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Phil Bonzon's Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad
photos by Richard Schumacher
Layout Overview
- HO scale
- Single-deck track plan, 20' 7" x 15' 2"
- Late 1950s transition era
- Highly detailed
Phil is a long-time B&O fan and recently became interested in the BC&G
through Deane Mellander's and Bob Kaplan's book "B&O Steam Finale Volume 1".
The original thought was that the BC&G would be an ideal short-line to
model with the B&O. As time passed, the BC&G and ERC&L became the more
dominant roads on the layout.
Through the use of the Internet and topographical maps Phil developed an
HO layout plan that is 20' 7" x 15' 2". The time period is the late 1950s.
Steam and diesels were both in use on the B&O. The layout is currently under
construction, 300 feet of track has arrived and 50 of the 65 turnouts have
arrived (Shinohara turnouts are a little hard to obtain). The BC&G will
include Dundon (station, shops, company houses and store), Avoca wye, Sand Fork,
Cressmont (dairy), Swandale (sawmill, engine house, company store and houses)
and Widen (mine, tipple, power house, Widen bank, company store & houses).
The ERC&L will join the BC&G at the Avoca wye and will include the Lilly Fork.
The vertical separation between the two railroads will vary from 4" were they
cross to 7" at Swandale and 8" at Widen. At Widen the ERC&L track will be at
eye level.
The B&O starts and ends at Division City. It passes by Dundon and the Elk
River, enters a tunnel and continues on a lower level below the BC&G,
reemerging through tunnels into Division City. Its plan is a simple "L" shaped
oval with passing sidings and two reversing loops. The B&O is planned to expand
into another room where Kanawha City, with an industrial switching area, and
Strange Creek, with another coal mine and a paper mill, will be located. Also,
a wye is planned for the B&O tracks below Widen that will lead to B&O staging
tracks.
Phil's goal is to capture the character and surroundings of the ERC&L and
BC&G and bring them back alive through his layout. The layout will be a
never-ending project and hopefully, a constantly improving one.
Layout website
(external link).
Photos
These photos of the award-winning Swandale module
were taken at the Gateway Division NMRA 2008 Train Show
and Model Contest. Click to view a larger (about 300K)
version.
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Swandale module |
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Swandale module |
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Swandale module |
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Swandale module |
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Swandale module
closeup |
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Swandale module
sawmill closeup |
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Swandale module |
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Swandale module
closeup |
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