The Ogdensburg & Norwood
view of the Rutland’s causeway crossing of Lake Champlain, the O&N crosses the Great Sacandaga in the same way before disappearing into the upper level nine-track staging known as the South- ern Division. Conceptually, the Southern Division continues on through towns such as Me- chanicville and Troy, New York, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with more in- terchanges with the NYC, D&H, B&M, and terminating with a New Haven con- nection. All that non-NYC interchange capacity helps to sustain the O&N as an independent regional carrier,
offering
freight routing options outside of the dominant upstate New York regional control of the New York Central.
The layout Started 18 years ago, the double-
mending plates. Built with the as- sistance of the late Bill Swain, I am very proud of the design, construction and durability of the helix and would not do it any other way if I had to build another. The point-to-point layout design is
deck, HO scale layout sprawls through- out the basement, which I fondly call the “Ashpit.” This layout is a collabora- tive effort of good friends coming over to build and visit, and experimentation has been the keyword. That is just as well because, at over 400 feet of main- line, the layout is “physically exces- sive.” The help of good friends has made the O&N what it is. The helix, built more than 20 years ago and moved here, was at the time in- novative using threaded rod and Stan- ley®
Going south through Indian Lake, we approach Lake Pleasant where the O&N branches southwesterly off to Utica (hidden staging again) and the huge interchange there with the NYC main, the DL&W and the NYO&W. Continuing southward through Specu- lator and Wells out of the high moun- tains, the O&N main passes high over- head on roadbed and track suspended by threaded rod from ceiling tile sup- ports to allow for the slightest “duck under” for access to the main electrical area and the main bank of stepper mo- tors controlling the layout lighting. Immediately off this overhead sus- pension, the mainline continues south toward Northville over the “Dawson Springs” section of the world-famous Virginian & Ohio of W. Allen McClel- land. Given the influences that RMC se- ries had on the entire O&N modeling concept, it seems appropriate that a piece of Allen’s layout would find a home here, even if slight modifications had to be made to fit it in. As the division point, Northville hosts the major car and en-
50
gine shops of the road, similar to the re- lationship the prototype NYO&W had with Middletown. Since I really like the
anchored by the two independently- powered elevators that make up the staging yards, one located directly over the other, representing “Canada” on the lower level and the “Southern Division”
O&N 4-8-2 Light Mountain No. 468 (top) drifts northbound in July, 1948. This symbol freight is heading to Ogdensburg and the car ferry across the St. Lawrence. As July 4th approaches (above) vacationers begin to gather at the combined hotel/restaurant/station at Long Lake.
JULY 2013
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