Three plans ranging from industrial terminal to heavy branch line.
By Matthew Lappin/Edited by Otto M. Vondrak

Layout planning contests are always exciting—-start with a blank piece of paper and end up with an infinite number of possibilities. By sponsoring these contests, we hope to spark some conversations on layout planning and design, and possibly identify new trends in modeling preferences.

Matthew Lappin (who goes by the username “CIOR”) is the Grand Prize Winner of our first Layout Design Contest. Matt hails from the Muncie, Indiana area, where he grew up close to the old C&O lines. His model railroad career began when his parents gave him a train set at age five. He started the HO scale Central Indiana & Ohio Railroad (CIOR) back in 2000, after discovering the "proto-freelance" world. The CIOR is based on what would have happened if the Penn Central had sold off more of its Midwestern secondary lines before they were deemed redundant by the formation of Conrail. Learn more about the CIOR.

Matt’s winning contest entries will be featured here, but first, some background on the contest itself. Many of you asked where we got this “crazy” room design. Some suggested we made it up, since no one would want to build a layout in such an odd space with so many angles and obstacles. Well, it turns out we were crazy enough to build a layout in just such a space! As you may know, our webmaster Mike Roqué and development coordinator Jessy Stallone are both involved in the Rochester Institute of Technology Model Railroad Club that I helped start many years ago. The floor plan we presented for the model contest is indeed based on the room the club is located in. Formerly the office for the RIT yearbook, the room had stood vacant since 1994. Our group was founded in 1996, and we began construction of our layout in 1997. Over the years we’ve been able to adapt to and overcome most of the challenges of the room to create an interesting model railroad.

The winning designs presented by Matt are complex enough to entertain several operators at a time, yet small enough to be constructed or operated by a single person. Each plan presented offers a different operational style and approach--from a small industrial shortline, to a terminal belt railway, to a heavily-trafficked secondary.

“With each layout, I tried to keep a few things constant,” Matt explains. “First, I tried to keep the aisle width at three feet.” Many times we will sacrifice aisle width for more layout, only to find that operators cannot attend to their trains comfortably. “Second, I wanted to maintain a sense of operational flow,” Matt continued. Interchanges or return loops at the far ends of the plan keep trains moving, and give them a purpose for travelling the railroad. Regarding construction, Matt favors a modular design, “based on four-foot- or eight-foot-long sections.” Minimum radius was also an important consideration. “I thought it was important to establish a mainline radius of 28-inches or better, for smoother operation.” Each layout is designed so that duck-unders are eliminated, generous walking aisles are included, and that all odd spaces are used to get the most out of the available room.

The Union Belt Railroad

The Union Belt Railroad (UB) could be located in any industrial town in the United States. Inspiration for the UB came from many of the “belts” that can be found in the Midwest. The UB stretches out over an industrial park on our fictional city’s south side, today only having a single interchange partner. In days gone by, the UB had several interchange partners, but mergers and line abandonments have decreased the number of traffic opportunities.

Operations on the UB are based out of the Westside Yard. A small office and locomotive inspection pit are the key components of this facility. The tracks could be re-arranged here to allow for more classification tracks if so desired. The UB services eight major industries, allowing for two jobs per shift to switch the entire road. The eastern end of the line services a large power generation plant, including a reverse loop that could have and optional staging feature. You may want to add a third track to the power plant complex that could be used to stage a small company-owned switcher to move the coal cars through the plant’s unloading facility.

One key component of the layout is the working diamond just east of High Street where the two belt line tracks cross. Having a working interlocking like this is rare, but on industrial switching roads it is more common. Working signals would be the highlight of this interlocking, protected by either New York Central-style tri-color lights or Pennsylvania Railroad-style position lights.

Small first-generation switchers would be right at home on the fictional Union Belt Railroad. This particular engine ran on the Tacoma Belt Line. Photo by Sid Vaugh.

The yard facilities on the Union Belt are spartan at best.

Another key scene on the layout is the viaduct over the Conrail interchange. This interchange is very active, as this is the only remaining outlet the UB has. The interchange would be at least a code 70 track, as the UB receives 25 coal cars at a time from Conrail for the power generation plant on the east side. To simulate traffic coming on and off the railroad, freight cars must be physically added and removed from the Conrail track to complete an operating session. You could designate one of your operators to be the Conrail “crew” in charge of adding and removing cars as needed.

The UB is a heavy industrial switching road, the only passing siding on the line is Emerson Siding, located west of Emerson Avenue crossing. Operations on the line are based on yard limit rules, but Direct Traffic Control (DTC) or Track Warrant Control (TWC) authority could be added to spice up operations. Car-card waybills would provide for unlimited operation.

The UB would be a good showcase for gritty industrial and warehouse scenery, and a good excuse for some street-running trackage to access the older parts of town. The craftsman who decides to handlay his tracks may decide to use Code 70 or even Code 50 to simulate older, lighter stick rail. Modeling some abandoned or seldom-used tracks would be appropriate. Perhaps you could feature some industries with abandoned loading docks facing pulled-up sidings, evidence of customers no longer served by rail. The active UB would probably feature more trackage buried under jet black mud and grit (are there ties under there?) than high-shouldered, manicured mainline resting on deep pile ballast. Hand-me-down first and second generation switchers hold down the assignments on this road, and an old steel caboose probably still proves useful to these crews.

The Muncie & Western Railroad

The Muncie & Western Railroad (MW) was an actual railroad, owned and operated by the Ball Brothers glass jar manufacturer. The MW was basically an industrial plant road, with a small outside presence that interchanged with all the major roads of the region. Based in Muncie, Indiana, the MW operated roughly 8 miles of track, all but a couple of miles were inside the Ball Brothers facility. The “Muncie Belt,” which was operated by a consortium of local railroads, interconnected with the MW and allowed a wide variety of interchange opportunities. The road lasted until 1995 when it sold both locomotives to outside sources and left all remaining industrial switching to the connecting Norfolk Southern railroad.

The MW’s General Electric 70-tonner seen here after retirement from the active fleet. Photo by Tim Huemmer.

This HO boxcar from Accurail demonstrates one of the colorful boxcar paint schemes once used by the Muncie & Western.

The railroad operated in the modern era (post-1950) with General Electric switch engines, specifically a 44-Tonner and a 70-Ton end-cab. The modeler would want to include a sizable fleet of home road boxcars. There were famous outside-braced boxcars that once carried the “The Ball Line” legend. Some hoppers in captive service round out the rest of the MW fleet.

The layout itself due to space is not an exact copy of how the actual MW is laid out, but closely follows the basic landscape of the area. The MW operated between two basic points, the Chesapeake & Ohio (now CSX) interchange on the east end, and the Nickel Plate Road (now NS) interchange on the west end. The Pennsylvania Railroad reached the MW at Mock Avenue, but due to space constraints it is not represented here.

Activity is based out of the west end of the layout. This would be the location where crews would go on duty. The MW was basically a boxcar road, but occasionally hoppers for scrap and waste were brought in. Looking at the list of locations to be switched, you can get a feel for what industries are located where (All sidings belong to the Ball Co. unless identified by name). If certain areas of the plant have to be switched according to work schedules, that would add an extra challenge to operations. Most of the traffic will be running between various parts of the Ball Co. plant, with finished products turned over to either the C&O (CSX) or the NKP (NS) interchange.

Conrail’s NoCluh Branch

Conrail’s NoCluh Branch (NCB) is a fictional line based somewhere west of Pittsburgh and south of Cleveland. The line is a heavy haul branch line that operates as a single track road with passing sidings as needed. The NCB is a dogbone-style layout that will allow both point-to-point operations and continuous-running for open houses.

The NCB would feature a fully developed Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system to manage the heavy directional traffic over the branch. The layout could also employ a yardmaster to oversee staging and switching operations. At the far end of the layout, both Conrail and CSX (former Baltimore & Ohio) share Markem Yard, which also can serve as an interchange point between the two roads. The layout would be capable of handling two or more through freights and a local at one time, not including the yard switcher and staging switchers.

Additional capacity could be added to this layout, allowing for a second interchange with the CSX at CP-80, thus allowing more work for the local. It would also be possible to have this route be served by Amtrak, allowing for a passenger stop close to CP-80 (perhaps a former joint B&0/PRR station located at the diamond?). As typical of Conrail in the later days, the NoCluh branch is light on industrial switching, but more customers could be added to make it more interesting.

An elderly GP40 leads a work train past the old station on the west side of town. An everyday scene like this could be recreated on the NoCluh Branch.

This classic Conrail scene could have inspired a similar operation the NoCluh Branch. Photo by Tom Gatermann.

If unit trains are your thing, the role of Erie Stone & Gravel could be expanded by eliminating Hass Distribution, and locating the gravel load-out on a double-ended siding with a capacity of at least 12 cars. Add another siding to shuffle empties, and you have the source of some Conrail stone ballast specials.

A working signal system would be the star of this line. All interlockings and controlled points (CP’s) would require signals. The ex-B&O crossing at CP 80 could be modeled as active or abandoned. An active crossing would be an excuse to have working B&O color position light signals guarding the crossing.

The role of the former B&O/CSX line can be as large or small as the builder desires. The B&O diamond at CP 80 would be one source of visual interest. The team track near the Clear Creek could be developed into something more, perhaps an Agway grain co-op. A large customer at Clear Creek would create another job (with CSX equipment and crew) to originate out of Markem Yard.

The layout’s heart would be its CTC operations, either based on early CTC machines, 1970’s style machines, or today’s computer desktop-based operations. If so desired, the layout could easily be converted to a double-track mainline with multiple crossovers for added operational flexibility. This layout would be well-suited for NORAC Form D operations.

The other key feature of this layout is the flowing wide isles that allow for multiple parties to move about without bumping into each other. Also, the wide radius (28” and above) mainline curves allow for larger modern equipment to be used without feeling out of scale. Heavy, modern six-axle locomotives are not only welcome, they’re required to move trains over this road! The Conrail transition period (1976-1981) would be a good subject for the model railroader allowing a mix of elderly predecessor units and new deliveries in fresh Conrail blue. On the CSX side, late model Geeps wearing B&O and C&O blue or flashy Chessie System yellow would be appropriate. Update this branch into the 1990s to eliminate cabooses, yet showcase the latest in six-axle technology on the through freights, while the older GP38’s live out their lives switching the locals.

This layout can easily keep a crew of six busy, with additional capacity allowing for more operators. The NCB was designed to be a finely detailed show piece, lending itself to model photography and interesting prototype operations.

Matthew Lappin, 27, of Muncie, Indiana, is currently building the HO scale Central Indiana & Ohio Railroad, a proto-freelance midwestern road. Matt formerly worked for Norfolk Southern as a freight conductor. A frequent contributor to RAILROAD.NET, this is his first article byline.