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What's New at the West Island Model Railroad Club?
Below you will find periodic updates on the status of our new layout
WHAT’S NEW For AUGUST 2024
It’s been a while since we updated this message board from February 2022. A lot has
happened since then. While COVID definitely put a crimp in our operations from 2020
through 2022, the Club is up and fully functioning.
The layout has matured to the point where all track has been laid and the
signal system is complete. The Dispatcher’s display is fully functional and
integrated with the signals and track controls
at various points around the layout is progressing well.
The backdrop at the Bethlehem Steel mill is being done by Alan A. and
Rich V. Next, they’ll start to work on reproducing the smells associated with big-
time steel manufacturing.
Ken M. has finalized the placement of the buildings in the upper deck town
of Chester. He is also working on wiring the Route 17 overpass in this scene for
lighting of cars on the bridge.
The station at Easton has been completed and is nearly prototypically
correct. The difficulty with the placement of the bridges to the east of the station
have finally been solved and they are nearing completion.
The tracks and building configuration for the Huber Breaker are a work in
progress thanks to Al K. This will be one of the layout’s ‘Signature Scenes’ –
these are scenes that are clearly recognizable to anyone who has visited the
actual location.
Operations continues to improve, thanks to Galen G. and Jim S. The
sessions have been held on Sundays, usually the second-to-the-last Sunday of
the month. The session require the removal of personal equipment and the
staging of trains prior. The Club has devised a system of ‘Blue Flags’ to prevent
unauthorized movement of Ops staged trains. In June, the Club hosted a
‘CONRAIL – 25 YEARS GONE’ session to mark the passing of Conrail. Era
appropriate equipment was staged, with a special thanks to former member Lou
D. for use of his Conrail-era engines. We are gearing up for our planned Ops
Invitational in October.
Ken M. has been putting the finishing touches on the bridges at Easton.
The difficulty of positioning a close-to-prototypically-accurate bridge to align with
our track configuration was finally solved, much to the relief of all involved
Club has installed additional storage shelves for members on the wall
behind Allentown yard.
As the summer winds down, we’re looking forward to our annual Open
House in November and December.
.WHAT’S NEW FOR FEBRUARY, 2022
We closed out 2021 with good news and we’re looking forward to a great year in 2022. The Club will be following the latest COVID guidelines as we hope this pandemic continues to recede.
· We had a very successful Open House. Thanks to all the hard work done by Rick Lederer, we got some great pre-show publicity. Also, thanks to all the members who stepped up to make the layout presentable and put in the effort to ensure the layout performed flawlessly. We were able to use the recently installed upper staging yard to hold even more trains to run during the show. Also, our RUN-8 newsletter had a big article on the Open House.
· Scenery on the upper level in the Lehigh Gorge has been pretty much completed, thanks to Ken M. and John R. From the station at Lehighton, you can follow hikers on a trail as it winds its way along the tracks in the Gorge. Alan A. has been working to complete a prototypically accurate section of the rock cuts in the Gorge itself.
· Operations has been restarted, thanks to Galen G. and Jim S. The sessions have been held on Sunday afternoons, usually the last Sunday of the month. Even if you’re not familiar with Ops, come down and see what it’s about.
· The mountain and tunnel between Easton / Phillipsburg and Plainfield / Warwick has been ‘foamed’ out and fully scenicked. even down to a car and camper trailer making the trip up the mountainside. Thanks to Al K., John R. and all of the members who have been doing the work to create all the hundreds of trees we’ll need.
· Ken M. has been putting the finishing touches on the bridges at Easton. The difficulty of positioning a close-to-prototypically-accurate bridge to align with our track configuration was finally solved, much to the relief of all involved.
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