DF&D Railroad Company . Layout

FACTS at a Glance:

Benchwork: Pub Table, 42" High 42" Round

Track: 24 feet of Peco Code 55 flex track. Soldered joints and 12 power feeds. No straight track.

Maximum Track Elevation: 6"

Maximum Grade: 3% Up Hill. 4% downhill. Super-elevated on downward curve.

Design: Over and Under double loop with one turnout spur.

Power: DC Track Blocks. AC Accessories

Lighting: Exclusively LED

Time and Place Modeled: 1930s North Eastern Pennsylvania / New Jersey Border

Various: 1 River 2 Mountains. 3 Tunnels. 6 Portals. 5 Bridges.

The Layout is a Meticulous Plan of Absolute Variables and Random Mistakes

"I never let physics get in the way of a really cool idea."

So with some criteria in mind:

• Fine finished piece of furniture (Pub table.)

• N Scale (more space for your buck.)

• A promise to myself that I would not overdo it and would stop adding features to this little layout just after the kitchen sink.

• Be ruthlessly diligent in modeling the prototype by carefully ignoring key facts and only detailing the fun.

• Work in Code 55 track because it drives the smug experts down at the hobby shop nuts (to say nothing of a reckless 4% gradient.) Besides... I like the look of it.

• A sampling (flavor) of the prototype's landscapes; multiple levels, rolling hills, sheer rock faces, bridges, river, Penn Dutch farmland, local coal mine, small country businesses, mountains and tunnels, macadam and concrete roads, and plenty of thick woods.

I was ready to start the DF&D RR project.

There's something terribly romantic about the 30's era. Something cozy and domestic...and very American. One thing I noticed in my research is that electric lights, whether they be in homes, businesses, or the odd street light, were not too powerful at all. They cast just enough light to ward off the nearby darkness, but were never domineering or glaring. I guess that's one of the phenomena that gave the period its ambiance...shadows with pools of light.

The Stock Market crash of 1929 made society pull inward, conservatism, the family, and homespun values began to replace the reckless abandon of the roaring 20's, the "Decade of Sin" as it was called.

But mindful conservatism didn't mean progress was frowned upon, in fact just the opposite was true. The American public was beginning to see monuments to it's greatness begin to appear. Great skyscrapers, among them the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. Advances in science and engineering seem to manifest everywhere: Sleek, streamlined locomotives, colossal rigid airships, pan american airplane flights, great ocean steamers, new automobiles of endless makes and models.

Hollywood was becoming a force to be reckoned with and produced American royalty; the Hollywood Stars. Cities were beginning to rise with shiny new buildings and bridges, and it was hard to keep the young folk 'down on the farm." Just ask a young George Bailey; Bedford Falls would just not do because "I’m going to build things. I’m gonna build air fields... skyscrapers... bridges a mile long" That was the kind of optimism kept in their hearts in spite of soup and bread lines. There was hope...hope was free.

The American locomotive and railroad was also evolving. Never before nor since was the rail system so prevalent and vital to the growth of the nation. Locomotives were getting larger and in some cases sleeker, more aerodynamic; if not specifically for function than by accidental art deco design. Automobiles and trucks had yet to come into their own, to say nothing of the lack of interstate paved highways to support them. And practical airplanes were still in their infancy and would not see technological leaps until the onset of World War II in 194. And even then, it was the railroad that moved, fed, and supplied the military machine.

But the second world war was a decade away and folks in the 30s were busy enough with day to day living and the dreams of wonders yet to come. Wonders that might just be heralded by the call of a steam whistle, the sound of progress.

It was this dichotomy of "set ways" and "new progress" that I wanted to capture on the layout...the growing pains of progress and the stoic, indomitable spirit of the simple folk...getting on while change steamed by. The Penn Dutch farm is important to the layout because it stands for the old ways, which might be a misnomer because Penn Dutch farms still exist today, and it is the railroad that has been remiss in its progress.