Layout Concept - Defining and Redefining

In Layout Design Process 6 - Defining and Redefining I identified a problem solving process of defining and redefining the objective at hand, in this case moving from a broad idea to fine tuning the process (in this case layout design) to those final elements that can be reasonably represented on the layout.

I had a pretty good idea what I wanted - geographically, type and size, and industries. That lead to my early development of the 5 second ‘overview' of my layout that you see on the banner of this blog:


..... the Western Washington Short Line, a HO multi-deck layout freelance - prototype railroad model in the 1950s based on my interests in Class III railroads, traction, logging and coal mining ...


With that in mind, I was able to investigate prototype railroads in the geographic area and identify areas of specific modeling interests. Those interests then were documented in a 'theme' document I could then refer to in the track planning process. You can find that theme document here.

For those who approach the concepual process differently, there is another tool that can be used to assist in the definition and redefinition process.

Bernard Kempinski has documented his layout concept process within a spreadsheet format. You can find his process here. A copy of his spreadsheet shows his givens and druthers.




Notice that Bernard identifies his givens and druthers in a series of rows, and then has a number of options to meet each given and druther in a number of columns. Bernard then weights each given and druther with each option. The 'best' option based on weighted averages would then recommend that option to the modeler.


Alternatively, if a modeler had no set prototype interests, then his research could be based on modeling interests (by row) and he would identify specific railroads that had operations that supported those modeling interests identified in a specific column. Weighting each category would then give the modeler a recommendation of which railroad (or branch, or subdivision, etc) to model.

Here's what Benard did back in 2006 when he was modeling a differrent layout. You can find the entire article in Model Railroad Planning 2006.






Here is my specific railroad interest and modeling interests 'druthers' based on the information I gathered during the Concept phase of the layout design. These druthers will be consolidated with those developed during the structural component to determine my final layout design.





You will find the WWSL's design matrix here.


References:

Modeling Interest 6 - Personnel Positions

In the last blog, we discussed the Rolling Stock of interest to the modeler. In this blog we will discuss the type of railroad personnel positions the modeler wants to simulate during layout operations.

Personnel.

Prototype railroads have hundreds of operational positions required for safe and efficient operations. Those positions include crew and admmistrative positions. The WWSL has determined the following operational positions required:

Dispatcher.  The dispatcher is responsible for authorizing the occupancy of main track and sidings by issuing track bulletins and warrants and communicating such authorities to train crews, track crews and others when required by the general superintendent or superintendent of operations.

• Monitors train movements and conditions affecting movements (such as weather conditions, train crew availability, engine and equipment availability, track warrants/bulletins, general orders, timetables, and track and speed restrictions), taking indicated actions to assure safety and performance, and coordinating responses to unplanned events and emergency situations.

• Communicating via telephone or radio with train crews, yard supervisory personnel, maintenance of way personnel and others regarding train movements and instructions, train orders and authorities. 

• Plans in advance for smooth and effective movement of trains and meets/passes to avoid unnecessary delay.

Yardmaster. The yardmaster is in charge of and overseeing switching and yard operations where trains are "made up" or prepared for their next service and schedules maintenance of trains.

• Ensure the safe arrival and departure of all trains, consistent with all established schedules.

•  Classify cars in classification yard, as indicated on the train manifest. 

•  Prepare departing trains. Notify the Dispatcher that the train is ready for crew call. Provide train symbol, total train length, tonnage, and lead engine number for all departing trains. 

•  Provide the outgoing crew with departing train manifest and consist card. 

•  Switch industrial zone.

Train Crew (Conductor/Engineer/Brakeman).

• Conductor. He or she is responsible for the safety of the crew, compliance to all rules and regulations, and assurance of the railroad’s customer fulfillment. Managing manifests and applicable paperwork. Communication with the Dispatcher to obtain/release track authority, convey issues, etc.

• Engineer. He or she is responsible for the adherence to all rules and regulations defined in the Employee Timetable, including compliance with signal indications, speed requirements/limits, and any special instructions

• Brakeman. He or she is responsible for throwing switches on the ground, uncoupling cars, and other work as assigned by the Conductor. While on the ground, the Switchman must simulate the time required to walk between the switches, walk the train from car to car, setting brakes, etc.

Station Agent / Car Distributor. He or she is responsible for customer fulfillment.

• Identifies and posts car requirements with a waybill at the station / customer location. 

• Inserts waybills in car cards after arrival at customer location.
  

• Loads open cars with appropriate loads. 

• Acts as interchange station agent placing interchange cars for WWSL pickup, or removing cars delivered by WWSL to car storage area.
  

Modeling Interest 5 - Rolling Stock

In the last blog Modeling Interest - Locomotives, we discussed the type of locomotives the modeler wishes to replicate. In this blog we will discuss rolling stock of interest. 

Rolling Stock.  

Rolling stock is equipment which is used by the railroad to move freight and passengers from place to place, or is used to maintain operations. It falls into two service categories: revenue and non-revenue. Revenue equipment includes passenger equipment, boxcars, hoppers, flat cars, gondolas and other specialty equipment. Non-revenue equipment includes cabooses, maintenance of way, and company supply and service equipment. 

Ownership

Rolling stock used by railroads would be primarily owned by the principle railroad. Railroads determined the number of cars by type based on the ongoing needs of their customers. The document below is a Northern Pacific analysis of flat cars required for ownership. Notice the bottom line required for ownership to protect loadings, etc is 1954 cars. If the railroad was short cars, additional rolling stock could be available from railroads that interchange with the principle railroad, or the railroad would purchase new or used rolling stock.

 

Because the WWSL is a short line railroad with limited finances, it would probably not be able to provide 100%  of the railroad cars necessary to meet customer requirements. Under national car management rules, the WWSL could ask its three interchange partners (the NP, MILW, and UP) or private owners (cars available for contractual lease) for cars. 

WWSL ownership. I have tentatively set the revenue car presence: WWSL %, OPLC %, STC %, NP - %, MILW - %,  the UP - %, private owner  %.

Age of equipment

 

The 1940's and 1950's saw a shaking out of railroad operations. Wages, unnaturally low because of the Depression and War, were quickly catching up in the post war decade, and labor costs were a balance sheet item. The Depression also delayed the replacement of rolling stock. John Nehrich wrote Freight Trains, Choosing the Right Cars,  in the April 1992 Mainline Modeler. In this article he reviews the age of rolling stock in service. 

 

Period	1949	1953
WWI or earlier	20
1918-1922	12	18
1925-1027	27	19
1928-1930	8	8
1931-1935	2	2
1936-1937	5	5
1938-1941	7	7
1942-1945	7	7
1946-1949	12	12
1950-1953		22

 

Nehrich notes several things. 1) Freight car construction during the Depression plummeted to 1% of previous levels. 2) Rebuilding of existing freight cars with steel understructures occurred to extend service life of existing cars. 3) Freight trains of the 1950s were mainly composed of cars originally built in the 1920s, and 4) in the period 1946 - 1963 2/3rds of the total 1,515,139 freight car fleet in service was newly built. 

WWSL 1950's rolling stock age determinations.

• Class 1 railroads will have primarily newer equiptment - based on their revenue capabilities.

• WWSL will have older rolling stock purchased through used equipment dealers with some new equipment purchased.

• OPLC and STC will have the oldest equipment, equipment which had been recycled for newer operational requirement or equipment purchased through used equipment dealers of class 1 or class 2 railroad equipment. 

 See Rolling Stock references pages for specific railroad rolling stock ownership information used by the WWSL.

 

Modeling Interest 4 - Locomotives

In the last blog Modeling Interest - Traffic, we discussed the type of traffic the modeler wishes to replicate. In this blog we will discuss the third part of locomotives and rolling stock of interest.

 

Locomotives.

Steam Locomotives. Steam locomotives of both geared and rod construction were used in railroading from its beginning to the mid to late 1950's in the Grays Harbor area.  The Northern Pacific used xxx model in passenger service.until that service was discontinued in 195x.  Rod locomotives (2-6-0s through 2-6-6-2 Mallets) were used in freight service.on the flat lands, and geared locomotives (Heislers, Climaxes, and Shays) on the mountainous grades and switchbacks.

Based on my interests, the following prototype steam locomotives are of interest:

• Logging operations in British Columbia. There were two locomotives of interest: MacMillan Boedel 1044, a 2-6-2T  with rectangular tank, and MacMillan Boedel 1055, a 2-6-2T with saddle tank.

• Logging operations in Gray's Harbor.  Rayonier had 2-6-6-2 mallets operating in the Humptulips - Aberdeen area until 1959. Smaller logging companies used 2-6-2s and 2-8-2s

WWSL potential steam locomotives. I anticipate the WWSL will have the OPLC continue to use steam locomotives. Not having the size and scope of British Columbian or Rayonier operations, the OPLC could operate 2-4-2T locomotives along MacMillan Boedel lines, and 2-6-2s or 2-8-0s based on Rayonier operations.

Diesel Locomotives. Diesel locomotives were first introduced to prototype operations in 1930 (Ingersoll Rand) and slowly began to replace steam locomotives in the early 1940's. Accelerated replacement occurred after WWII. The NP, MILW and UP introduced diesel locomotives to Gray's Harbor operations after WWII. Based on my interests and the time period, the following prototype diesel locomotives are of interest:

• NP 220 (a GP-9) located at Hoquiam for road service. NP 159, (a SW1200) located at Hoquiam for switcher service.
• MILW 619 (a SW1200) located at Hoquiam for switcher service.
• UP 112 (a GP7) located at Hoquiam for interchange service. 

WWSL potential Diesel locomotives. An IR type diesel locomotive for switcher service. A GP7 for road service.

Electric Locomotives.  Electric locomotives were first used in the Northeast for long-distance mainline electrification (Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central, New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, among others). Other railroads, such as the Virginian, Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad, Norfolk and Western, ran mainline freight operations. In the Pacific Northwest, the Great Northern and Milwaukee Road had electrified divisions. 

 

Smaller electrified lines in the US (Piedmont and Northern (PN),  Butte Anaconda and Pacific (BAP), Pacific Electric (PE), Sacramento Northern (SN), and the Red River Lumber Company, ran freight operations.

 

WWSL potential electric locomotives. BB boxcab electrics such as those used by the BAP and PN for road operations. 

See 8.0 Locomotives for specific locomotive modeling information.

Modeling Interest 3 - Traffic

In Layout Design Process 4 - Railroad Modeling I identified that the layout design process can be broken down into three primary functional areas: Concept, Structure, and Layout Detail. In this blog we will discuss the third of the five elements of Concept 2) Specific modeling interests - Traffic.

The traffic element includes 3 elements: 1) the types of trains to be run (streamline passenger v commuter, merchandise fast freights v local freights v mixed trains), 2) the traffic density (the number of trains to be run during an operating session), and 3) the length of trains to be run as indicated by Modeling Interest - Railroad Operations.

Types of trains to be run

• Passenger. Logging operations had logging camps near logging reload locations. Movement to cutting sites was often done by home made speeders or by flat car. The railroad would on a regular basis transport loggers lining in the camps to town on weekends. In the mid-50s logging camps were becoming obsolete as trucks became more prevalent and more loggers were living in local towns and commuting to cutting sites. My passenger modeling consideration suggested a local (perhaps mixed service) between Montesano and the logging camp.

• Freight. Industry practice on short lines and logging railroads suggest locals, usually run as extras, operating based on the demand of the customer. I would anticipate at least two freight trains serving coal and stone customers, one freight train serving the lumber company, and one freight serving the paper mill.

• Yard Switching. Freight traffic would move through a central yard, located near the Class 1 interchange locations. The yard would classify the incoming cars in five sorts: 1) Interchange to NP, 2) Interchange to MILW, 3) Interchange to UP, 4) local freight north and south bound, 5) local switching. Yard switcher would usually do local switching within yard limits.

• Interchange. The Northern Pacific employee timetables listed a 75-car siding at Montesano, Washington. MILW and UP interchange tracks are located at Melbourne WA. This would suggest three transfer runs daily.
  

Traffic Density

Traffic density is defined as the amount of freight moved. Small amounts are considered light density, large amounts are considered heavy density.

At the industry level, the size of the industry (in terms of cars received and shipped), the volume rate (cars loaded or unloaded per day), and the demurrage rate( the number of days the industry had to load or empty the car before a daily charge was made) often determined the size of the industry's siding. 

A small industry with a small volume rate would rate a small siding with on call servicing. A medium industry with a large volume rate would rate a small siding with daily servicing or a large siding with alternate day servicing. Large industries with mismatched sized sidings would require multiple servicing per day, often suggesting a dedicated railroad switcher assignment, or an industry owned switcher.

Heavy Industry

• Logging. Movement of logs from the reload site to the sawmill would be by logging train. Logging railroads in the Grays Harbor area loaded between 60-and 120-flat cars per day. Based on the size of the sawmill I anticipate daily activity would be 24 logging cars inbound, and 10 boxcars, flat cars or gondolas outbound daily.

• Pulp and Paper. The paper mill would see a variety of loads and empties - chips in open hopppers and gondolas, chemicals in tank and boxcars, finished paper in boxcars, fuel in hoppers and gondolas. Chips would be loads in and empties out. Chemicals would be loads in and empties out. Finished paper would be empties in and loads out. Daily activity would be 15 to 20 cars.
  

Medium Industry

• Coal Mine. The coal mine would see empty hoppers and gondolas in and loads out. Occasionally the coal mine could receive supplies in boxcars and flat cars. Based on the size of the coal mine I anticipate daily activity would be 14 hopper or gondola cars inbound and outbound.

• Sand and Gravel. The sand and gravel processing area would see empty hoppers and gondolas in and loads out. Based on the size of the sand and gravel plant I anticipate daily activity would be 4 hopper or gondola cars inbound and outbound.
  

Light Industry

• Creosote Plant.The creosote plant would see loaded gondolas and flat cars of raw materiels of cedar poles and unfinished railroad ties either daily or several times per week. The plant would also see a loaded tank car, probably weekly.

• Pole Yard. The pole yard would see empty flat cars or gondolas in and loaded flatcars or gondolas out, probably one or two a week.
  

Length of Trains

The WWSL is a class III shortline. Based on the overall size of the layout, I determined that the longest train would be no more than eight 50-foot boxcars, with no more than 75% of the cars being delivered to any single industry.

The next blog will discuss locomotives and rolling stock interests.

Modeling Interest 2 - Industry

In Layout Design Process 4 - Railroad Modeling I identified that the layout design process can be broken down into three primary functional areas: Concept, Structure and Layout Detail.

Concept identifies the: Who,What,Where, When and Why aspects of the layout development process. In this blog we will discuss the second of the five elements of Concept 2) Specific modeling interests - Industries
 

Industry

Freight cars are loaded and unloaded on four classes of track: industry, freight stations, team and intermodal. This includes heavy industry, light industry and urban industrial areas that allows switching operations. fIn previous blogs we discussed my interest in modeling 1950's Pacific Northwest, particularly Grays Harbor County, WA. Railroads in the County were primarily focused on moving natural resources.   

Lumber. My interest in logging suggests a logging camp and reload facility. Logging industry activities include sawmills, planing mills, chip mills, pulp and paper mills, veneer and plywood mills, pole and wood product preservation companies.

Coal Mining. My interest in coal mining suggests a coal breaker, a sizing tipple, a coal washing plant, and a loading area for multiple sizes of coal.

Sand and Gravel Processing. My interest in sand and gravel processing suggests a processing area for sizing and processing gravel, a second area for sizing and drying sand, and outdoor and silo storage areas for sand and gravel, and a loading area for both products.

For my purposes, I am going to define industry in three types based on the square footage I am going to allot the industry on my railroad: heavy, medium and local switching.

• Heavy Industry will consist of:1) the logging camp, the reload facility, sawmill planing mill and chip mill, and in a separate location, 2) a pulp and paper mill. 

• Medium Industry will consist of 3) a coal mine with coal breaker sizing tipple and a loading area, and 4) a sand and gravel processing area with a processing area for sizing and drying sand and outdoor and silo storage areas for sand and a loading area for gravel.

•  Light Industry will consist of 5) a creosote plant and 6) wood pole distributor.

•  Light Switching will consist of common small town distributors of coal,lumber, natural gas, fuel and oil.

Freight Stations. 

Freight stations are the railroad owned depots at which less-than-carload (LCL) traffic was received and delivered. While I do not anticipate large amounts of LCL traffic, freight stations are the admin locations of station agents /car distributors who are responsible for car waybilling and customer service.The Northern Pacific maintained a freight station at Montesano, so I would anticipate that any LCL freight for WWSL customers would end up there for delivery. I anticipate having one freight station, primarily for freight administrative operations. As a 'exception to the rule' operation, the station could be used for large shipments transloaded or transferred to the WWLS freight station by truck or interchange.

Team Track. 

Team tracks serve industries which either are not located on the railroad or which receive and dispatch carload shipments too rarely to justify having their own siding. The Northern Pacific had three industry spur tracks and a team track in Montesano and had 6 companies identified as using the track:

I anticipate having one team track associated with the WWSL freight station. This team track could be used for unusual loads that may be transported to the woods, although i suspect that it would primarily be used by the WWSL for the loading of Christmas trees during the late fall, a seasonal activity done by quite a few railroads serving forest production companies. There would be no overlap of services with the NP team track. 

Intermodal (TOFC/COFC).

TOFC/COFC became a major source of freight traffic around 1960. I have not found any indication of TOFC/COFC operations in the Gray's Harbor region, and do not plan on having said on the WWSL.

Modeling Interests 1 - Railroad Operations

In Layout Design Process 4 - Railroad Modeling I identified that the layout design process can be broken down into three primary functional areas: Concept, Structure and Layout Detail.

In this blog we will discuss the second of the two elements of Concept:  Specific modeling interests.
This element consists of five parts:

• The extent of railroad operations that the modeler wishes to replicate, Railroad operations consists of : passenger, freight, yard, interchange and maintenance of way operations.
  

• The industries the modeler wishes to replicate. This includes heavy industry, medium industry, light industry and urban industrial areas that allows switching operations. 
  

• The traffic the modeler wishes to replicate. This includes: the types of trains to be run (streamline passenger v commuter, merchandise fast freights v local freights v mixed trains) etc., traffic density (the number of trains to be run during an operating session), and the length of trains to be run, 
  

•  The locomotives and rolling stock of interest to the modeler. 
  

• The type of railroad personnel positions the modeler wants to simulate during layout operations. 

Railroad Operations.

The purpose of a railroad is the loading, transporting, and unloading of products and passengers between two geographic points. To achieve that purpose railroads operate in a variety of ways to reach that goal.It is not the intent of this blog to detail the prototye operation of railroads but to provide an overview of those operations for consideration by the modeler in developing their vision.

Passenger Service. 

 Passenger operations provides a variety of modeling opportunities. It includes:

1. Long distance operations between major terminals. 
2. Regional operations between cities.
3. Commuter operations from suburbs to major city.
4. Local (branch line) operations.

Prototype passenger operational schedules can be found in Official Guides (railroad publications providing nation-wide information on railroad passenger schedules (by railroad), raiilroad specific employee timetables and passenger schedules oriented toward the tourist/user.
.
Model Railroader had a on-going series of passenger operations articles that included long distance operations and regional operations, to include actual lineups of locomotives and passenger equipment. Modeling passenger equipment can be found in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Mainline Modeler and Prototype Modeler. Check out your prototype Historical Association for specific prototype passenger operations.

The WWSL. Based on my readings of short lines and logging railroads in the Pacific Northwest, passenger service wasnt, unless you consider small speeders or a flat car on the back of a loggng train passenger service. More traditional passenger service could be modeled on the WWSL in two ways: 1) scheduled excursions such as the Pacific Logging Conference trips to lumber companies, a pacific railroad historical society railfan trip, or as some logging companies did in the late 1050's weekend excursiofor the public to points of interest in the Olympic Peninsula National Park using steam driven passenger equipment.

Freight Services.

Freight operations provide a variety of modeling opportunities. It includes:

1. Timed Freights. Freight trains run on timed schedules similar to that of passenger services. They were often based on high value, time sensitive commodities such as perishable freight using refrigeration rolling stock (and its corresponding icing operations), live animal movement (using stock cars) or freight consigned to long distance terminals.
2. Through Freights (also called Merchandising freights). In the early years this was based on freight moving directly from one regional city yard to another without stopping at intermediate points. Often they were commodity based: unit trains of coal, trailer of flat car (TOFC) and container on flat car (COFC).
3. Way Freights. These trains were primarily operated between operating divisions. They were used for consolidation and movement of cars, empty or loaded, picking up and/or delivering raw materials or finished product from local industries.
4. Mixed Train Service. Branch lines that could not financially maintain independent freight and passenger services would consolidate both in one train - called mixed train service. At the rear of the freight train would be one or more passenger cars, usually a combine car or a combine/coach combination. 

Prototype timed freight schedules can be found in railroad specific employee timetables.

The WWSL. Freight operations will be conducted along the local freight model - starting at a yard, moving along the main line switching industries along the way and returning to the yard at the end of the business day. 

Yard switching. At the heart of railroad operations is yard switching. While freight and passenger operations go from one place to another, yard switching is where the indivudual car is consolidated, classified, inspected and serviced as required and placed into the appropriate train going in the appropriate place at the appropriate time .

Passenger cars had their own yards and servicing facilities, usually located near terminal locations. Passenger train servicing that include cleaning the passenger cars, clean linens for overnight beds, stocking the diners (if present), picking up and dropping off express cars, mail, and  baggage cars.

Frieight cars could be handled in a number of yards located in a variety of locations based on its car routing and other other operational requirements, such as icing and stock resting, car weighing and car storage.

Finally, you would find engine, caboose servicing and repair facilities for engine, passenger and freight cars at major railroad yards and terminals.

The WWSL. The WWSL will have a yard in the vicinity of Montesano. It will do classification of inbound freight by train type to industiries along the WWSL main line, and classification of outbound freight to the appropriate Class 1 (Northern Pacific, Milwaukee Road or Union Pacific interchange.

Interchange. Railroads originate, move and deliver people and freight from one destination to another. The origin of the people and freight on the railroad may also be the destination, but in most cases, the destination may not be a location serviced by the originating railroad. A interchange is where a loaded car from one railroad customer is transferred to another railroad to get it to it's destination, or an empty car returned to its owner railroad. Interchages are located at certain points, and can be  a single track, a separate yard or just an existing track in an existing yard.

Interchange tracks in a model railroad setting provides the modeler with a way to introduce competing railroad rolling stock onto the layout and provide another location for operational activity.

The WWSL. THe WWSL will interchange with the three Class 1 railroads in the area (Northern Pacific at Montesano WA, the Milwaukee Road and Union Pacific at Melbourne WA.

Maintenance of Way. The definition of maintenance of way is the upkeep and repair of a railroad's fixed property (as track and bridges).  Maintenance has long been an important part of railroading although not always mechanized like it is today.  During the 19th century the work was performed entirely with manual labor.  Large section gangs could be found all along the main line keeping it serviceable on a daily basis.  Naturally, the task was both backbreaking and dangerous.

Now maintenance is primarily mechanical oriented. Model railroaders generally model mainentance of way operations with modeled maintenance of way trains on sidings or static men and equipment in a vignette setting, Such vignettes could show bank widening, ballasting, tie renewal, rail relay, bridge work, fire protection, material reclaim and rail inspection.

The WWSL. The WWSL will have a short line era appropriate MOW operation to include a MOW train run as necessary to good operations. 

Prototype Interest 4 - Type of Railroad

The fourth area of consideration in Prototype Interest is Type of Railroad. In Design Handbook of Model Railroads, Paul Mallery indicated that nothing was more important to the concept than the type of railroad to be modeled. The selection of type should be based on the form of operation and the class of equipment of greatest interest to the owner consistant with the size of layout contemplated.

Paul identified 9 types of railroads: 

• A Main Line or heavy main line -  a principal, large railroad covering great stretches of country. In the Pacific Northwest there were four major railroads - the Great Northern Railway (GN), the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), the Milwaukee Road (MILW), and the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). 

• A Branch Line - a relatively short offshoot from the main line of a principle railroad. The NP had two Divisions (Seattle and Tacoma). The Tacoma Division had 20 sub-divisions, the 16th Sub-division serving the Gray's Harbor area. The MILW's Coast Division had 8 subdivisions, one serving the Gray's Harbor area, and the UP had one branch line that also served the Gray's Harbor area..

• A Bridge Line - a small railroad that connects two or more major railroads at interchange yards. The GN and the NP jointly owned the Spokane,  Portland and Seattle Railroad (SPS) - it served as an alternate route for eastbound freight from Portland, Oregon and areas south, avoiding the congestion of the Seattle - Everest area.. 

• A Belt Line - a small line that runs around a metropolitan area and/or a crowded terminal area and expedites the exchange of freight cars between the major lines. Tacoma Washington had the
  Municipal Belt Line serving the NP, MILW and the Port of Tacoma. 

• A Terminal Line - a railroad devoted to switching cars, most often freight but some passenger  as well between a number of main line roads in a large terminal area. Portland, Oregon had the Northern Pacific Terminal Company (NPT) serving the NP, the Southern Pacific Railway (SP), the SPS, and the UP.

• A Switching Line - a terminal railroad only more so. It switches freight cars back and forth from point to point, typically between docks, piers shipyards and associated warehouse and other facilities.

• A Short Line - a relatively small, general purpose railroad hauling both passengers and mixed freight, usually generating and terminating its own traffic. The Pacific Coast Railroad was a freight line operating north-east of the Seattle area. Southwestern Washington had the Chehelis and Western in the 70's and the Puget Sound and Pacific was organized in the 70's as a short line utilizing the NP's 16th Subdivision after the NP abandoned the line.

• An Industrial Line - a small railroad that operates entirely within the physical confines of one industry, like a steel mill, shuffling equipment and materials around and about the plant location. The logging lines in the Gray's Harbor area could be considered industrial lines in that they shuttled logs between cutting sites and the sawmills located in Aberdeen and Hoquiam WA. The Butte Anaconda and Pacific Railroad in Wyoming served the copper mines and smelters and interchanged with the GN and the NP and I consult their operations in the development of the WWSL..

•  Specialty Line - a catch - all category that includes Interurban, street car, rapid transit,  tourist railroads, etc. 

These categories can overlap, and combinations and variations are both possible and acceptable. The intent is to define and redefine the interest of the modeler.

The decisions I've made in terms of locale, era and class so far limits, or perhaps in a more positive manner, leads me toward three possible types of railroads: Switching line, Short line or Industrial line.

I have had the privilege to operate a variety of model railroads that were Main Line, Branch Line or Bridge Line oriented. I found them interesting to operate. I built and operated a Belt Line, Terminal Line and Switching Line layouts.

This time around I find that I am most interested in modeling a Short Line operations since it has both mainline and switching components.

Prototype Interest 3 - Class of railroad

The third area of consideration in Prototype Interests is Class of Railroad. In the United States, railroads are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to size criteria first established by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1911, and now governed by the Surface Transportation Board.

The ICC classed railroads by their annual gross revenue. In 1956 Class I railroads had an annual operating revenue of at least $3 million (equal to $27,646,267 in 2018). The ICC counted 113 Class I line-haul operating railroads (excluding "3 class I companies in systems") and 309 Class II railroads (excluding "3 class II companies in systems").

The Class III category was dropped in 1956. Until then terminal railroads, belt lines, switchig lines, short lines and special railroads were considered Class IIIs, due to the expected low operating revenues of those operations. In 1925, the ICC reported 348 Class III railroads.

Based on my interest in the Pacific Northwest, particularly the Olympic Peninsula, it was obvious that having a fourth Class I or Class II railroad in the region was not prototypically or operationally feasible for 1955. A Class III operation could easily be modeled as many Class III logging lines had been incorporated and operated in the region throughout the years, then shut down.

My choice of modeling a Class III operation will assist me in identifying and defining my modeling interests throughout the Layout Concept process. It will also play a part in the technical specifications section of Layout Detail.

Prototype Interest 2 - Selecting an Era

The second area of consideration in Prototype Interests is Selecting an Era. In John Armstrong’s Creative Model Railroad Design, he identifies eight ages of American railroading:

1830 THE FIRST AGE   – Early invention and experimentation of railroad equipment and operations
1855 THE SECOND AGE – The first attempts at standardization
1880 THE THIRD AGE – The beginnings of heavy railroading
1900 THE FOURTH AGE – Clean-lined experimentation
1920 THE FIFTH AGE - Standard Railroading
1940 THE SIXTH AGE – Steams Finest Hour and first generation diesels
1960 THE SEVENTH AGE - The low nose, hy-cube 100 ton rainbow
1980 THE EIGHTH AGE - Rationalization and revitalization

Armstrong’s spreadsheet includes seven elements associated with each era: Locomotive , Passenger car, Freight car, Special devices, Track and Structure, Signal and Communications, and Milestones and Sidelights. Armstrong identified within those elements railroad activities or equipment invented or introduced, activities as required by rule or law, its date of universal application, or what was considered obsolete.
 
Selection of your layout's era would be based on your particular interest in the era or elemental activities within the era.

Having established a location for my freelanced railroad it was time to select an era. I was fortunate to have a wealth of information available to me for consideration of an era - numerous books have been written about logging in the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Logging Conference published a monthly journal (I enclose those sources at the bottom of the page).Using these resources I discovered several items of interest.

First, in the United States logging began in New England, where forests were cleared, often carelessly, to make room for the country’s first towns and farms and to provide lumber for buildings, fuel, and furniture. Once thought to be a virtually inexhaustible resource, these forests were nearly depleted by the mid-1800s, and logging companies thus began to spring up in the Midwest, especially in the 'North Woods' of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. By the 1890s much of these vast midwestern pine forests also were cleared, forcing lumbermen to look to the South and to the far Northwest for new regions of forested land. 

Second, the US Army had established as part of the WWI effort an organization called the Spruce Production Division - and in the 1917 - 1918 tune period there were 13 railroads built in the region with 173 miles of track laid to harvest Sitka spruce for the Army Air Corp aircraft production and for trench warfare in general. As an ex-Army guy this was an intriguing bit of history.

Third, as I was researching the logging industry in the Olympic peninsula it became clear to me that the 1900 - 1920's were the high points of the lumber industry in Grays Harbor, and the Great Depression make a permanent dent in the industry. Many logging companies were incorporated, cleared timber lands and went out of business.

Railroading in the woods was primitive in the early years. The 1920's saw the Pacific Coast Shay, the Heisler and Climax locomotives as major motive power. The 1930's saw 2-8-0 Consolidated and articulated locomotives (2-6-6-2, 2-8-8-2 ) moving logging trains. The 1940's saw the inroads of  dieselization in the logging industry - trucks hauling timber out of cut areas to reload sites, and then to the locomotives hauling those loads to sawmills and interchanges. It wasn't until the mid 1950's that dieselization was completed. I was most interested in the post -depression logging industry.

Fourth, in the Pacific Logging Conference journal I found several articles about studies done on the subject of electrifying logging lines. From there I found the Red River Railroad - an electrified lumber line in California! Even closer to my location, Oregon had a number of interurban lines providing freight services between logging railroads, sawmills, and Class I railroads.

Why summer 1955? Several reasons:

• All three of the Class I railroads in the Grays Harbor area were running 1st Generation diesels.

• The Great Northern Railroad, the Milwaukee Road, the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, and the Piedmont and Northern were still using electrification in daily operations.
  

• Several of the logging lines in the Pacific Northwest, and one in particular in the Grays Harbor area were still using steam locomotives.

• Post WW2 steel sheathed freight cars were in general use by the Class 1 railroads. Wood single and double sheathed freight cars of the 1920's were still in use by a number of Class 2 and Class 3 railroads regionally allowing me a wider variety of revenue cars to model in service. 

References

A Northwest Rail Pictorial by Warren W. Wing

Logging By Rail by Robert D. Turner

Logging Railroads in Skagit County by Dennis Blake Thompson

Vancouver Island Railroads by Robert D. Turner

Spruce Production Division

Spruce Production Division Camp and Spruce Production Division Camp 1 - by Craig Magnuson

The Timberman (1921-1922) - Google EBooks

Prototype Interest 1 - Choosing a locale

The first area of consideration in  Prototype Interests is Choosing a locale. Tony Koester in the January 1977 Railroad Model Craftsman postulated that the successful layouts of the day were 'miniature railroads'. Those layouts were designed to be:

• A transportation system linking two or more geographical areas.
• It provided a means to ship things - people, products or raw materials. 

Tony's article further discussed that selecting a prototype, a locale and an era provided the modeler with the layout design parameters that would support the vision of the the builder. Geography would govern scenery, identify prototype railroad connections; point to industries that provide revenue for the railroad, and dictate operational practices. Having these parameters already identified, layout design and track planning chores would be simplified for the builder. In order to model the scenery and topography on your layout with realism you need to select a specific geographic location.

My interest in railroads started at a pre-teen in Dayton Ohio. Just across the highway was an occasionally used railroad yard owned by the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) railroad. It was here that I walked the tracks, found my first rusty track spikes, explored the cars, watched the switcher come and go with its short consists and where I occasionally found a cast off switch list or routing card lying along the track. I'd hurry home to the basement and recreate the experience on my own rail yard.

 I got older I persuaded my Dad to drive me to other yards owned by the  Baltimore and Ohio or one of the other 3 other major railroads (Chesapeake and Ohio, Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central) that crisscrossed Dayton. My college days took me to Philadelphia and the Main Line - GG1's and other electrics moving passengers between Washington DC and Philadelphia. I also found the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, a freight and passenger interurban.

My military career took me back and forth to Georgia and North Carolina (Norfolk and Western and Southern), Finding the electrified Piedmont and Northern was great! Washington State brought me the Burlington Northern, Great Northern, Milwaukee Road, Northern Pacific, Spokane Portland and Seattle, and Union Pacific. I spent time reading the histories of the railroads during the week and then driving to and walking along the routes I read about on the weekends.

So when it came time to coming up with a location it made sense to me to focus on the Pacific Northwest, where the bulk of my favorite Class I railroads were located. A 1948 Rand McNally showed lots of potential opportunities.

With the Pacific Northwest established as the region, it was back to the file drawers and books. Having been stationed at Fort Lewis I knew the Seattle - Tacoma  - Olympia Washington area fairly well - and I had enjoyed the majestic scenery in the area. The GN and NP were the big players in the Cascades - MILW to a lesser degree, but there were few branch lines in that region.

The Rand McNally map showed that the Olympic Peninsula however had TWO branch lines that three of the 4 Class I's (NP, MILW, and UP) serviced - Centralia to Hoquiam and Chehelas to South Bend.

Further research turned up a history of the railroads in the Gray Harbors County by Mike Davison and J.A Phillips III. When I looked at topographic maps of the area I saw numerous logging railroads tied in to the branch lines serving Gray's Harbor County - Rayonier Logging Company at Aberdeen, Clemons Logging Company at Melborne, Polson Logging Company at Montesano, Schaefer Bros Logging Company at Brady, and Simpson Logging Company at Sheldon. Plenty of prototype to use for my freelanced railroad!

I was surprised to learn through research that coal mining was found north and east of Seattle. Coal reserves were found south of Tacoma, so with some deft non-scientific maneuvering I added coal mining operations onto the layout. Western Washington - the Olympic Peninsula - Grays Harbor County - I found my locale.

If you are interested in the process, see:

Author: John A. Phillips, III. Title: Tempest in the Timber. URL: www.employees.org/~davison/nprha/harbor.html.


Tony Koester's article in the January 1977, Railroad Model Craftsman, p. 99.

Larry Smith's article in the February 1991, Model Railroading. p.26.




With that experience you would think that I'd be modeling

Layout Concept Overview

In Layout Design Process 4 - Railroad Modeling I identified that the layout design process can be broken down into three primary functional areas: Concept, Structure, and Layout Detail.

Concept identifies the: Who, What, Where, and When aspects of the layout development process. It is broken down into two main element:

1. Your prototype railroad interests that you wish to model.
2. Your specific modeling interests.

At the end of the concept phase you should have a 5 second ‘overview' of your layout and a larger 'theme‘ document to refer to in the track planning process.

Prototype Railroad Interests

This element consists of four parts:

1. The Location (or locale) to be modeled.
2. The Era to be modeled.
3. The Class (or size) of railroad to be modeled.
4. The Type of railroad to be modeled.

Specific Modeling Interests.

This element consists of six parts:

1. The extent of railroad operations that the modeler wishes to replicate, Railroad operations consists of: passenger, freight, yard, interchange and maintenance of way operations.
2. The industries the modeler wishes to replicate. This includes heavy industry, light industry and miscelaneous . 
3. The traffic the modeler wishes to replicate. This includes train frequency (the numbers of trains to be run, diversity of train consists (the mix of business that determines the equipment and motive power requirements.
   
4. The locomotives of interest to the modeler.
5. The rolling stock of interest to the modeler.
6. The type of railroad personnel positions the modeler wants to simulate during layout operations.

In the next several blogs I will discuss the thought process I used to determine my specific prototype and modeling interests.

The Railroad Modeling Journey

The Western Washington Short Line is an HO scale layout that freelance prototypes my interests in Class III railroads, traction, logging and coal mining. The WWSL (Whistle) is my eighth or ninth layout since my first train set in 1965. In those years I've been thru three stages of model railroad evolution as a layout builder and/or as an operator on club and individual layouts.

Phase 1: The Train Set Phase. 

My introduction to model railroading started with an HO gauge American Flyer set given to me by my parents when I was about eight years old – An 0-6-0 steam switcher with a flat car, a stock car with an action hay bale feature, a tie car that had a tie ejection feature, a caboose and a number of brass sectional track that permitted the user to create a circular layout. Dad added a couple of box cars, tank cars and enough fiber flexible track and Atlas switches to complete a 4x8 foot plywood railroad, the track plan coming from an Atlas track planning booklet that sold at the local hobby shop.


This phase lasted some 10 years as I took those Atlas plans, and layout plans from books from layout design experts John Allen, John Armstrong and Lynn Wescott, and designed, redesigned and operated my railroad(s) based on my interests of the day. Scenery was non-existent until the last layout  – a D&RGW design that involved cutting and raising the plywood base, creating hardshell mountain scenery over a chicken wire frame, and tempura paint. Too much hidden track and cut hands from reaching under the scenery  and brushing against the wire pigtails to re-rail cars put an end to any ideas of scenery!

Phase 2: The Model Railroading Phase.

This phase started when I went to college and lasted thru most of my military career. The 4 x 8 sheet of plywood was abandoned for lack of space and in its place were a number of linear designs – 1’ x 8 or 2 x 8 foot modules. John Allen’s Timesaver design was first and then follow-on designs ala John Allen, David Barrows and others followed – depending on my industrial sector interest of the time.

During this period I learned the basics of layout design and construction, track laying, and operations. I found David Barrow’s domino concept of minimalist construction and operations the easiest to maintain based on my transient status location-wise. His benchwork modules were relatively lightweight and easily constructed: , a 2' x 4' sheet of plywood with 1"x3" or 1"x4" frame and attached legs. Any number of modules could be attached to each other in any configuration. Track plans were identified, drawn on the plywood, and track was assembled with rail joiners, and tacked down with finishing nails. Any changes to the configuration required only removal of the nails.
With weight restrictions on household goods being moved, it was easy to remove the track and toss the module(s) into a dumpster to be rebuilt at the new duty station.

Phase 3: The Railroad Modeling Phase.

While I was going thru phase 1 and 2, I always had intended to build the 'perfect' railroad – and I maintained a series of file folders of information oriented on that future layout. I was particularly interested in the layouts and operations of notable railroad modelers featured in Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman - Allen McClelland (Virginian and Ohio), Tony Koester (Allegheny Midland / NKP), Andy Sperandeo (Washita and Santa Fe), David Barrow (Cat Mountain and Santa Fe), Don Mitchell (Omaha and North Western) Jim Heidigar (Ohio Southern) and Bill Darnaby (Maumee Route).

I became a member of the Layout Design Special Interest Group and followed their discussions of basic and innovative layout design.  I started my research and bega to designthe freelanced prototype railroad now known as the Western Washington Short Line. I maintained annual subscriptions with the annual magazines of the times, Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsma, Prototype Modeler, Mainline Modeler ad Model Railroading, and annually purchased Model Railroad Planning and Great Model Railroads. Those publications  gave me additional insight to new design philosophies and operational concepts.

Construction of the WWSL (Version 2.0) began in the late 1980's. The career had settled down and time and money were no issue to a single guy. In the early 1990's, marriage, kids and life in general put the layout in general hiatus. The layout went into hibernation and I transitioned to armchair railroading with occasional active involvement in personal and club layouts. It was during this hiatus that I was able to refine the concept and design of the Western Washington Short Line.

Empty nest, retirement and a move to what I consider my final location brought the WWSL out of storage.  I decided to take advantage of the progressive layout design thought process and new products and technology and re-engineer the existing version 2.

This  blog documents the process I used to design what I am calling the Western Washington Short Line (Version 3.0). I am chronicling  the layout construction activities I am currently undertaking. As the design process is generally complete and about half of the modules were constructed during version 2.0, I am going to 'parallel' track layout design and layout construction in the blog over the next 6 months to a year. I apologize for the confusion.

On the right sidebar I have created a navigation bar that contains all the technical stuff i have developed to assist in the creation of the WWSL. I will highlight those items as appropriate to the layout design process, etc as time appropriate.

The WWSL at a glance

Name:	Western Washington Short Line (WWSL)
Scale:	HO (1:87)
Prototype:	Prototype – Northern Pacific Railway, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific Freelance - Western Washington Short Line, Olympic Peninsula Logging Company, Clemons Logging Company
Locale:	Olympic Peninsula - Montesano, Washington
Period:	Summer 1956
Room Size:	30’ x 25’
Style:	Around the wall, center peninsula, double deck, sectional modules
Layout height:	Lower level - 38”, Upper level - 60”
Main Line Run:	200 feet
Benchwork:	L-girder, 1” x 4´ frame, 2” x 2” risers, 1/8” Masonite  base
Roadbed:	2” Styrofoam
Track:	Walthers (Shinohara) Code 83
Turnouts:	#5 yard, #6 mainline
Min Radius:	21” helix, 24” outside curves, 26” inside curves
Max Grade:	3.2% (helix)
Scenery:	Sculptamold over extruded foam insulation, ground foam and natural material
Backdrop:	1/8” birch paneling, acrylic paint
Control:	Easy DCC with wireless throttles

Welcome to the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington State and the WWSL

Whether it's the busy Chehalis River industrial metropolis of Montesano, the rainy stations of Wickwood and Headquarters, or the funky logging camp and company coal town in the forests of Coal Grove - I hope you find something to enjoy looking at and that it stokes your fires for freelance prototype model railroading.

What do I mean by freelance prototype? Well you wont find the Western Washington Short Line referenced in any books, magazines or railroad historical societies, or located on any map except the one here. The WWSL is a fictional Class III railroad, occupying a real logging railroad right of way originally built by the Schaefer Brothers Lumber Company in the early 1900's, with its own alternate history blended into the real economic and social history of Gray's Harbor County. Right of Way, operations, motive power and rolling stock are adapted from prototype diagrams, plans, standards and usage whenever possible, modified when the necessities of modeling interfere with reality. I'll footnote reality whenever possible.

All individual and company names used in context of the Western Washington Short Line, unless specifically identified, are fictional, some even humorous if you notice it, and as the movie trailers say - any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

As of August 21, 2015 I have bought a basement - with a house above it for the new location of the WWSL. Armchair railroading has ceased, deconstruction has taken place and construction has begun! I am presently looking for local model railroaders interested in construction and operations to join me in bringing the WWSL back to life - no experience necessary!

The email connection is so you can make comments, suggestions, or ask questions. Connecting and learning from one another is a large part of what has always made model railroading such a great hobby. When construction reaches an operational state, visitors are welcomed to stop by to see (and hear) the WWSL in person. Use the email connection to make arrangements.

S. B. (Stan) Clinard
President and Chairman

Dayton, OH