Post by cnwfan56 on Feb 19, 2015 14:42:04 GMT -5
I've been tossing around some layout ideas in my head and was hoping to get some opinions. I was kind of set on freelancing but the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking I'll be doing a prototype. Here's what I'm thinking...
The era will be late summer 1976 in northcentral Wisconsin. The Chicago and Northwestern had a branch line that ran Marshfield in the west to Eland in the east, both of which were junctions with lines coming in from multiple directions. I want a smaller layout that will allow me to superdetail locomotives ad rolling stock so the plan will be to model the 21 mile stretch from Wausau to Eland. I grew up in Marathon which is a small town 10 miles west of Wausau but with numerous small towns between Wausau and Marshfield I decided on a smaller stretch since the railroad is long gone and it'd be difficult to accurately represent those areas from a long gone era.
The 1970s were a difficult for the railroad and traffic patterns changed a lot in these years. In 1972 the normal through freights trains 71 and 72 were taken off the timetable after Sperry rail service deemed the rails to be in such bad condition that they would need to be replaced to resume traffic. During this time, only local service existed but then in 1974 the freights returned after the other route was deemed too inefficient. The westward train that originated in Green Bay and terminated in Minneapolis was redesignated 471x and the eastward train 472x. This ran daily until September 1976 when through service was cut off for good. Total abandonment of the line from Marshfield to Wausau would follow in 1982.
My reasoning for the short portion of the line is due to many good photographs in the era and some trackage still existing Wausau (Wausau to Eland was abandoned in 1993). And I chose the era for the mix of old and new power. Power on the through freights would be 4-6 unit lash ups consisting mainly of GP30s with a rebuild Baldwin AS-16m or GP7 or GP9 thrown in. And once they were delivered, the brand new GP15-1s also headed the freights for a short time. Switching would be done by GP7s or the Baldwins. Eland had a yard just south of the depot but hadn't seen a designated smaller type switcher since the late 60s; switching was done as needed by the road power. Wausau had been serviced by FM H-10-44s for a number of years, but the purchase of a bunch of ex-Frisco GP7s pushed the FMs into retirement by the end of 1975.
Traffic is the only thing I'm still working on. Paper was a big industry but I'm not sure what other local service existed and that's what I'm in the process of researching. Wausau had plenty of industries and switching opportunities but the Milwaukee Road also ran through town so I'm finding out which businesses got switched by which railroad. I just ordered a back issue of Northwestern Lines from 1975 that talks about operations in Wausau during that time so that should help.
So basically what I was looking for was freight operations on a near death branchline that featured diverse power, multiple switching opportunities and good scenery all packed into a smaller layout. So do you guys think this a good concept to after? I think it should be interesting.
Oh and since this is a diesel forum, this is what I'm thinking for a roster: 3 GP7s ( 2 in Frisco paint), 2 torpedo tube GP9s, 3 GP30s ( one ex CGW unit in a different paint scheme), 3 rebuilt Baldwins and 2 GP15-1s.
The era will be late summer 1976 in northcentral Wisconsin. The Chicago and Northwestern had a branch line that ran Marshfield in the west to Eland in the east, both of which were junctions with lines coming in from multiple directions. I want a smaller layout that will allow me to superdetail locomotives ad rolling stock so the plan will be to model the 21 mile stretch from Wausau to Eland. I grew up in Marathon which is a small town 10 miles west of Wausau but with numerous small towns between Wausau and Marshfield I decided on a smaller stretch since the railroad is long gone and it'd be difficult to accurately represent those areas from a long gone era.
The 1970s were a difficult for the railroad and traffic patterns changed a lot in these years. In 1972 the normal through freights trains 71 and 72 were taken off the timetable after Sperry rail service deemed the rails to be in such bad condition that they would need to be replaced to resume traffic. During this time, only local service existed but then in 1974 the freights returned after the other route was deemed too inefficient. The westward train that originated in Green Bay and terminated in Minneapolis was redesignated 471x and the eastward train 472x. This ran daily until September 1976 when through service was cut off for good. Total abandonment of the line from Marshfield to Wausau would follow in 1982.
My reasoning for the short portion of the line is due to many good photographs in the era and some trackage still existing Wausau (Wausau to Eland was abandoned in 1993). And I chose the era for the mix of old and new power. Power on the through freights would be 4-6 unit lash ups consisting mainly of GP30s with a rebuild Baldwin AS-16m or GP7 or GP9 thrown in. And once they were delivered, the brand new GP15-1s also headed the freights for a short time. Switching would be done by GP7s or the Baldwins. Eland had a yard just south of the depot but hadn't seen a designated smaller type switcher since the late 60s; switching was done as needed by the road power. Wausau had been serviced by FM H-10-44s for a number of years, but the purchase of a bunch of ex-Frisco GP7s pushed the FMs into retirement by the end of 1975.
Traffic is the only thing I'm still working on. Paper was a big industry but I'm not sure what other local service existed and that's what I'm in the process of researching. Wausau had plenty of industries and switching opportunities but the Milwaukee Road also ran through town so I'm finding out which businesses got switched by which railroad. I just ordered a back issue of Northwestern Lines from 1975 that talks about operations in Wausau during that time so that should help.
So basically what I was looking for was freight operations on a near death branchline that featured diverse power, multiple switching opportunities and good scenery all packed into a smaller layout. So do you guys think this a good concept to after? I think it should be interesting.
Oh and since this is a diesel forum, this is what I'm thinking for a roster: 3 GP7s ( 2 in Frisco paint), 2 torpedo tube GP9s, 3 GP30s ( one ex CGW unit in a different paint scheme), 3 rebuilt Baldwins and 2 GP15-1s.