The Monon’s Fourth Subdivision
Monon 550 (above) takes on water at Gosport while two m.o.w. cars, a kitchen car and a bunk car, sit idle on a siding. The Pennsy’s Vandalia Branch interchanges with the Monon just north of Gosport. This location is busy as a southbound extra slows to a stop to pick up a couple of cars (left). The unusual run-through station was built from plans from the Historic Ameri- can Engineering Record.
have been cut through the walls to pro- vide access to areas in other rooms for staging and longer runs. All of the benchwork–including some removable sections designed to enhance operations–is complete, as are the trackwork and wiring. The rough scenery is finished and I am now focusing on building struc- tures and detailing the scenery. Sever- al structures from former layouts are on display, many with lighted interiors. Most structures are scratchbuilt or ex-
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tensively kitbashed from other scales, and some are S scale craftsman kits. There is a good representation of pe- riod freight cars, most every type avail- able in S standard gauge. Passenger equipment is rather scarce, but is be- ing acquired. Control is with NCE DCC radio-controlled throttles. There are 17 locomotives with sound and only a cou- ple are left to convert to DCC. Opera- tions are currently conducted using real Monon switchlists.
This is my third Monon-theme lay-
out and the third location for the lay- out. I selected the Monon prototype be- cause it met most of my goals for mod- eling and because of my roots in the state of Indiana. I wanted a single track mainline with small town set- tings and room for scenery, but with plenty of traffic. The transition era maximizes the use of motive power available in S scale. There is also an opportunity to model interesting his- toric structures to express my interest in history and architecture. There are ten scratchbuilt depots planned with two completed. The lime- stone quarries that were served by the railroad are dear to me since I used to swim in them as a college student at Indiana University back in the 1960’s, so they are also represented. While it is impossible to faithfully model every aspect of a railroad the size of the Monon, I hope that you have enjoyed this visit to my miniature ver- sion of The Hoosier Line.
AUGUST 2013
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