Bonus Room Shelf Layout

[ocalicreek]

Galen, I like the layout plan. I know it is going to be a freelance design, but what geographical area are you planning to model? I just presumed you were going to model Appalachian coal mining, Tuhunga sounds very So Cal! Do they have names like that back East or is it just a little modeler's license? I know they have some unpronounceable indian names on the East Coast, but I think that one is Spanish/California Indian.

Also what era are you modeling, or are you going to shift eras depending on your mood? I don't know much about Applachia, but didn't the coal haulers often back into or out of branch lines going back into the hills to remote coal mines?

Thanks, Russ! I still like the plan too, which is a good thing since I'll be progressing with adding the ply top and subroadbed soon.

Era will be firmly in the 20's & 30's...mainly...unless I want to run a few 1st gen diesels.

Geography will be Appalachia/Blue Ridge Mountains. I just like the sound of the name 'Tujunga'. My in-laws lived there for a time, in fact, I think my wife's grandmother still does. It is a very SoCal name.

Ocali, as in the Ocali Creek Railway, is from my boyhood town of Ocala, Florida. Ocali was a chief in one of the Florida tribes, IIRC. So there's some native words creeping into the story line.

Pinto reminded my wife of the car. My folks used to have a green Pinto hatchback, but I barely remember it. The name actually is an anagram of the word 'point', as in point to point operation. I was sketching late one night and playing with letters to create town names when that one came to me. Pinto beans are an appalachian staple food. Especially poured over a hunk of cornbread with a spoonful of chow chow on top. But I think native Americans rode Pinto horses, didn't they?

I'm half tempted to add a siding just before Pinto that would disappear behind a ridge and run straight along the backdrop. This would be a mine run siding and hopper trains would run up the branch onto the siding and hide for a while. Loads would be added to the empty hoppers then the whole shebang would return at some point. But I don't know that it's worth crowding the little burg of Pinto any more than necessary in order to gain an additional operating feature. We'll see.

Coal will be delivered to a coaling station in Watson, and up the branch to Pinto for the BTLC. The mine on the layout is for rottenstone sulfate ore, a product used by Gern Industries Ltd. Ocali Creek Ry has exclusive haulage rights for this valuable seam located at Andrews, although a G&D ore car was spotted there once...

Galen