March 19, 2000
Except for some turnouts that will need to be hand laid, the trackwork in
Keyser has just about been completed, so the track crew has now shifted its
attention to Cumberland. Cumberland is a huge complex with dozen of switches
so this will take many months. We are using Micro Engineering flex track
which looks great but is not as flexible as other brands. It takes some getting
used to and is definitely more time consuming to put down. A few have even
suggested that we could hand lay the track just as fast, and sometimes I
think that they might be right. For the time being, however, we are going
to stick with it.
While most of the crew have been concentrating on the track. Jerry Bellina has been busy building the power supplies. Jerry is the inventor and owner of Rail Lynx, the infrared command control system that is going to used on the layout.
Meanwhile, Craig Bisgeier has been spending his time studying Henry's vast collection of prototype plans and photographs of buildings and turning them into accurate HO scale plans. These plans will be used to help build accurate recreations of the buildings that existed along the real Cumberland Division.
April 13, 2000
The crew learned yesterday that Henry would be moving in the not too distant
future. Of course this means that the layout will need to be taken down.
The good news is that he will not be moving too far away and that most of
the present work crew will be able to continue to work on the layout when
it is reassembled in its new home.
In the meantime you may think that work will be suspended, or at least devoted to preparing the layout for relocation. However, work will in fact continue. The focus will be on those areas and/or projects that will survive in the layout's new home. Of course there will no doubt need to be some serious redesigning but that can not begin until a new house is purchased. It is expected that those areas of the layout that represent the Magnolia Cutoff, Cumberland and Keyser will survive intact.
June 10, 2000
The Cumberland Engine Terminal peninsula, which was the last portion of benchwork
constructed, became the first section to be taken down a couple of
weeks ago as work begins to move the layout to a future home. The peninsula
had no track and its removal provided more room for the trackwork that continues
in Cumberland. No other sections have been taken down and no more will be
for the time being.
Meanwhile, Henry has begun the search for a new house. Already a few otherwise suitable homes have been rejected due to the lack of a usable basement. Obviously Henry has his priorities in order.
July 29, 2000
Work continues on the Cumberland Yard complex. Dozens of switches have been
installed. Many required modification so that they would fit and some were
hand laid. New pictures have been placed on the Photo Gallery so that you
can now check out the progress.
August 30, 2000
There is a contract on Henry's current home and a new one had been located
which means if all goes well the Cumberland Division will be moving in the
not too distant future. A new plan is already being worked on and the goal
will be to keep as much of the finished layout as possible. It will not be
easy, however, since the new home's basement is considerably smaller and
is shaped differently as well. The only thing decided for sure is that the
Cumberland complex will remain pretty much as it is now. Finished sections
such as the Magnolia Cutoff and Keyser could end up in storage if they can
not be fit into the new space. Largely incomplete sections, such as Seventeen
Mile Grade, will be scraped.
September 9, 2000
The trackwork in the Cumberland hump yard was completed the other night and
the hump itself was adjusted. We have tested it and the preliminary results
are very encouraging. In other words, the thing just might work. The remaining
trackwork in the complex is almost finished as well.
Also, Bill Chapin has done some work on the trackplan for the new home and it looks as if we will be able to fit both Cumberland and the Magnolia Cutoff.
November 11, 2000
The layout has now been completely disassembled in preparation for its move
to the new house. The last piece of benchwork came down at 4:40 PM. Work
continues throughout the weekend in order to be ready for the movers who
will once arrive again on Monday (the rest of the home's contents were moved
earlier in the week).
November 15, 2000
Success! Henry reports that the layout has arrived safely, damage minimal.
Now all we have to do is finish the modified plan, put the sections we already
have back together and build the rest. Shouldn't be too hard.
April 1, 2001
Nothing new to report on the layout, unfortunately, but Henry hopes to gets
things back in gear in the not too distant future.
Meanwhile, those interested in learning more about Cumberland and the B&O should read the article by Henry along with Gary Schlerf in The Sentinel, Third Quarter 2000 edition.
Henry also has an article in the latest edition of Model Railroad Planning on researching the prototype.
May 6, 2001
Sad news to report. Our good friend Jerry Bellina passed away on Monday,
April 30. Jerry had been battling cancer for a number of years.
A memorial service was held yesterday. Henry Freeman was one of the many who spoke at the service. Below are a few excepts:
Jerry was one of the really great guys I have ever known. He always had a smile and always had time to help others. We were friends within five minutes of meeting each other, and I will always cherish the memories of our time together.
Although many of his model railroad ideas had not received great recognition, I think his thoughts on layout design and command control were among the most innovative in the hobby. Jerry just had a knack of finding a better way to do it. He was always tinkering. He came up with the basic design of his railroad – which required three-dimensional thinking – in a hotel room, using a piece of string. When he was finished, he had found a way to get more railroad into a 24x26 room then any of us had even imagined.
I don't think I ever heard him say a really harsh word about anyone, and it seemed like anyone he met was almost instantly his friend. A number of his model railroad friends were together in Kansas City last weekend. Jerry had been looking forward to the trip for weeks, but increasing pain had put him in the hospital. I spoke with him right before I left for KC, and he said, "Tell everyone hello, and tell them I'll see them next year." That was Jerry. He always saw the glass as half full, not half empty, and he never let this disease keep him from enjoying life. Jerry did more living while he was dying them some people do in their entire lives.
Our good friend Craig Bisgeier I think summed up what was special about Jerry. "My strongest memory of Jerry," said Craig, " through all the time I have known him is that I always looked forward to seeing him."
How may people can you say that about?
Jerry Bellina 1940-2001
August 17, 2001
Slowly but surely the layout is coming back together. The room is in great
shape with new walls and light fixtures. Benchwork is being erected, some
of it new, and that phase is close to completion. Soon it will be time to
attach the layout sections.
September 1, 2002
In the last few months a new staging yard, sometimes refered to as Dunlap
Yard, has been constructed and is now in the process of being wired. This
new yard will represent points east of the modeled portion of the layout
while the original staging yard, which is located under the Magnolia Cutoff
section, will represent points west. Both yards included return loops to
make the turning of trains easier. A single track, which we call the Callan
Connection, links the two yards together. This connection increases operation
flexibility.
The Cumberland benchwork has, for the most part, been re-installed. Some trackwork modification and repair will be needed.
Speaking of Cumberland, the model of the Queen City Hotel has been completely rebuilt by Dave Maynard and it looks fantastic. We'll be able to install it just as soon as the repair work in the Cumberland area is completed. Hopefully we'll get some new pictures on the site soon.
Scenery work has been started on the Magnolia Cutoff section. We had a set back when we realized that the ballast that we were using was too dark. It looked okay in the bottle but after it was glued down it turned almost black. Much of that ballast has been removed and will be replaced starting today.
The work on this section is important because once we get it done many of the already completed mountain sections will be out of our way for good.
January 9, 2003
Recent work has been focused on the Potomac River section. Ed Kenny and Henry
have been working on the Western Maryland and B&O bridges while Scott
Dunlap and Henry have been doing scenery work in the area. Much still needs
to be done before we are ready to pour the Potomac but the area looks much
better. Hopefully new pictures will be available soon.
August 24, 2003
Work continues on the Potomac River section. The river still needs to be
poured but real progress has been made. New pictures have (finally) been
added to the
Photo
Gallery and more are coming. Check it out!
August 24, 2004
It has been exactly one year since the last update and plenty has happened.
Benchwork has been added west of Cumberland. Trackwork has all but been completed
in the Utilities room. Wiring is being installed everywhere and control panels
have been designed and are in the process of being constructed and installed
now.
If things go as planned (which, admittedly, they rarely do), we will be able to test run trains through the original staging yard in a matter of weeks. Once those tests are completed to our satisfaction we will be able to finally pour the Potomac River which runs above the yard.
October 24, 2005
Another year has gone by since our last update. Progress has been slower
than hoped since we still don't have the layout running but at least there
has been progress, especially on the layout wiring . The wiring has turned
out to be a huge task. Of course with this layout everything is a huge task!
We had an open house for the NMRA NER Regional Convention on October 9 and it was a big success. About 50 people attended and it seemed like everyone had a good time despite the fact that no trains were running. Unfortunately no one took any pictures during the event so you'll have to take our word for it.
Speaking of pictures, 13 new ones have been placed on the Photo Gallery so be sure to check it out.