John Pursell’s Easton-Phillipsburg Layout

My HO scale version of the LV is taking shape (slowly) here in Maryland. It is in the bare benchwork and mainline-almost-complete phase.

My general concept is this: I’m modeling just one large scene, based on the river bridges at Easton-Phillipsburg. The room is 12×20, with the river scene across one narrow end; P-Burg is on the right, Easton on the left as you walk into the layout. Hidden staging tracks will funnel trains thru the area, with local switching in both towns.

I’m not making a concerted effort to duplicate either town building-by-building; just the general flavor.

The problem was including the CNJ, L&HR, Erie and PRR that were all in the area. I’ve tried to solve this operationally–the mainline is double-tracked, so I can run LV double track if the mood strikes me, or designate one track LV and one as CNJ. Not perfect, but it gives me a chance to run red CNJ SD35s. PRR will just be an interchange yard–that’s “phase II” of the layout, and will be a narrow shelf section extending down the hallway.

L&HR and Erie are just interchange tracks–just no room for more.

I used to be a devoted PRR fan (and still am to some degree); had a couple PRR layouts in former residences. But when starting this (my dream layout), I went with the area that I used to see as a kid, when my family would go shopping in Easton. I didn’t know then what all those bridges were, but I knew they were trains!

Always willing to communicate with LV (or any kind of) modelers.

John Pursell (johnpursell at msn dot com)
Frederick, Maryland

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