Twin Mountain Barge & Navigation RR

[Opa George]

Thanks, Tommy, and a very happy and healthy New Year to you, too.

Today I had time to continue to rough in a small portion of Old Head harbor.  Below are two views of the "old town," which was built over extensive limestone caverns.  The early settlers found the caverns useful for storing perishable foodstuffs in summer and one of the town's earliest businesses was the cold storage facility on the waterfront.



The mainline return loop takes advantage of the caverns as well, running beneath old town via one particularly large cavern. 



In order to help disguise the basement support pillar that divides the layout in half, I decided the pillar would represent the mountains that give the line it's name.  Therefore my track passes by the pillar through tunnels under the twin mountains (each side of the pillar is a different "mountain." 

Since derailments sooner or later always happen in tunnels, I planned my benchwork to leave the aisle side of the tunnels open for easy access.  Wild imagination soon got the upper hand on good sense and inspired me to fully scenic the interiors of the tunnels to represent the local caverns.  While I accept that limestone caverns are probably the least likely terrain over which anyone would place railroad tracks, the muse would not be otherwise persuaded, so there it is.

Cheers to all!
--Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Looking good George.

[jerryrbeach]

George,


Unlikely there would be a railroad in a limestone tunnel.  Not true!  When driving tractor trailer I picked up a load in Missouri.  Due to the constant temperature, perishables were stored in loaded refrigerated trailers inside limestone tunnels.  Right in the middle of one of the series of overhead doors to access the trailers were railroad tracks.  I was told by one of the employees that the tracks were no longer in use but in the past freight cars were stored inside just as the trailers were currently.  It was so long ago that I'm not sure exactly where I was picking up in Missouri, though Springfield comes to mind.  It was somewhat disconcerting to be inside such a large expanse of limestone, the sheer size was somewhat overwhelming.  Definitely not far fetched at all...

[Opa George]

George,

Unlikely there would be a railroad in a limestone tunnel.  Not true!  When driving tractor trailer I picked up a load in Missouri.  Due to the constant temperature, perishables were stored in loaded refrigerated trailers inside limestone tunnels.  Right in the middle of one of the series of overhead doors to access the trailers were railroad tracks.  I was told by one of the employees that the tracks were no longer in use but in the past freight cars were stored inside just as the trailers were currently.  It was so long ago that I'm not sure exactly where I was picking up in Missouri, though Springfield comes to mind.  It was somewhat disconcerting to be inside such a large expanse of limestone, the sheer size was somewhat overwhelming.  Definitely not far fetched at all...

Jerry, extra special thanks for backing up my premise with that note.  I  should know by now, with the wide expanse of real world examples, that there really is a prototype for everything.

--Opa George

[Jerry]

Starting to take shape George nice work!


Jerry

[ACL1504]

George,

This is coming together very well. I love all the different angles of the structure placement.

Very nicely done.

Tom 

[Opa George]

More pics of Old Head harbor.  Got a little more work done on it.









We're still at the "roughing it in" stage, but each day it looks a little less rough.

--Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Looks great George.

[Opa George]

Thanks very much, Curt!

Got lots more done filling in the landforms for the old town section of Old Head.  I forgot to resize my pics before upload, so I'll use thumbnails.



















--Opa George

[Keep It Rusty]

So much character packed into these scenes. Well done George.

[Opa George]

Thanks very much, Craig.  I am certainly enjoying this layout, perhaps more than any other.  I need a better camera, though.  I have a very early digital version and I think the quality has degraded through the years.

--Opa George

[Opa George]

Below are some progress shots as I continue to work in the modules from the old layout into the new.   Below are two views of the FOS kit The Terminal as I relocated it next to the car ferry pier.  Across the street is another few FOS kits, the steakhouse and a freebie, the taxi stand.  Car ferry is visible in the background (Walthers car barge and dock) and the Watt-Moreland Waxworks from Master Creations is on the hill above the ferry to the right.





This is the other side of the waxworks, looking toward the town of Old Head, near the inlet.  The bait shop structure is part of the Builders in Scale "the Waterfront" kit.  Those structures are no longer grouped together as in the original diorama, but relocated to different areas of the inlet and backwater areas.  Good bit of unfinished scenery (wood and plaster) is visible in the lower left.  Lots to do.



The Old Head docks attached to the limestone storage caves, the oldest part of town, are nearing completion.  The mainline as it passes over the inlet is still floating in air in many places.  The FOS kit Bandits Roost is visible in the background near the top.



A long view across the inlet with the town of Old Head (Bandits Roost plus some Bar Mills kits), the narrow gauge line station, and Watt-Moreland Waxworks (the terminus of the narrow gauge line) in the far back.



Panoramic view of the entire Old Head / inlet area.  This is the area of the layout that is showing the most progress.



The point at which the standard gauge mainline passes under the narrow gauge line, next to the waterfall.  The narrow gauge line is non-operational and a scenic bit.  This is the return loop of the standard gauge mainline, where it passes under the stone arch to exit Old Head on its way to wind through the swampy back waters of Twin Mountains.



--Opa George

[jerryrbeach]

George,


I like how you've sited all your wonderful structures with a large dominant one complemented by smaller structures that lead to the larger ones.  I envy your artistic sense of composition.  I do wish you had better lighting.  The way your photos kind of "dark out" along the edges is distracting. 

[Opa George]

George,

I like how you've sited all your wonderful structures with a large dominant one complemented by smaller structures that lead to the larger ones.  I envy your artistic sense of composition.  I do wish you had better lighting.  The way your photos kind of "dark out" along the edges is distracting.

Thanks, Jerry.  The small size of the layout allows me to really concentrate on composition.  Lighting for photography is less than ideal, though. It's all LED shop lamps.  But on the other hand, in person it's nice and bright to these old eyes.  I think the flash on my camera contributes to the dark edges.  I can try some without the flash to see if it works.

George

[PRR Modeler]

Great scenes George. I really like the tracks almost on top of the water.