Relative Emphasis (has shifted with growth, numbers represent the priorities in effect at each of the 3 phases of growth)

____1___2_________________3_4______________________________________
Track / Operation................................................................................Scenic Realism

__________________________________3__4_______________2_________1___
Mainline Running.......................................................................................Switching

Operating Prioirities:

1. Local Freight Operations (8 cars)
2. Freight Yard Operations
3. Medium Length Freight (16 cars)
4. Time table operations

Notable Features

• Built in sections (approx 2' x 4' or 3' x 3'). Sectional construction allowed for:
  • Portability (8 moves for the original two sections)
  • Experience gained with Phase 1 layout, applied lessons to later phases
  • Phased expansion allowed for changes in Givens and Druthers, and prototype focus
  • Ease of wiring (put section up on side), messy scenery work could be done outdoors
  • Layout was always operational. Sections were not installed without being completed through wiring and basic scenery shell.
• Phase 3 includes a large (15 tracks wide) division point yard, based upon NYO&W Mayfield Yard. The majority of tracks are double-ended. The yard is subdivided into two yards, one for northbound and one for southbound traffic.
• Phase 3 used two staging yards is 3 train lengths long, 3 tracks wide on a 1" x 4" board tucked behind a computer desk and behind the entry door. There is a unique (to my knowledge) orientation of two stub staging yards on a continuous loop. (Loop is not used during operations, but backing moves between staging yards are eased do to the short cut offered by the "junction").
• Phase 4 included a hole in the wall to reach the next room, so the stub ended staging yards are in a more conventional arrangement. A continuous run track connection would allow a "short cut" between staging yards for restaging between operating sessions, but that option has not been found to be necessary. Freight car forwarding uses color coded tacks assigned by a home made "Markov Chain" random number computer program.

Track Plan Development

HO Scale beginnings

Prior to shifting to N scale, I built two HO layouts as a teenager. The name "Burnt Hills and Big Flats" was chosen following a family move from Big Flats NY to Burnt Hills NY. I was exposed to formal operations with freight car forwarding on Ken Nelson's Poco Valley. Ken hosted a model railroad after-school group at the junior high school I attended.

Phase One

I shifted to N scale upon joining the US Navy in 1981, knowing this meant much moving. The BH&BF was started as two 3 foot by 3 foot sections. The concept was strictly freelance, and time frame slowly crept from 1960 to 1970. The track plan was a folded figure 8, with a small stub yard and interchange, one other town (Burnt Hills), and a two track return loop for staging. Train length 9 cars maximum. This was constructed between 1982 and 1987. Near the end of construction, I discovered the NYO&W, and chose the stretch from Cadosia NY to Sidney NY to represent. An assumption was made that the BH&BF operated remnants of the NYO&W following abandonment in 1957.

Phase Two

Construction of Phase Two began while on shore duty in Monterey CA. The expansion entailed removal of the return loop, and breaking the folded figure 8 at two locations. A large loads in empties out mine was added, with a 5 track stub staging yard. The town of Smyrna was also added, with a 10 car passing siding. A "temporary" turn back was used, with arrangements for further expansion included. The prototype was still assumed to be Cadosia NY to Sidney NY. The expanded size was 10 foot by 11 foot, and was set up in New London CT and Charleston SC.

Trains backed in and out of the stub ended yard as appropriate. Trains were recycled during operating sessions. It was determined that the original classification yard was too small for this layout. To alleviate this, blocks of cars were dropped and picked up by through trains, and Burnt Hills was serviced by a train from the north staging as well as by a local from the yard. I did learn many lessons from the Virginian and Ohio Story, and Tony Koester's writings in MR. A photo from South Carolina was published in Trackside Photos in the May 1994 Model Railroader magazine.

Phase Three

Phase three nearly doubled the area covered by the layout. It was constructed after leaving the Navy and moving to the Northwest. A house with a large second bedroom was chosen. This room was nearly 14 foot by 15 foot, including a closet along one wall.. Originally I was concerned with how to maintain access to the closet. The answer turned out to be to remove the folding doors and have some of the layout be in the closet. I decided that I wanted more coal mines, and also a larger yard.

The prototype area covered was shifted to the south, covering Scranton PA to the New York state line. This allowed for some dense switching in the Scranton area, to coal mines and interchanges, and rural running to the north. The existing classification yard became the Central of New Jersey interchange, and the turntable was removed and replaced with the Scranton freight house. The existing track work more accurately represented the new prototype area than the original upstate New York theme.

Mayfield yard was chosen to be the primary yard. On the NYO&W, Mayfield was situated north of most of the major coal mines and interchange points. The same arrangement was established for the Burnt Hills and Big Flats. Use of a separate access aisle for the yardmaster allowed the engine terminal to be in the correct prototype orientation, but maintain accessibility. The yard was divided into a four track stub yard (the coal yard) and nine double ended tracks for the main yard. Two through tracks and one engine house lead make the combined yard 15 tracks wide. Most of the main yard tracks are 20 cars long. Only in N scale can one fit such a yard, and keep all turnouts accessible (all are manual except one at the turntable lead). A double ended caboose track, leads at both ends of the main yard, and a separate lead for the coal yard keep two yard crews and a yardmaster occupied but also allow for efficient operations. There is capacity for up to 150 cars within the yard. Usually less than 80 cars are at Mayfield out of a total of 200 on the layout.

The Burnt Hills siding was extended to 14 cars, and the Smyrna siding remained at 10 cars. After attending the NMRA national convention in Portland OR, and hearing discussions of serial staging, I discovered I could fit a 14 foot long 1" by 4" board along the unused wall of the room, and the board fit behind the door opening and behind the computer desk. This made for a three track, three train length long staging yard.

Phase IIIA

A further expansion was made in 1997. The "temporary" turnback from Phase II ended up in the closet, oriented such that the original planned expansion leads would not work. The entire 2' by 4' section (with its 10 inch radius turnback on a 3% grade) was eliminated and replaced with 3 sections, primarily dedicated to scenery rather than trackage. A five foot long double track steel trestle, based upon NYO&W design was included, with what amounted to a short stretch of double track. The Northwest Breaker (which on the NYO&W was one of the few mines north of Mayfield yard) was included. Elimination of the 10 inch radius turnback, and the addition of the double track allowed for longer trains to be run. It was determined that 16 car trains could be run reliably with double headed locomotives over the 12 inch radius curves.

A unique "End Game"

A portion of the BH&BF Phase III track plan is shown here. The whole plan is a continuous loop, with two stub ended storage yards facing each other. During operating session, northbound traffic from the Lehigh Valley Coxton Yard enters from the 5 track staging yard. It enters the layout at the left hand side of the backdrop, and passes through Big Flats. At Big Flats there is a large coal breaker, and an interchange with the Erie-Lackawanna (ex-Lackawanna trackage).

If the train were to continue north 3 scale miles, it would arrive at Burnt Hills. From there it re-enters this section of the layout, again heading northbound but from Burnt Hills. There is an interchange with the Erie-Lackawanna (ex-Erie trackage), then the Erie double track is crossed. A siding goes through the backdrop to the left to a power plant. This forms the loads in - empties out pair with the breaker in Big Flats. A train proceed through the backdrop, through the hidden junction, and terminates in the 3 track serial staging yard.

Phase Four

Construction on Phase 4 began in 2001. Jennie and I realized that our guest bedroom was minimally used, so we decided to take down the bed (storing it in case we needed to set it up) and use the room for a treadmill and layout expansion. We decided that an 18 inch shelf could be placed along the wall adjoining the existing train room. The bed could still be set up in the room (though would be impractical to operate the layout with the bed up).

Original thoughts were to model the Cadosia yard, but I decided to switch to Sidney NY. This allowed for more industries than Cadosia NY supported, and would include the Delaware and Hudson interchange. The NYO&W had a small yard in Sidney, so I decided to include that operation. The modeled Sidney includes a two track staging yard for the Delaware and Hudson, a four track yard, two passing tracks, and five industries. Operationally, it has proven more interesting to have locals and transfers do the yard work in Sidney rather than stationing a full time switcher. Additionally, the variable crew size on operating session nights did not support stationing a full time operator at Sidney.

Staging for the north end of the BH&BF is represented with a three track staging yard. Each track is two train lengths long. The 4 inch space between the room door and wall was again made use of to extend these staging tracks. The staging tracks are hidden, which allowed for more trackage in Sidney. So far, this has posed no difficulties. When a train enters an empty track, it pulls all the way through to the end (which is exposed). The second arriving train pulls in until its caboose is clear of the throat. I did make side panel cutouts so the throat is visible, and the scenery above the staging yard throat is removable.

In the main layout room, the arrangement of the end loop and staging yards were changed. I was never happy with the loads in empties out arrangement, and the short E-L interchange required retacking of cars in the middle of the operating session to take advantage of it being switched from both ends. Also, one could not switch in Scranton without fouling Capouse Junction at times. The new track arrangement moved Capouse Junction (and also made its turnout more accessible), and added a full E-L interchange with yard and staging track. The Lehigh Valley received two, 2 train length staging tracks.

Phase 4 allows for a operating crew of up to nine people. Feedback from operators indicates that they like going from one room to the other, and it provides more of a feeling of "going someplace". The mainline run is now 4.5 scale miles from one staging yard to the other, so this also adds credibility to the length of the run. Rolling stock will eventually grow to an estimated 300 cars on the layout.