Introduction

"Why a(nother) blog about a model train?" you ask. The answer is simple, it's for me. But if you like model trains you may enjoy this ramble about setting up a model train themed after a New York Harbor car float operation. I have been thinking about building this, my second, layout for a year now, and even though the budget is substantially non-existent, I figured it is time to formalize the planning process. Hence this blog.

Why model a New York Harbor car float operation? Perhaps I should explain what a car float is. A car float is a barge with two or three sets of tracks on it. This barge is loaded with railroad cars at a yard on one side of a harbor, and pulled with a harbor tug to the other side, where the cars are unloaded and the process is repeated for the voyage back. Before the days that bridges were capable of handling the weight of loaded railroad cars trains were shunted across the harbor using these barges.

In model railroading operations the modeler sometimes employs cassettes, or long wooden trays with tracks that can be hooked on to a spur in the railroad to simulate the idea of cars or train constructs moving on and of the railroad jurisdiction. It is kind of like a mobile staging yard. This idea has fascinated me for a long time. I have been planning a layout for a ridiculously long time, and I can tell you that every plan involved elaborate staging to simulate the movement of trains and cars to locations other than modeled on the layout.

And so it was that when I read "Working the harbor on the New York Central" by Lloyd Miller in the June 2010 issue of the Model Railroader magazine I knew what I wanted to do. By then I had already decided that I would build this layout in my basement, a 9' by 18' area that I share with my son Patrick's Xbox, and our combined computer. My wife, Debbie has her own computer upstairs. Space down here is a precious commodity but I figured we could probably live with a 1' shelf, 12' long and since Patrick marginally shares my interest in trains, he won't mind.

So here it goes. I hope to share my plans, sources and any ideas. I am also using this subject to familiarize myself with the fundamentals of blogging, but foremost I would like this to be an interesting experience to you the reader.