While the crew discusses its next move, their Canadian National RS-3 idles in front of the yard office. The switches in the yard were built using Fast Tracks turnout jigs.
Vermont” emblem and “Green Moun- tain Route-1928” engraved into one end of the concrete bunker. To me this tow- ering structure dominates the scene and defines the location. Included with the coal dock was a beautiful etched brass model of the cinder conveyor that stood just up the track at the ash pit. I was the first customer to place an order for this kit and built it as soon as it ar- rived. (See my kit review in the March, 2009, issue of RMC.) Other support structures include a
scratchbuilt wooden sand storage bin beside the concrete sand house (which is part of the coal dock kit), a large wooden water tank located behind the roundhouse which fed two water standpipes located on the service tracks and various other small out buildings. The water tank is a weath- ered Walthers built up model with the spout removed and the standpipes are from Tichy.
One deviation I made from the proto- type layout was to add a separate diesel servicing facility. There was nev- er a specific area that was rebuilt to service diesels from what I could see, only a fuel standpipe on one of the turntable lead tracks. I have to assume most servicing was done in St. Albans, Vermont, or New London, Connecticut. Since this was to be a major yard and
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
servicing location, I wanted an area where my diesels could be serviced that would include a diesel sanding tower and fuel standpipes. For this I used one of the tracks that were used to store cabooses, flangers and other equipment in the real yard. To repre- sent this area I built a platform be- tween the tracks using styrene forms and poured Hydrocal®
to represent
concrete. The sanding tower is a heavi- ly modified IHC plastic model and the fuel standpipes came from American Ltd. Models and Woodland Scenics. There is also a steel fuel storage tank near this area to supply diesel fuel. The engine terminal can now fully service the few remaining steam loco- motive in service and the large assort- ment of CNR and CV diesels that show up daily.
The freight yard Central Vermont’s main freight yard
was located just north of the station along the White River. It was long and narrow, squeezed in between the river and the adjacent hillside. The main line swung to the outside along the riv- er while the roundhouse and servicing area was tucked in along the base of the hill. To represent the yard I built four long main classification tracks coming off a lead from the mainline
Fast Tracks turnouts W
hen I was planning this yard I had to make a decision whether to use ready-made
turnouts which would cost a lot of money since I didn’t have many on hand, or to scratchbuild all the turnouts by hand like I did in the other room. That would be a daunting task because the yard alone would require 17 turnouts in addition to any mainline turnouts I would need. Plus, it would be almost physically
impossible to
reach over to some of the further turnout locations to build them. After much deliberation I decided to go with the Fast Tracks turnout building sys- tem (
www.handlaidtrack.com).
The
original cost seems high, but once you buy the turnout jig kit, which includes several laser cut turnout tie sections, printed circuit board ties, rail and jigs for filing switch points and frog points, you can build unlimited number of turnouts and the price per turnout drops with the more you build. This is a precision system and all my turnouts work flawlessly. The great part is that you can build the turnouts at the com- fort of your workbench then install them on the layout like ready-made turnouts when you are done. This is by far the best investment (along with DCC) that I have ever made for build- ing my layout. I used the No. 6 turnout jig but there are many different turnout sizes to choose from.–DON JANES
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