The BMRC layout is loosely based on a section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad from Cincinnati, OH to Charleston, WV with a branch to Elkhorn City, KY, the line from Limeville Jct, KY to Toledo, OH, and a portion of the Clinchfield Railroad from Elkhorn City, KY to Johnson City, TN in the 1955-1965 era. We generally try to run equipment of these railroads and time period during operating sessions, but all eras, as well as equipment of all railroads are welcome with members running during open houses.
The HO scale layout occupies a 27 foot by 98 foot room, allowing us over 2500 square feet of operating space. The layout consists of a large middle section, a single wall section, and a 2-level peninsula extending off the middle. These sections are connected at all levels through a mountain section at one end. Aisles are kept to a 4 foot minimum so there is ample space for operators to pass one another and more space for visitors at open houses.
A large storage area is located on the lowest level consisting of three storage yards in series for storing members’ personal train equipment. Up to 34 trains can be stored in these yards. A staging yard for operations is also located on the lower level of the wall section. There is access to the storage yards from the mountain at one end and the helix at the other. The main line through the lower level also leads to Toledo, OH.
The peninsula consists of two levels: The Port of Toledo on the bottom level, which includes an ore dock with 2 Hulett unloaders and a “Laker” ore ship, a coal dock, and an oil refinery. The upper level is the home of the Armco Steel Mill near Ashland, KY. The C&O main line runs around the perimeter of the mill.
A photographic chronology of our layout construction can be seen on a separate “construction” page.
Layout Stats:
Scale – HO (1/87)
Layout footprint – 1500 Sq. Ft.
Levels – 5
Classification Yards – 1
Interchange Yards – 4
Staging Yards – 2
Members’ Storage Yards – 3
Mainline track – 54 HO miles
Yard track – 2900 Ft.
Turnouts – 320
Industries – 52
Cities and towns (C&O)
Cincinnati OH, Newport KY, Augusta KY, Armco KY, Ashland KY, Elkhorn City KY, Kenova WV, Huntington WV, Hurricane WV, Charleston WV, Columbus OH, Carey OH, Toledo, OH
Cities and towns (CRR)
Elkhorn City KY, McClure VA, Trammel VA, Dante VA, St. Paul VA, Kingsport TN, Johnson City TN
Sidings at each town have remotely controlled or manually controlled switches. During operating sessions, all main line switches and signals are controlled by a dispatcher. Trains will originate or terminate at all ends of the railroad and at the major classification yard at Huntington, WV. An interchange yard is located at Elkhorn City, KY where the C&O and Clinchfield railroads interchange. The Clinchfield also interchanges with the Norfolk & Western at St. Paul, VA. The C&O interchanges with the L&N at Newport, KY. At Limeville Jct., KY, the C&O line to Toledo diverges northward. The Toledo line is dark territory (no signals or remote switch control.) A verbal track warrant from the dispatcher (via radio) is required of each train operating on this line.
The next sketch is a prototype railroad geographical map of the area our layout models, shown with the towns we have chosen to model. We have not tried to get too specific on modeling the terrain or towns along the railroad. But we do occasionally include some local scenes which may be familiar to folks who have been there.
The following illustration of the two primary levels of the layout is from a Model Railoader article published in “Great Model Railroads 2022.”
