Claremont and Concord Railroad...
Last week I shared a post about the Thurso and Nation Valley and following another thread and conversation with Chris Mears I stumbled upon the wonderful Claremont and Concord via another of his schemes...
These sketches show the gestation of a scheme I envisaged using a ‘spare’ aluminium briefcase I have left over from last years Christmas project... it might also safely use the tree armatures I made for a winter scene...
There are big compromises in such a compression and Chris has me thinking beyond the box and whether this project lends itself to an experiment in a self constrained HO shunting puzzle in a box. Further thought required, but it’s an interesting distraction alongside the Kinross layout build.
Note mention of a GE44t, yes, I picked one up cheap - the Bachmann H0 model in Santa Fe, it’s now been stripped of paint amd looks neatly waiting in black plastic to see if it is painted as Thurso and Nation Valley’s number 8 or Claremont and Concords 31... inevitably there will be more soon...
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| Photo: M Leachman, source: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/665946/ |
I couldn’t resist! A lovely evening delving into YouTube and Facebook netted these results and the inevitable scheming on possible plans began. A potted history is available here, for our purposes it’s the 1970s that appeal with GE 44t replacing the trolley electrics on the street running sections that served a remarkable number of customers until the 1980s. The photo above shows the spur to a customer called Coy Paper, which was at the end of the old inter urban trolley pole route. The track work was old and well passed its best but the end didn’t come until the 40ft cars used to serve this and other paper mill customers became rarer where 50ft cars the norm in the 1980s... the line had reached the natural end point, and traffic switched to road. I think my favourite section is at Claremont paper, but after testing a Bachmann 44t and Kadee 40ft boxcar the gradients would be too much for a reliable H0 model so a caricature seemed a potential route...
Wow! You can imagine my excitement at seeing this post, this evening. This looks terrific and it’s really fun exchanging approaches and thoughts on the design of layouts based on this location.
ReplyDeleteIt can be easy to copy a location in miniature when space allows but when it doesn’t, this is where real design begins because it forces a conversation about what matters and how to represent that in a way that bears the same story.
I love it. Well done.
Thanks Chris, this is far from over, I’m not sure the scheme works in such a constrained space but I’ve got the point amd some track in stock so I’ve not got much to loose from having a bash and seeing if it works...
DeleteMy gut is that Coy would make a great scheme, as you originally suggested, as an L...
However I’ve not space for that... the big advantage of a customer rather than just a scene on the line, is that there is some operation. I’m thinking a simple battery controller and the extension tracks could fit underneath the baseboard in the box... the loco and stock might need to go in a box attached inside the lid to avoid knocking the trees, or the trees could be removable too... it might be possible to have photos of Coy, and the bridge, as flat ‘backscenes’ that could be placed for photos...
Whatever comes from it it has been a fun distraction.
Keep it up Chris and I'm never letting you in my house again! The other enabler was bad enough he says as he wonders where to hide three Blue and Grey Mk1's for the Scottish Cameo scene in a corner beneath Liberty Village I'm not building....
ReplyDeleteNice though process James, I love the notion of a travel case layout as someone who has Ikea Shelf Dioramas that travel to train shows, ways of making things portable are always interesting to me.
Stephen
Thanks Stephen, I’ve exhibited a few micro layouts in the past and they often attract the most interest from both modellers and the general public. Usually 009 or 006.5, I’ve not tried the concept really in a standard gauge setting although Mollington Road was supposed to be going to Warley this year until C-19 happened!
DeleteJames, it seems that yours and my brains work in a similar way. I too had seen Chris Mears photo and was feverishly trying to come up with an idea that you seem to have beaten me to. Then I remembered a similar sort of kickback siding arrangement not so far away up in Duluth MN. That might benefit from a similar treatment. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ian, interesting, I’d love to see what you’re working on, do let me have a link to follow, you’ve so many blogs I never know which one to check in with!
DeleteJames, if you do a Google earth, Google Maps search for JRK Steel in Duluth, MN you should see the location. With a converted Red Barn type building in front, and an interstate overpass to the left.
DeleteI meant right...
DeleteFinding aid from the state of New Hampshire with much detail. https://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/documents/claremont_railway.pdf
DeleteAbandonment proposal from B&M https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53a3b0e7e4b0356e962ad8f4/t/5e20bad84c57ec0e60faec57/1579203314402/1954_Claremont_Branch_Part_1.pdf
Sale to Pinsly https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53a3b0e7e4b0356e962ad8f4/t/5e221d013da4760dc1edab2e/1579293969591/1954_Claremont_Branch_Part_2.pdf
Twitter thread on same https://twitter.com/shadow/status/1363332844001644547?s=21