Painting Has Started

Painting, at least the drywall primer, has started on the P&LE. It's going slow, but we (wife Sue and I) should have the primer and paint coats on by the end of the week, and then construction on the railroad can start. No need for a photo at this time; I'll attach one when the painting, complete with the sky, is done in few days.

Ike Washes Out Trip

The Amtrak trip from Chicago to LA, to Seattle, and back to Chicago was washed out. Thanks to "Ike", the Ohio guys could not get from Cleveland to Chicago, and I could not get from St. Louis to either Chicago or Kansas City to hook up with the SW Chief. Oh well, we'll plan to do it in the spring. More later.

No Connection to LVRR

When I selected Black Diamonds Route as the name of my blog, I did so because my model railroad is primarily a coal ("black diamonds") hauling railroad. Period!

Imagine my surprise this afternoon when looking up the Lehigh Valley RR, I found its slogan to be "Route of the Black Diamonds" (for the same reason), and with a crack passenger train "The Black Diamond". I in no way meant to infringe or encroach on that storied railroad's name.

For those logging on expecting to see something about the LVRR, my apologies and sincere hopes you will keep coming back to see the progress on the Paducah and Lake Erie.

Railroad room ready for paint!

Drywall is complete in the railroad room. Now the painting (starting with primer Monday) begins with yours truly wielding the brush and/or roller. Some decisions have been made. It will be a single level with a unscenicked, return loop/staging area on a slightly lower (~12") level. I finally gave in to a reality check about working underneath something only 36-40 inches off the floor, plus we really need some storage area to be available underneath the railroad (moving from a house to a condo you know). Nothing is on paper yet, but ideas are starting to crystallize about the design. There will be coal mines on Howard Mountain, a small steel mill reminiscent of the one in my hometown, a gravel pit (steel mills use a lot of sand and gravel), the engine facility built by Dean Freytag, a replica of the Station Inn B&B kit bashed by Ken Heyl, and a greatly condensed version of the Paducah flood wall. I'm looking forward to getting started.

As An Aside

For a break in the action as they say, I'm taking a couple of train trips in September and October. In September, four of us -- Ken Heyl and Alan Steiner of Ashland, OH, and Stan Swope of New Philadephia, OH -- are meeting in Chicago and taking the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight from LA to Portland, OR, renting a car and driving the rest of the coast to Seattle, and then bringing the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

In late October, there's a bunch (10-12) of us who gather at the Station Inn Railroad B&B in Cresson, PA (great place for railfans) for several days. Cresson is six or seven miles from the world-famous Horseshoe Curve, and only about 20 miles from Altoona. I checked, and I can take Amtrak from St. Louis through Chicago, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh to Altoona for about half what it would cost me in gas (750 miles, one way) to drive it, and guess what? It's more rail travel for me. Good friend David James will pick me up in Altoona, and then I'll be joined by Ken Heyl, Dick "Sarge" Bloss, Stan Swope, and Alan Silverberg among others. And we'll enjoy the wonderful hospitality of B&B owner Tom Davis, and his right-hand gal, Sandy.

Starting RR Room

Work has started on the railroad room here in Missouri. The space is approximately 13'x27' with an additional 4'x 8' bumpout. As you can see, drywalling is well underway. As I write this, it is finished, and we're awaiting the inspector to approve it so the taping can start.

Nothing is on paper yet as far as design of the railroad; this space is about 1/3 what I had in Ohio, so I am giving it a lot of thought. I do know I want to keep the same concept, i.e., a coal-hauling railroad with a western Pennsyvania flavor. What I have not yet decided is whether or not I want to do a double-deck railroad. The obvious plus factor is doubling the space; the primary negative (in my mind) is the "under the bench" work (wiring, etc.) under the lower level. As a 300-pound 69-year-old, I'm not sure how much I want (can?) get down on the floor to work under a bench that's 36-42 inches off the floor. I'm anxiously awaiting Tony Koester's book on double deck railroads - due out, as I understand, in October or November -- in hopes it will direct me one way or the other. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and buy a "creepy crawler" and get started.

Actually, with the work left on the room, a couple of railroad trips in September and October, and finishing chemotherapy the first week in November, awaiting Tony's book will not delay design and construction very much.

Keep checking back for progress.

Vital Statistics

Covering an area of approximately 13'x27', the P&LE, version 3, is a free-lanced single track built on an open grid of 1x4's. The 0 elevation is 48 inches and rises to (tbd) with the steepest grade at 2%. It is a shelf railroad, with the shelves 24" wide. Great care is taken to maintain accessible aisles at a minimum of 36" wide. Sub-roadbed is 1x4 and 3/4" plywood; roadbed is Woodland Scenics Foam Roadbed. Track is Code 100 Atlas Flextrack. Roadbed and track are glued with white glue. Turnouts are Peco (primarily medium), and switch motors on the mainline are Tortoise slow motion machines, and in the yards Peco snap switch machines. Industrial siding switches are hand thrown. Control is Digitrax wireless infrared controllers.

Concept

The P&LE is a modern-day bridge line between two Class I carriers. The JCR is a branch line that services the coal mines in the mountains through which the parent Paducah and Lake Erie runs. Topography closely resembles the Allegheny Mountain area of southwestern Pennsylvania (because I don't want to model several hundred feet of Indiana corn fields that prototypically make up the area between Paducah and Lake Erie, and I truly love the Allegheny Mountains).

What's In A Name (part II)

The James Creek Railway branch coal line that runs into the mountains is named for David James, without whose expertise and hard work in both construction and electronics, this would have been a much different railroad. Other names used thus far are (Scott) Carter Junction, (Ken) Heyl Yard at Paducah and Heyl Knob in the mountains, (Alan) Steiner Yard, Howard (Sue's maiden name) Mountain, (Joe) Grzelak Heights, and Wally (Green) Tower, for the late Wally Green.

What's In A Name

The name Paducah and Lake Erie comes from my wife Sue's hometown, Paducah, Kentucky, and references our former residence in north central Ohio. In addition, Paducah was the site of the Illinois Central RR shops (still standing), a huge complex that includes a 27-bay engine shop for engine building and repair regardless of origin, and additional buildings for other railroad car construction and repair. The P&LE has a significantly compressed nine-bay replication, built by famed modeler and good friend Dean Freytag, and it will be the signature structure on the railroad. The shop provides legitimacy to having a number of engines with different road names running on the railroad.

Ohio Track Gang

This is the Ohio Track Gang that, over the two years we were building the Paducah and Lake Erie, spent 3-4 nights a month providing motivation, ideas, advice (some of it even requested), various skill sets, and most importantly, labor. Their friendship is valued even more than their assistance. It was as much their railroad as it was mine. Standing, from the left, Scott Carter (Carter Junction), Joe Grzelak (Grzelak Heights), Ken Heyl (Heyl Knob and Heyl Yard), Alan Steiner (Steiner Yard), and Russ Hachtel. Seated are David James (James Creek Railway branch line) on the left, and yours truly. This was the night the last piece was taken out and/or packed for the move.

Background

This is iteration number two (thankfully, there are no photos of number one which was built in the small, dark, damp basement of a 100+ years old house) of the Paducah & Lake Erie. This a small portion of the 29'x36' layout, and this is Steiner Yard. The railroad was started in 2004, and this photo was shortly before starting to dismantle it in January 2008 prior to moving to St. Louis.

As you can see, there was yet no scenery, and one day in mid-2007, my wife said she would like to consider moving to St. Louis to be close to our daughter and twin grandkids, but she was concerned about me giving up the railroad. I replied "If we are going to move, now is as good a time as ever to tear down the railroad; we can save about 90 percent. About everything we do from now on in terms of scenery will be lost." She had a realtor at the house within the week.

Introduction

This is my blog to document the building of my third model railroad, the third edition of the Paducah and Lake Erie. It will start with a brief review of the concept, a look at the second edition, its deconstruction in Ohio because of a move, and the newest rendition here in suburban St. Louis.

The HO model railroad is a free-lanced railroad that is primarily a coal-hauling bridge line set in the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania. I will periodically post photos and comments showing the progress of construction. I hope you enjoy it and welcome your comments.