Penvan Railroad

The Penvan Railroad is a short line railroad in upstate New York between Kings Port (a little shout out to my Big Blue Friend Ralph) and Selkirk. In 1978, Conrail was looking to shed low traffic branch lines and the Penvan Industrial Track became a suitable candidate with the closure of the Acme Auto Parts factory which employed 200 workers and provided 5000 car loads of freight per year and the Ulster Cement Plant which provided 6500 car loads of freight per year. Ulster County purchased the line and began a search for a designated operator to provide rail service in the hopes of spurring on future industrial development.

Some recently retired railroad workers saw a possible supplement to their pensions and decided to provide rail service for the 4 remaining customers on the 5 mile branch line – Whist Manufacturing, Regina Distributors, RU Ready Mix, and City Salvage. After negotiations with Conrail and the purchase of a locomotive (an ex Arromatic Chemical General Electric 45 ton Locomotive), the railroad began operations on May 1, 1978.

The railroad has no turning facilities, but that is of no concern to the railroad since all 4 of the spurs are trailing point. The day starts at 7AM in the railroad’s offices located at 22 Twain Street (yes, you heard right folks, Two Two Twain Street) with the 3 man crew firing up the locomotive and handling all of the switching for the day. The 3 man crew consists of the engineer, conductor, and brakeman whose jobs are all rotated every week. The railroad handles around 700 cars of machine parts, hardware, general merchandise, cement, and salvaged materials per year. It runs on a Monday to Friday schedule, but will switch on the weekends if needed.

Once again, I needed to build a train layout that stored easily out of the way and fit on top of a 3 x 5 foot table. I have 4 pieces of track that will be removable from the layout so that the layout can be taken apart into 3 40x20 inch pieces and fit easily into the back of most compact cars. The layout will be built on ½ inch plywood with ½ inch foam core on top and encased with laminate sides. I will then attach the pieces together with hinges and pins. For train shows, I plan to have a frame placed under the layout.

I chose this track plan because it gives me some switching action with the opportunity to just let trains run around in a circle if I want to. The section of curved track on the right serves as the interchange track while the one track in between RU Ready mix and the interchange serves 3 jobs as the engine & caboose storage track, the drill lead for Whist Manufacturing, and the connection for continuous running. I chose to use tall buildings in the middle and a highway overpass for a scenic divider as well as large trees on the lower right to avoid seeing the interchange. The layout is small and takes care of three restraints a lot of model railroaders: time, money, and space. I understand that many model railroaders believe in using a shelf layout on a spare wall, but many of us don’t have a wall to spare. Almost everyone has a table that can fit a small layout.

Why did I choose the Penvan Railroad? I figured that it was relatively inexpensive to purchase Pennsylvania Railroad decals, cut down the name, and remove an R from the PRR reporting marks.

An operating session will start out with the locomotive sorting out the incoming cars in the correct order for dropping off at the railroad’s customers. The train then couples onto the caboose and completes a complete lap of the railroad before coming to a stop to service the 4 customers. After switching the customers, the locomotive will push the train caboose first back to the interchange, drop off the caboose, push the train onto the interchange track, and tie up for the night.

Weekly car loadings are as follows:



Approximately 700 car loads of freight are handled annually.

I took some preliminary pictures of the equipment:









I have an ex-Southern NW2 (nee ex Carolina & Atlantic 12) in the process of repainting right now. I hope to have that ready soon.

Very nice ! I love the history, quite believable. This should be a great little switching layout. HO scale?

Yup, it's HO. I got some feedback on another layout design that I did. You'll laugh, but one of the reasons that I went with this design is the shots of the diesel that will take place under the overpass. It's always a railfan's favorite spot.

Cool Mike! I like the concept and the track plan (I totally get the underpass photo op thing!). Best wishes with the new line! Looking forward to progress and developments.

I appreciate the reference to Kings Port. I can now take advantage of your history of Penvan and make Acme Auto Parts and Ulster Cement "off layout" customers for trains that run north of Kings Port and West Mill and into staging in my basement. I imagine ACME's struggles and the PC's mirrored each other as the 70's progressed.

It's shaping up nicely ! Track plan allows for a lot of railroading in a small space .

T

A nice little layout with a great story

Thanks guys. I'm hoping to build the layout soon. I'm hoping to use the overpass and the buildings as a view block. I might also put on a facade similar to Whist Manufacturing onto the backs of the store buildings along Commercial Street in order to make the factory look larger.

Super nice small layout with a highly believable story..

Thanks Larry, I just wonder how many groans were going on when people heard the railroad's address.

Bad (read "creative") puns are a model railroad tradition!

Mike - That's a great concept and plan! I enjoy your designs immensely. Ric

Thanks Ric,
I was actually considering going with the layout that you previously complimented me on in the Ballard Railway thread (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=6625">viewtopic.php?f=46&t=6625</a><!-- l -->),since it easily came apart into 3 20x40 sections. But in the end I went with this track plan because it presented me with 3 distinct scenic possibilities for future photo shoots.

Mike - looking forward to this one, it has distinct possibilities
Best
Jack

love the layout history,totally believable,looks like lots of switching,great!!!!

just one question,Twain street,if this is a over bridge,then the grade down to broadway,(if you have a 75mm clearance for the railroad)is going to be a bit steep!!!,or am i missing something!!! :? :?

Ray