Did you ever have one of those moments when the solution to a problem that has been challenging you all of a sudden becomes crystal clear? You know, when somehow you are able to step back from your search for an answer and look at the problem from a completely different angle. Then as if out of the blue, "bingo" you know what the answer is and how to solve your problem. You often ask yourself "Why didn't I think of that sooner?". I had one of those moments a week or two ago as I pondered how to move forward with restarting the construction of the new Peterboro Model Railroad. For 10 months I had been trying to figure out a way to build the new railroad so that Peterboro, the northernmost town and main terminal, was on a particular wall in my train room. I was stymied because by putting Peterboro on that wall I was always viewing it from the wrong side of the tracks and it created a longer reach to uncouple cars, throw turnouts, etc. As I stood contemplating my layout space one evening recently I was also looking for a way to incorporate an existing layout section that would become Winchendon Junction, the southern most terminal on the railroad, in the location that I had chosen for it. It just wasn't working as I drew pictures and diagrams in my head and on a piece of legal paper. Then it happened! Eureka! Where was it written that Peterboro or Wincehndon had to be placed in the locations that I had assigned them in the layout room? If I just flipped the plan 180 degrees and put Peterboro in the space I had planned for Winchendon and Winchendon where Peterboro was supposed to be it all fell together. Both terminals would look better and operate more efficiently. And as an added bonus the town of Jaffrey, the mid-point on the railroad, would also be seen and operated from the "correct" side of the tracks. Oh so simple and it had only taken me 10 months to figure this out. Duh! I will try to post a revised track plan soon. 

Here is the track plan for Winchendon Junction. It is purely fictitious but offers a typical track arrangement for an transfer point between a small narrow gauge and a standard gauge railroad.

I recently started building the engine house at Winchendon Junction. I am using a kit released in 2007 by Stone Creek Designs.

The kit features some very nice cast hydrocal stone walls. 

I used an exacto knife with a #11 blade to cut out the plaster in the windows.

 .I used a thinned gray acrylic paint to put a base coat of color on the walls.

Next work session I will dry brush black, white and brown highlights on random individual stones. Then I will wash the walls with a very thin black wash to blend all the colors and emphasize the joints between the stones. If anyone has any suggestions please post a comment.

I've started to rebuild The Peterboro Railroad at Winchendon Junction recently. The junction is quite small and compact. The main line from Jaffrey and Peterboro approaches the Junction from the North. Immediately after coming thru a short rock cut in a tree lined ridge the main line splits into a runaround track as it curves to the west to parallel the standard gauge Boston and Maine line to Keene, New Hampshire. The runaround passes perilously close to the Peterboro Railroad turntable and ends at a crossover just before reaching the passenger station.On a trailing spur heading east off of the runaround is the transfer track where all freight is transshipped back and forth between the narrow gauge and standard gauge cars. Off the west side of the turntable there will be a single stall engine house and behind it will be a water tower, sand house and a coaling facility strung out along the main line track.

 It’s been 9 months since my last blog and a lot of things have happened. Let’s just say life has been challenging for many reasons. As we moved into 2010 I realized that I was not really happy with The Peterboro Model Railroad for many reasons. The primary one being that I had drifted far away from my original concept of what I wanted The Peterboro Model Railroad to be. That is a model of the Boston & Maine Railroad’s Peterboro branch that ran from Winchendon, MA to Peterboro, NH. This branch ran right through my wife’s hometown of Jaffrey, NH and played a major role in the life of this little town of less than 4,000 souls. Of course, I wanted to model the line as a 30-inch gauge independent railroad rather than a standard gauge branch of the mighty (at the time being modeled at least) Boston & Maine. Hence the name “The Peterboro Railroad”.    A few years ago I got off track when I decided to rescue three On30 modules that my operating group had built and no longer wanted. The modules were very well done and had their primary scenery completed. The modules were scheduled for the scrap heap as no one had room for them in their homes or as part of their home layouts. I took the modules to save them and decided to incorporate them into my then under construction layout. The problem was that by doing so I had deviated from my concept of The Peterboro Railroad. So I concocted the fictitious history of the Peterboro Railroad that has been on this site for several years. Basically I moved the entire railroad East to the coast of Maine to account for all of the waterfront scenery on the modules. There is no waterfront on the real Peterboro branch of the B & M, although the line did follow the Contookic River a great deal of the time. My deviation from my original modeling theme and concept has always bothered me. So recently when one of our operating group members bought a new basement I offered the modules to him as he had been one of the chief architects behind the modules’ construction to begin with. He gratefully accepted them as a way to start a new layout in his new digs. So now I am starting to rebuild The Peterboro Railroad to its original concept. It will not follow the actual track layout in each town exactly as I don’t have enough space for that. However, it will more accurately represent what I want from my model railroad. It is my intention to document the process on these pages. Please check back regularly. 

It is the last day of August 2009. Very little has happened since my last posting on the very last day of 2008. I have gotten absolutely nothing done on the Peterboro Model Railroad since that time. The reasons are simple. The first six months of the year were consumed by a very busy schedule of train shows on the weekends and lots of demands at my "real" job. In February I changed jobs and went to work at a Internet development company. After five months I was laid off due to declining cash flow.

 
I write this on the last day of 2008. This past year has been very trying for most of us. The current economic situation in the United States is daunting to say the least. Let me wish all readers of this blog a very happy and healthy 2009. 
 

For the past two months I have made no progress on the On30 version of the  Peterboro Railroad. The reason why is simple. The explanation of that reason is not. But here goes.... Operations is one of the things that I enjoy most about model railroading. I get a kick out of taking a train from one town or station on a layout to another town or station and dropping off and picking cars along the way.

This website has been active for approximately one month. It took a long time to get it to the point where it was ready to publish. Now that it’s “out there” and the results are mixed. First of all, although the comments have been favorable I still feel that there is lots more to do. Future content will depend on my being able to continue working on the railroad. I have lots of track to lay, buildings to build and rolling stock to decal and weather. All of this takes time. Right now my schedule is very tight.