AMHERST BELT LINES
	HO Modular Railroad

a special interest group of the Amherst Railway Society, Inc.

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MODULAR MUMBLINGS

January/February,2000

Copyright © 2000, Amherst Railway Society

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Sudro Brown, BrownSudro@cs.com,
Clark Huber, chuber@charter.net
Alan Rice, abel.planning@comcast.net

January 2000!

It's Show Time!

Saturday, February 5 begins the largest Amherst Railway Society show ever, at least in physical size. Two days and three buildings of all sorts of railroad related items from prototype to model, scale replica to freelance, you will be likely to find it in the Better Living Center, Young Building and Stroh Building on the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield, MA! You will also find the Amherst Belt Lines there, in the Better Living Center.

This year the layout promises to be different in a number of ways. A preliminary plan is provided at the right. We are reintroducing dispatcher-guided operations, radio communication, crew sign-up sheets, and we will be using the layout as a test bed for Digital Command Control (DCC) on a large layout prior to show time. We have modules coming from all over New England : from Manchester, New Hampshire to Eastham, Massachusetts to Colrain, Massachusetts. We have several organizations represented in our ranks : the Cape Cod Model Railroad Club, Pepperell Siding Model Railroad Club (who also bring their own layout to the show!), the Nashua Valley Railroad Association, and the Dry Hill Model Railroad Club. It is always amazing that we can bring such a diverse group together to assemble this massive layout.

The layout this year fills our allotted 44â x 118â of space in the Better Living Center. The main loop is 42â x 82â with 284 feet of double track main line. The branch is 188 feet out and back. This gives a total of over 756 feet of railroad, or more than 12 scale miles of running! With about 4.6 scale miles of track in the main loop, it should take about 10 to 15 minutes to run a complete circuit of the layout!

While the plan shown here is preliminary, the following modules are in use on this layout (starting in the lower left corner and proceeding counter clockwise):

• Monbak Loop: Dana Bock;
• Three Corners/DB Tower (corner): Dana Bock;
• Kelly's Creek (4'): John Bock;
• Still River (corner) : John Bock;
• Bridge (4') ; ABEL/Sudro Brown;
• South Barre (8') : Steve Belforti/Gary Munsey;
• Gap ; likely to be East Galena (2') : Gary Munsey;
• Unnamed (4') : Patrick Kubala;
• Westernport (12') : Gary Munsey;
• WVC Jct. (corner+4'): Gary Munsey;
• Nissitisit Terminal (8') ; Dave Gale;
• Hog Island (12') ; Justin Maguire;
• Bolton Jct. (10') : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Musconetcong Tunnel (4') : Doug Scott;
• Center City (4'): Bruce Erickson;
• Johnsonville (8') : Phil Johnson;
• Salem's Lot (4') : Karl Johnson;
• Roy's Paper (4') : Mark Britton;
• Orange (8') : Adam Drozdowski;
• Conn. River Yard (12'+corner+4') : ABEL/John Bock;
• South Hooksett (2') : ABEL/Steve Belforti;
• Lyman Mills/Holyoke (corner) : Joe Kurland;
• Engine Terminal (12') : Wes Warner;
• Car Shop (4') : Wes Warner;
• Route 67/Lift Bridge (4') : Steve Belforti;
• DC Curve (inside corner) : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Sullivans (2') : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Dricut (inside corner) : Clark Huber/Carlton Rohmer;
• Hooterville (24') : Carlton Rohmer/Joe Biagioni;
• Martin's Ferry (2') : ABEL/Steve Belforti;
• Port Arcadia (8') : Stan Slowik;
• Cormier's Mill (12') : Mike Cormier;
• Hadley Heights (4') : Steve Belforti;
• Podunk River (corner) : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Dry Hill Yard (10'+corner+72'+corner+24'): DHMRRC;
• Barre Plains/Lift Bridge (4') : Steve Belforti.

While not currently shown in the plan, the following modules are planned to be included:

• West Boylston Street Station (corner) : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Warner's Bridge/Lift Bridge (4') : John Bock;
• Pine Ridge (8'): ABEL/Rudy Versailles.

Setup in the Better Living Center starts after noon on Thursday, February 3 and will continue through Friday, February 4. All modules are required to arrive at the Better Living Center by not later than 10PM on Thursday unless you have made other arrangements with Alan. We would like to get this layout up, level and connected as quickly as possible so that we can perform the DCC test on Friday afternoon. We would like to ask for your cooperation in making this happen. this is a big layout and will require a lot of manpower to put it together and operate it. Your participation in this effort will be greatly appreciated.

We will have a crew sign-up sheet available starting Thursday afternoon. We would like to ask that you sign-up for a block of time on this sheet to run one of the many jobs that will be required to keep this layout active. We have about 15 crew positions that need to be filled both one and two person crews. The sign-up sheet will give everyone the opportunity to run on the layout and to get out to see the show. If you have any special requests -- special motive power to use, for instance -- please note them when you sign-up. We tried this several years ago and found it to be very successful.

We are looking forward to getting this layout up and operating, and to your help in making this a success. See you at the Better Living Center on Thursday!

Worcester Model Railroaders' Show: February 27, 2000

We have been invited to participate in the Worcester Model Railroader's show in Auburn, MA at the end of February. This one-day show is held at the Elks Club on route 12 in Auburn ö directions are available if you need them. Setup begins at 7AM on Sunday morning for the show that runs from 10AM to 4PM. This is a great test of our ability to setup, debug and make operational a layout in a minimum amount of time. If the Elks do not have a function the night before, we could get in Saturday night, but we are not able to count on this happening. We are bringing a fairly small layout ö 16' x 30' (or 32' max.), shown here ö so that we can be up and running in a short time. Those of us who attended the show last year had a good time; and the Belt Lines made the Worcester papers that week, too!

The track plan shows that we still have room for modules; in fact, we still need a corner and about 32 feet of straight modules! If you are interested in participating in this show, let Alan know immediately so that he can reserve space for your modules. Modules planned for this layout so far include:

• South Hooksett (2') ö ABEL/Steve Belforti;
• Roy's Paper (4') : Mark Britton;
• Podunk River (corner) : ABEL/Clark Huber;
• Hadley Heights (4') : Steve Belforti;
• Conn. River Yard (12'+corner+4') : ABEL/John Bock;
• Martin's Ferry (2') : ABEL/Steve Belforti; and
• West Boylston Street Station (corner) : ABEL/Clark Huber.

If you would like to help setup or just operate the layout, please let Alan know at the show in West Springfield, so that we know you are coming.

That is all the news for this edition of the Modular Mumblings. Remember setup for the West Springfield show begins after noon on Thursday, February 3!

See you in West Springfield,

Sudro, Clark, Tom and Alan