Chessie System-Athens Subdivision....

[CandO7430]

The yard tracks and main begin to come up. Clearly the point of no return here and I was quite nervous at the start.

[CandO7430]

Next up is the now former PC crossing and tail end of the staging yard. Only the cockroaches and signals survived the destruction. Fortunately this is the end of the tear out.

[CandO7430]

Ok, so everyone is sad and it surely looks like a bad ending to another rail line but wait there is new life. This is what will be a large mine at the end of the line at New Straitsville. This isn't the mine that will be here, but It will be a modified version of this one with only two loading tracks four cars apiece. I've started laying out the track roughly where it will be.

[CandO7430]

Between the frieght station and the mine is where New Straitsville will be. It'll have the main street running next to the tracks and then storefronts against the backdrop. The frieght/passenger station will provide another switching opportunity for mine supplies as well as another passenger stop for the mine workers.

[CandO7430]

This is a view of what will be the mine branch to the Jobs-New Pittsburg mine. The mine will have at least two tracks as like real life it was one of the busiest mines in the region. It'll be tucked back into a "holler" with steep hillsides on both sides.

[CandO7430]

This is the site of the former PC Crossing. I'm going to make this into another "holler" with the Columbus Claycraft brick plant the dominating feature here. It'll have at least a couple tracks for inbound raw material and outbound bricks. Up against the backdrop on the left hand side, the new mainline will peek through at elevation, curve to the left and cross over the main branch. Columbus Claycraft in real life was located about a mile west of New Straitsville and was a very large brick plant. It was, I believe one of the last industries on the line before the Monday Creek Sub was abandoned. Today, a trailer park occupies the site. That's about it for now. Hope you've enjoyed my journey so far and I'll really try to not let it be another year before I post something again. Take care and God bless.

[Gary S]

Wow, a whole year! Great to see you back at it. Now that the destruction is done, I'm sure it'll feel great to start construction again.

[CandO7430]

Thanks Gary. The tearing up is always the hard part but it has been fun laying out the new track. The only kind of track plan I use are usually rough sketches on a scrap piece of paper. I like the creative freedom it gives me to kind of make it up as I go. The major expansion will add another 30 feet to the mainline run and another 10-12 feet to the new mine branch. This evening my wife was looking at the pictures and she asked me, "what is the point of having engines and cars if you keep tearing up the track?" I really didn't have a good answer but she makes a good point. I hate when she's right.

[Gary S]

As for the track plans, I do the same thing. Build the benchwork first, then play around with the track til you find something you like. I'm looking forward to seeing the expansion. And even though the wife is always right, it ain't her railroad!!!

[Brakie]

Very nice!

I always like the Athens sub through the Hocking Hills that's why my Columbus & Hocking Valley operates over the old Athens Sub as a modern short line.

Are you going to do Anchor Hocking Glass at Lancaster?

[CandO7430]

Thanks Brakie! It's nice to have a fellow Hocking Valley enthusiast on here. I may someday get to Lancaster but not right now. At the moment, I'm focused on the line from Logan to Athens and associated branches. My longterm goal is to extend the modeled portion to Athens and to do my best to represent the portion of the B&O St. Louis Division through Ohio University as well as the campus itself. Seeing pictures of that mainline snaking it's way through campus, it just begs to be modeled. I must first get the scenery done on the layout that I have before I think about that kind of expansion.

[Brakie]

Interesting..

My C&HV operates between Columbus and Parkersburg and we use the former B&O St.Louis line to Parkersburg which was purchase.I also used the Jackson Branch that ran from McArthur Junction to Jackson..I did use modeler's license and had the Jackson line to enter C&HV's main yard at Logan..

[CandO7430]

Hey all, I'm back and I have a few more pics to share. I've got some work done the past couple of mornings. I now have all the track in place and glued down. I also have most of the wiring complete with a few connections to go. Hopefully when I turn on the power, everything will work. The first pic is the mine that is at the end of track in New Straitsville which has yet to be named. I'm planning on buying a couple more of these mines and modifying them. This one will actually only serve two tracks and the track on the far right is the "main". This mine has around a 10 car capacity.

[CandO7430]

Next up is a pic of the trackage leading to the brick plant and the new mine. I thought the trackage arrangement turned out good and although it may look rough, it was entirely on purpose. I'm hoping to do my best at representing what the real version of this line was all about in it's heyday. Coal, coal and more coal with a little clay and lumber mixed in. From all the pictures I've seen, this line was almost entirely cinder ballast with hardly a hint of limestone. I have a bucket full of cinders from the real line ready to go.

[CandO7430]

Next up is the trackage into the Straitsville Impervious Brick Company. I made a mistake before when I called it Columbus Claycraft as it was I think owned by Claycraft late in it's life but known to history as the SIBC.