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Theme: Industrial Railway

Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, January 07, 2024 at 11:35:06 AST.)

Sunday, January 07, 2024

On30 SCALE: Cat Mountain Line

These two 2'x4' On30 portable modules were done for a client's freelanced Cat Mountain Line. The narrow gauge railway runs from a small seaport out into the mountains to a mine in the pacific northwest sometime between 1930 and 1950. My client wanted the layout to include a pier, single track car ferry, mine, simple...

2019.10.12D-001.gif (45534 bytes)

Views: 1759 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Design Feature: Modular Benchwork, Design Feature: Switch-Back, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Theme: Waterfront, Type: No Run-Around Track, Types of Industries: Coal Mines, Types of Industries: Wharves



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, February 03, 2023 at 22:13:29 AST.)

Friday, February 03, 2023

On30 SCALE: Palmetto Brick Company Railway

Back in 2017 I found a thread on another railway related forum that highlighted the Palmetto Brick Company's railway located in Wallace, South Carolina. The 3-foot gauge line used small 8-ton Plymouth locomotive to haul steel side-dump clay cars from its quarry to the brick kilns, which were still in service at that time...

2019.10.12F-001.gif (16248 bytes)

Views: 1897 | Comments: 7

TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Type: 3 Turnout Layout, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): North Carolina, American Railways: Palmetto Brick Company Ry, Types of Industries: Clay Processing Plants, Types of Industries: Quarries



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 25, 2021 at 6:42:21 ADT.)

Monday, October 25, 2021

On2 SCALE: Gilpin Tramway (Plus the Colorado & Southern Ry in On3)

This is quite a different design for me. As you may know, I prefer layouts built around the walls on narrow shelves, and generally stay away from shelves over 30-inches wide. However, I felt to do this design justice I had to go another route. The layout called for wider bench work to accommodate both the scenery...

2019.10.12G-001.gif (151381 bytes)

Views: 1223 | Comments: 2

TAGS: Layout Size: Large Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Colorado, American Railways: Gilpin Tramway



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 14, 2019 at 10:59:07 ADT.)

Monday, October 14, 2019

HO SCALE: Almanor Railroad (Collins Pine Company)

For the last few years, I have taken a keen interest in finding small railway lines that would make a great subject for an "achievable layout" which is a term coined by Trevor Marshall. I honestly believe that these practical and doable layouts are the future direction of layout planning and building, and I am always interested in learning about...

2019.10.12M-001.gif (50245 bytes)

Views: 1008 | Comments: 2

TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): California, American Railways: Almanor Railroad (Collins Pine Company)



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, October 21, 2019 at 12:42:00 ADT.)

Monday, October 21, 2019

HO SCALE: Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO) at Sydney, Nova Scotia

Back in 2005, I fooled myself into believing that I knew enough about making steel that I could actually build a layout to represent the industry. I did a bit of a research and knew I wanted to include as many steps in the process as I could. I not only wanted the blast furnace, but also the import system for the raw materials...

Views: 1052 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Design Feature: Loads In / Out, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Canada (Provinces): Nova Scotia, Canadian Railways: Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO), Types of Industries: Coke Plant, Types of Industries: Steel Plant



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, June 27, 2022 at 9:45:09 ADT.)

Monday, June 27, 2022

On30 SCALE: Black Sand Mining & Timber Railroad

For me, one of the most enjoyable side effects of designing layouts is learning new things. And while designing this layout, I learned a lot over the last month and a half. For starters, I never knew that Platinum could be recovered from beach sand. And since I had to build the equipment required to do that in 3D, I also had to learn how...

2020.01.01A-001.gif (57559 bytes)

Views: 1845 | Comments: 2

TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Theme: Waterfront, USA (States): Oregon



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 11:22:00 AST.)

Sunday, January 19, 2020

G-SCALE (1:22.5): Riverside Brick & Clay Company

This design was done for a member of a Facebook small layout group, who was trying to decide between a small switching layout in G-scale, or a traction layout done in O-scale. Of course, I like a good challenge, so offer to mock something up in G-scale for him. This was actually my first attempt at designing something in G-scale for...

2020.01.19B-001.gif (35261 bytes)

Views: 1238 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Type: 2 Turnout Layout, Type: No Run-Around Track, Types of Industries: Brick Works



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 9:05:00 AST.)

Saturday, January 25, 2020

HOn30 SCALE: Marble Mountain Quarry Company

I was asked by Marshall Stull to come up with an entry for a challenge he has opened on his Small Model Railroads website. The challenge was to design a micro layout to fit in 13" x 9" x 9" helmet display case that he had just purchased. Since I have never designed a layout for such a small space, I was intrigued by the idea...

2020.01.25A-001.gif (52184 bytes)

Views: 1262 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Layout Size: Micro Layouts, Staging Options: Turn Table (Train Length), Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Theme: Waterfront, Type: 3 Turnout Layout, Type: No Run-Around Track, Types of Industries: Quarries



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 12:42:00 AST.)

Saturday, January 25, 2020

On30 SCALE: Lingan Colliery Railway

Back in September of 2017, I was asked to design an On30 layout with a mining theme that would fit in a 30" x 12' space. The owner wanted a complete layout without any additional staging, and also desired to have as much operation included as possible within the space. I went with a design that included a coal mine at one end of...

2020.01.25E-001.gif (22177 bytes)

Views: 1349 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Theme: Single Station / Town, Types of Industries: Coal Mines



Posted in My Projects by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, September 24, 2023 at 10:53:35 ADT.)

Sunday, September 24, 2023

PROJECT: Sydney & Louisburg Coal & Railway Company

I had a few inquires about the status of my Sydney & Louisburg Coal & Railway Company retirement layout, and a few other people asked for an update on the project. I currently have about 75% of all the materials needed to build the triple-deck design. I had to import almost everything from the US, and with the weak exchange rate, I already...

2020.02.03D-101.gif (56028 bytes)

Views: 2089 | Comments: 13

TAGS: Design Feature: Train Elevator, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Canada (Provinces): Nova Scotia, Canadian Railways: Sydney & Louisburg Coal & Railway Co, My Projects: Sydney & Louisburg Coal & Railway Co



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 03, 2022 at 22:18:11 AST.)

Thursday, March 03, 2022

N SCALE: West Coast Pulp Company

The modern-day N-scale layout depicting the West Coast Pulp Company was designed for a client to fit on two 2-foot by 4½-foot modules. The layout is proto-freelance and based on western Canada coastal pulp mills with incoming traffic being introduced by a rail barge. My client wanted a pulp and paper mill, a general office building...

2020.02.29E-001.gif (26568 bytes)

Views: 1962 | Comments: 2

TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Staging Options: Car Float, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Canada (Provinces): British Columbia, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 13:17:00 AST.)

Saturday, February 29, 2020

HO SCALE: Delta Valley & Southern Railway

Well it doesn't get much smaller than the Delta Valley & Southern Railway located in Arkansas and owned by the Wilson family to serve their cotton farm. The two photos below represent the entire 2-mile long line, and what's even more interesting, the line could be still operating today, although I can't find definite proof...

2020.02.29K-001.gif (52645 bytes)

Views: 1036 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Arkansas, American Railways: Delta Valley & Southern Railway, Types of Industries: Cotton Processing Plants



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 01, 2020 at 10:29:00 AST.)

Sunday, March 01, 2020

N SCALE: Kinsey, Long & Northern RR

I was asked by a member of a railway forum to design an N-scale layout based on his proto-freelanced Kinsey, Long & Northern RR. The layout was L-shaped with each leg being 5-foot long, and 18-inches wide, and would depict a modern sawmill operation in Oregon. The layout owner wanted to model a sawmill, a woodchip loading area, and have...

2020.03.01E-001.gif (57824 bytes)

Views: 1098 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Type: No Run-Around Track, USA (States): Oregon , Types of Industries: Sawmills



Posted in Articles by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 17:27:30 ADT.)

Thursday, September 23, 2021

ARTICLE: The Sissiboo Pulp & Paper Mill (Getting the most out of your small space)

This article is more about getting the most out of the space you have available than it is about modeling a pulp and paper mill. I just used a paper mill as an example of how an industry that covers a great deal of real estate in the 1:1 world can be shoe-horned into a reasonably sized footprint. However, to attain my goals for this project I had...

2020.03.07B-402.jpg (348105 bytes)

Views: 6109 | Comments: 9

TAGS: Design Feature: Train Elevator, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Type: Inglenook, Type: No Run-Around Track, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills



Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 15:43:00 ADT.)

Sunday, March 08, 2020

On30 SCALE: Crooked Mountain Railway

This design was done back in February of 2018 for a member of the Railroad Line Forums who was looking for ideas for an On30 layout to fit on a 36"x6'8" hollow-core door in his office. The layout owner wanted a continuous run with a few sidings, however, he was more interested in watching trains run during the workday, than operating the layout. I adapted...

2020.03.08L-001.gif (44886 bytes)

Views: 1465 | Comments: 0

TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, USA (Regions): Southwest

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