My buddy Mike Clements, from Wakefield, Mass., recently sent me a very thoughtful e-mail on my Ackley track plan and how he would change the Illinois Central connection to add more operating potential. Here is his note. Hi John, Nice change-up with the staging. I think you will be happier with that. Good compromise. I agree with the need to keep the IC crossing on the layout. Particularly if you are going to use your layout to model other generic locations, it will come in very handy. In that case it matters less that you won’t have the capacity, I was … Continue reading No. 29: The IC Connection at Ackley, Iowa

A few weeks before I started laying track, I made a pretty significant change to the track layout. Originally–due to space limitations–I had located the Illinois Central interchange track on the city track on the opposite side of the IC crossing.  I was unhappy with this arrangement because 1) It was not prototypical and 2) Because it limited the number of cars that could be worked to and from the interchange.  You can see the differences in the IC transfer in the drawing below. I track planned a number of alternatives, none of which held much promise. Then I realized that … Continue reading No. 28: Ackley Layout – A Change in Staging

Back in the summer of 1981, while visiting family in Chanhassen, Minnesota, I got away and went over to the old Hub Hobby Shop for an afternoon of looking at model trains.  I liked going to Hub because there were some serious modelers there and they liked to talk about prototype modeling, and they always seemed to have some cutting edge products. Anyway, after talking to the guys there for an hour they took me downstairs to show me a layout they were building in the basement. They were using a new type of flex track.  It was Code 55 flex by Rail Craft and … Continue reading No. 26: Ackley Layout – Code 55 Track

On the current Ackley 2.0 layout, I began the track-laying process by laying the mainline roadbed and then laying track at the Illinois Central Junction on the south end of the layout. I am using Micro Engineering track exclusively. I like the track detail and ease of application. I wanted track profiles to match the prototype as closely as possible so Code 70 is used for the main line track and Code 55 for everything else. Turnouts were built at the workbench using Proto87 Stores parts and Central valley tie strips. I enjoy building the turnouts and have built about … Continue reading No. 25: Ackley Layout – Track Laying

The new Ackley layout is being built as a point-to-point, one-town switching layout with a staging yard on each side. I call the staging yard on the south side of town South Side Staging and the staging yard on the north side of town North Side Staging. To access the staging yard from the visible part of the layout, I first built a very simple corner module our of standard benchwork components.  The 2-1/2-foot square corner module contains a 24-inch radius curve made from reliable Atlas Code 83 sectional track, and connects the visible main line to the staging yard.  … Continue reading No. 24: Ackley Layout – The South Staging Yard

I photographed this car at the same time I photographed the UTLX X-3 (see the first Steam Era Freight Cars post on this site). It IS obviously a 1937 ARA box car, but obviously IS NOT a Pennsylvania Railroad car. Wanting to identify the car before posting the photo, I e-mailed Ed Hawkins, Bill McCoy, Pat Wider and Bill Welch, asking for their thoughts. I referenced the 40-ton trucks, apparent seven-foot door opening, and unique defect car holder as an identifying “birth marks”. Normally I don’t rely on trucks to identify museum cars since trucks were often changed over time. … Continue reading No. 22: Steam Era Freight Cars – B&LE 1937 Box Car

This week, I was e-mailing with Frank Hodina–the man behind Resin Car Works (http://resincarworks.com/index.htm)–and I mentioned to him that I photographed a UTLX X-3 tank car at Dennison, Ohio last year.  Frank asked for the photos, and I thought it would be helpful to also post them here. The UTLX X-3 was Union Tank Car Line’s “standard” tank car.  At it’s height, UTLX operated over 41,000 tank cars.  The X-3 was it’s standard design, although over the years UTLX acquired through mergers and acquisitions tank cars of almost every size and type.  Even the X-3 came in a variety of … Continue reading No. 21: Steam Era Freight Cars – UTLX X-3

After the styrodur subroadbed was laid and fixed securely to the layout frame, it was time to start laying roadbed and track. I used cork roadbed exclusively because I like it. It is inexpensive, easy to get, comes in two pieces (essential for laying track on centerlines), stays in place with good glue, doesn’t swell, will hold spikes well if primed, and looks good.  I can get it shipped from the US and I can get it here in Germany easily from a local dealer. Before I laid any roadbed I set up the track on the styrodur surface and … Continue reading No. 20: Ackley Layout – Laying Roadbed

The Ackley depot is being constructed and this would be a good time for an update on it’s progress. The depot was built in 1908 as a combination passenger and freight depot. It replaced a typical M&StL wood structure on the same site. The building measured 24 feet by 96 feet and was built “for the ages” of brick. Other information: Elevation at the depot 1101 feet MSL. The station was located at milepost 200.6 but the Station Number was 201. Telegraph call sign was KY.  Below is an excellent prototype photo.  Love that long Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway sign! Photo … Continue reading No. 19: Ackley Depot Construction, Part 1

To compliment the conversation on the Standard oil terminal at Ackley, Iowa, here are photos of other “oil jobbers” I have run across in the Midwest.  No frills here–these are just photos that you might find useful or interesting. The three photos below were taken in 2012 at Villa Grove, Illinois across the street from the former C&EI roundhouse, which was still standing at that time.  I took a few detail shots here because the piping to and from the tanks was still painted red, white, blue and green to denote the different types of fuel carried. The photos below were taken near … Continue reading No. 18: Midwest Oil Jobbers