chines. Later on, however, I converted all the track and switches to Peco code 100. The Peco switches have what the company calls electro frogs, and you must follow the wiring diagrams pre- cisely or you will get shorts. I power the layout with an NCE DCC 5 amp radio system. This is my second DCC system and I believe it to be a great system with lots of flexibility. Most of the switches have Caboose Industries ground throws. Those that are too hard to reach have Peco switch machines.
Structures and motive power The structures on the layout are a combination of kits by Banta Models, Bar Mills, Foscale, Raggs to Riches and Atlas. The kit-built models have been modified in many cases. There are sev- eral scratchbuilt structures in addition to the kits, the centerpiece being the sawmill and sawdust burner. We run the following motive power: a
Porter 0-4-0, a gas mechanical, a Mogul 2-6-0, Forney 2-4-4, American 4-4-0, Consolidation 2-8-0, Climax, Shay, Fly- ing Goose,
fire truck, railcar and a
Gate Hill Climax No. 6 (above) stops in front of the sanding tower. Note the spilled sand around the tracks and the facility. The interior of the engine house (below), like the inte- rior of the sawmill, is open so that the working crew and machinery are visible.
scratchbuilt switcher. All are DCC powered and most have sound. We have borrowed our passenger cars and rolling stock from a variety of other railroads.
scratchbuilt structures. Straight ahead, the mine is up on a hill where you must navigate a switchback to get there. The coal mine is a Banta Modelworks kit with a few additions to help mine coal for the area. Our Climax hauls the coal from the mine to the coaling tower at the engine servicing facility along with the other clients who use coal. A future project is to build a coal yard to distrib- ute the coal to customers.
Continuing on you will pass the sid- ing that will lead to a long hill and the lumber camp. This is where the logs destined for the sawmill are harvested. If you don’t take the siding you will pass a small yard before arriving at the
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
station that services the sawmill with supplies and personnel.
Benchwork, track and power I used two methods to assemble this
layout: the L girder method under the town and sawmill operation and the more conventional method of box con- struction with cross bracing every 18 inches. The reason for this was that I saved the L girder portion from a pre- vious HO layout. I used 2″×2″ and 2″×4″ legs that are capable of support- ing the plaster scenery with ease. For the trackwork, I started with At- las HO track and many different brands of switches and switch ma-
This hobby has been in my blood for over 50 years and no matter what other interests come along to drag me away from it, I always return to model rail- roading. To see and hear a train lumber- ing up a grade puts chills down my spine. I truly enjoy building structures and adding my own personal touches by putting myself in the scene and at- tempting to duplicate the details I would have seen. I get plans and ideas from magazines, books and traveling. The other thing I like about the hob- by is the friendships that are formed through mutual interest in model rail- roading. I have been lucky enough to belong to a round robin for many years that meets weekly to work on the member’s different layouts. I would like to thank George Marshall, Andy McClosky, Robert Seckler, Mark Panz- er and John McGloin for their help on this layout.
The future I’m having thoughts about removing the mining operation and replacing it with another logging camp that would be closer to the foreground and easier to see than the present one. The smelter would be replaced with a coal yard. A wonderful thing about this hobby is you can change scenes as you wish since it is your empire! I now have a website (
www.gatehillrailway.org) that can tell you a lot more about my layout!
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