Category: Pieces of The Puzzle
Questioning Normal
Anyone who has read my writings in O Scale Trains Magazine over the last 4-5 years, knows that I’m a contrarian where the hobby is concerned. I constantly questioned the practices most hobbyists consider “normal.” In doing this, I managed to upset the old guard of the hobby, especially in O scale, who often thought [...]
Changes at Brookville
Some track changes have taken place at Brookville in recent years. One of two leads to the old enginehouse has been severed and another turnout has also been removed. I suspect both moves reflect some economizing on the part of the railroad. The photo below shows the enginehouse tracks as they used to be in [...]
Roberts Mill
South of Brookville stood the remains of an old feed blending mill built in the late 1920s and operated by a gentleman named Cliff Roberts. Opened in 1930, the Great Depression eliminated any chance of business success despite Mr Roberts’s valiant efforts to save his operation. I only have two or three very poor photos [...]
Towing the line
In Pieces of The Puzzle I wrote about the way the railroad was built on the towpath of the former Whitewater Canal after it went bankrupt from rampant flooding of the Whitewater River in the late 1840s and early 1850s. With the river never far away, spring flooding is always a concern when the region [...]
A different way to think about layout planning?
The I&W has been essentially finished for several years now. In fact it has lasted longer than almost any other layout I’ve ever built. It is the only layout I’ve ever built that has reached a state of completion (99.9%). Mind you, I’m not complaining. I enjoy the layout more than ever. What I’m trying [...]
Changes at Cedar Grove
Things can change when you’re not paying attention. I hadn’t been down to Cedar Grove in some time before August of 2010. I was taking a friend on a tour of the line and we stopped to see the mill. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up and saw what was going on. The old [...]
