OperatingSessions.com | Suffolk Northern Railway

Layout Description

The Suffolk Northern is a proto-freelanced Appalachian coal-hauler. It is routed similar to the C&O but with N&W and B&O influences as well. The year is 1952, modeled in southern WV to VA. GP7s, F3s, E6s, and switchers have arrived, but Mallets, Berks, and other steam still do half or the work.

Road trains are typically 16-car manifests and 20-car coal drags. The ruling grade is 3.1% WB requiring helpers. Coal is king but with overhead and merchandise traffic, local and long-distance passenger and mail trains as well.

The layout is a folded-dog-bone style, running from staging loop to staging loop. All locomotives have Tsunami or BLI Paragon sound. The layout has been operating regularly since 1995, and was moved to this house and expanded in 2000. The focus is on reliable and enjoyable operation – the modeling is to support that.

It’s compact but busy – one shift will see 20+ mainline movements. Most jobs will involve both mainline running and switching to some degree.

www.SuffolkNorthern.com/p/overview.html

Layout Details

Layout Owner

Keith VandeStadt

Location

Cincinnati, OH

Scale

Layout Size

450 square feet

Mainline Size

160 ft

Era

1952

Crew Complement

3 - 4

Completion

Track: 100%
Scenery: 65%
Electrical: 100%

Control System

NCE

Communications System

Wayside phones

Dispatching Method

Sequential

Car Forwarding

Switch Lists

Health and Safety

Pets

Yes - Dogs

Frosty Morning at EY Tower: SNR 2-10-2 #1028 stomps out of Segway, VA with eastbound tonnage, as RS1 #530 waits with a local.

SNR Train 1, the Queen City, arrives at the platform in St. Amour, WV while an S2 #handles local industrial work.

SNR coal branches serve scratchbuilt tipple structures at Claymoor, WV (foreground) and Big Slide, WV (background, in progress).

An A-B-A set of F3s leans into the 3% mainline grade with tonnage at Claymoor, WV.

SNR F3s in charge of a manifest freight cross the Gloucester Fork bridge, near the summit at Misty.

SNR Train 4, the Tidewater, prepares to depart St. Amour, WV for points east, as F3s arrive with westbound freight.

Eastbound GP7s slow to a halt at EY tower in East Segway, VA with brakes smoking, while an Extra Empties West waits its turn against the grade.

GP7s dig in for the fight up Virginia Hill with westbound tonnage.

Still screaming as their whole train gets onto the grade, GP7s cross the creek to the other valley wall at Mineshaft Gap, WV.