Bob
Johnson’s
West
Virginia Midland
October
22, 2006
It was a beautiful autumn day (picture 005)
as I drove up I270 to visit Bob Johnson's (45) West Virginia Midland. As
the clouds blew across the sky the scenery was bathed in shadow and bright
sunlight. Russet and golden leaves graced the view.
The West Virginia Midland is a freelance standard gauge (HO) short line set in central West Virginia in the early summer of 1954. The Midland's base of operations is the town of Webster Springs, W.Va. where the main yard (all 5 tracks) is located. The primary sources of income for the Midland are coal, limestone and lumber. The main body of the Midland is "E" shaped (12" x 16') with an additional 65 feet of around the wall running. The scenery is about 90% completed and features trees (lots of trees). The layout also features a number of discrete scenes that are visually separated by viewing angles and scenic view blocks such as hills and (of course) trees. The hobo camp (455) is outstanding. In honor of this open house and in keeping with the 1954 time-frame, there was a scale welcome sign for the Dixie Division (33). The mountains are constructed using dye and bleach to produce very realistic and unpredictable results. Take a look at Bob's clinic on the PD web page. The hidden track transfer table drawer is ingenious (950-965).
The Midland utilizes a Lenz DCC control system and is set-up to accommodate up to 7 operators and a dispatcher during an operating session. The layout was originally point to point but when it was converted to DCC two reverse loops were added to accommodate the increased train operations permitted by DCC operation.
Bob recounted the "disaster" at a recent operating session. One of the bearings on a Shea bound-up and introduced so much drag that it couldn't pull the train up the grade. It was necessary to split the train and double the hill. Helpers were also used. This threw off the timetable, making it necessary to write train orders. Sounds like a lot of operating fun to me. When asked about the prominently displayed locomotive bell (860), Bob told us about his detective work identified that it came from B&O E18 #1906. The tone was true and pleasing.
The West Virginia Midland is a freelance standard gauge (HO) short line set in central West Virginia in the early summer of 1954. The Midland's base of operations is the town of Webster Springs, W.Va. where the main yard (all 5 tracks) is located. The primary sources of income for the Midland are coal, limestone and lumber. The main body of the Midland is "E" shaped (12" x 16') with an additional 65 feet of around the wall running. The scenery is about 90% completed and features trees (lots of trees). The layout also features a number of discrete scenes that are visually separated by viewing angles and scenic view blocks such as hills and (of course) trees. The hobo camp (455) is outstanding. In honor of this open house and in keeping with the 1954 time-frame, there was a scale welcome sign for the Dixie Division (33). The mountains are constructed using dye and bleach to produce very realistic and unpredictable results. Take a look at Bob's clinic on the PD web page. The hidden track transfer table drawer is ingenious (950-965).
The Midland utilizes a Lenz DCC control system and is set-up to accommodate up to 7 operators and a dispatcher during an operating session. The layout was originally point to point but when it was converted to DCC two reverse loops were added to accommodate the increased train operations permitted by DCC operation.
Bob recounted the "disaster" at a recent operating session. One of the bearings on a Shea bound-up and introduced so much drag that it couldn't pull the train up the grade. It was necessary to split the train and double the hill. Helpers were also used. This threw off the timetable, making it necessary to write train orders. Sounds like a lot of operating fun to me. When asked about the prominently displayed locomotive bell (860), Bob told us about his detective work identified that it came from B&O E18 #1906. The tone was true and pleasing.
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