) White Ground Model Works kit.

Much foam has yet to be cut, shaped, and the "crumblies" vacuumed, but it's a start.



I've moved all the rolling out of the way while the work is in progress, so the scene is a bit empty, too.  In the view above, you can see the backside of Richmond Hill is still pretty bare, too.  Lots of puff ball trees to make for that!  The small interchange yard, used mostly for transfer of freight from narrow to standard gauge cars is in the foreground, and the steep standard gauge ramp track leading up past the South Penn Furnace from the PRR's Tascott Yard is at lower left.

Turning around, from left to right, are the coal loads-in/empties-out tracks for the unseen beehive coke ovens, the Buchanan Branch leading up to the So. Penn Furnace Co's mountain-top iron ore mines, and the spur to the iron ore dump house above and behind the blast furnace's stock house.



The 3-story brick building in the foreground, above, has a recently completed detailed interior, including brick walls and a kit-built vertical blast engine from an unfortunately now-defunct source, surrounded by scratch built supporting walkways and little people.  That project kept me busy for some weeks in Spring 2025.  More on that in a later post.

The B&SGE's Buchanan Branch starts its climb up the 3% grade to the mines on a sweeping curve, passing over the underpass tunnels for the standard gauge spur to those "Brigadoon" coke ovens and the extension of the PRR's So. Penn Branch into hidden continuous run trackage.

Another project that kept me from the narrow gauge for most of the Winter and Spring of 2024-25 was adding a pig casting machine, teeming ladle complex, and traveling crane extension to the blast furnace so it would remain competitive into the 1930s (spoiler alert: The Great Depression kinda didn't help).  More on that, later, as well.



You can see the standard gauge tracks leading up to the stock house "high line" to the left of the coke ovens underpass.

OK.  I'll leave it at that for the time being.  Thanks, again, for all of the supporting comments.

Vagel 

Thanks for all the complimentary words, guys.  It means a lot!

Continuing with the tour, the B&SGE east of Springtown wraps around the base of Richmond Hill on a high fill and through a deep cut on its way to Richmond Furnace, its eastern terminus and interchange point with the PRR's South Penn Branch.



As you can see, this is the end of a long peninsula forming the left side of a deep alcove designed as the geographical and operational center of the Path Valley Lines.  As such, there is a lot of model railroading to cover in there, but we'll stick with the narrow gauge for the time being.



By the way, Debbie took the picture above during our open house for the 2024 Nat'l Narrow Gauge Convention.  One of our "wouldn't it be neat if's" when construction started back in 2008 was to someday host a national-level open house ... and our hope's were not disappointed.  Over two days in Sep. 2024 we had 139 visitors from 26 states and 6 other countries.

A lot of what I've showed so far was also ready for my fellow narrow gauge enthusiasts - including the full skirting of the bench work that Debbie finished literally just in time - but there were still some "Terra Incognita" scenes ... like the Richmond Furnace yard and engine servicing facilities.



The facilities here feature a duplicate of the East Broad Top's engine house at Mt. Union, PA - built by Steve Riddlebaugh - and a scratch built representation of the EBT's turntable at Rockhill, PA - built, I believe, by Tom Middleton.  There are some workers dwellings that I scratch built for the old basement version of the B&SGE, and the depot is a scratch built structure that I purchased at a train show.

After 15 months of intensive work getting the B&SGE presentable for the narrow gauge convention, I shifted to other projects and only recently got to work at Richmond Furnace.  But that will have to be covered in a new post, since I have apparently maxed out my attachments for this one ... 

Quote from: nycjeff on September 16, 2025, 10:04:24 AMHello Vagel, thanks for giving us such a nice tour of your layout. I too really like the bridge scene, it must be nice to watch a train travel through that area.

Thanks, Jeff.  It is a favorite spot for railfans.  I found a picture I posed for a FB post I made a while back.

Quote from: Lynnb on September 12, 2025, 08:08:24 PMVery nice long run layout , love the bridge .

Thanks, Lynn!

Quote from: deemery on September 05, 2025, 04:22:00 PMLooking forward to more photos!

dave

Thanks, Dave.  More to come.

Quote from: Zephyrus52246 on September 12, 2025, 11:22:14 AMBeautiful layout.  Thanks for sharing it's story.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff.  There's some "unfinished" parts coming up.

Quote from: ACL1504 on September 07, 2025, 08:42:32 PMVagel,

Nice layout photos. Love those old locos.

Tom

Thanks, Tom.  Being born after all the fires got dropped, models are my way of experiencing the real thing.

Quote from: GPdemayo on September 05, 2025, 03:02:40 PMEnjoyed the photos Vagel, I'll be looking in.....

Thank You!

Quote from: friscomike on September 07, 2025, 08:07:10 AMHowdy Vagel, your layout looks like it's a lot of fun to operate. Excellent work.  Have fun, mike

Thank you!

Just now finding this thread, and would love to see how things are coming along!

Vagel

Rollin, it's been a while since your last post.  I'd love to see more of your tour of this great club layout.  I'm sure others would, as well.

Vagel