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 First, a little background. The Long Island Rail Road was chartered in 1834, and is the oldest continuously running railroad in the nation still operating under its original name and charter. Now primarily a commuter railway, the LIRR played a key role in the development of Long Island from mostly farmland to the suburbia it is today, moving freight to and from New York City. The Oyster Bay Branch comes off the main at Mineola, which is approximately 35 miles east of the City, and travels north and east to the North Shore next to the body of water known as the Long Island Sound. The branch ran through Mineola where I grew up, and I'm excited to bring this to life in O scale. I will be modeling 1948-1957. Steam made its last run on Long Island in the fall of 1955.

Attached is my track plan. In the PDF, the first page is the main part of the layout, and the second page is the staging west of Mineola, which is below the Oyster Bay yard. The staging allows me to turn and store the trains. 

My inspiration to build the Oyster Bay Branch came from an article written by Steve Lynch in the 2004 issue of MR Planning. Dave Keller and Steve Lynch have written two excellent books, The Long Island Rail Road, and Revisiting The Long Island Rail Road. Steve also runs a great site for all train things Long Island at: www.trainsarefun.com

Steve and Dave have been very generous with their advice and time regarding my layout. I can't thank them enough for their guidance and friendship.

Thanks for checking it out.

 Andy

 

 

 

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Last edited by Steamfan77
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I like commuter rail particularly when it captures something close to home.  One question/comment however.  Do you plan on running this as an out and back?  You have a return loop with staging and you may want to plan for a return loop on the upper level as well.  Otherwise, keep up with the pics, I am looking forward to seeing your progress.

necrails, Oyster Bay is the end of the branch. That's where I'll turn the engines and make up new trains to head West. That's the prototype, so I'll stick with that. I think it adds more operational fun too. The staging yard is only to turn and store trains. There is much more West of Mineola, but I don't have the space . Thanks Peter, I'm excited. I should be done with my first section of benchwork soon. I'll post a few pictures as I go.

 

Andy

The first section of Benchwork is complete. It's official, I have a layout! The section shown is Mineola, where the Oyster Bay Branch comes off the main. I will be using L-Girder, made from 3/4" plywood. The oval holes at the top of the joists are for pocket screws. That's how I will attach the 3/4" top. The larger holes are for wiring. I don't know about you guys, but I can't find a straight 2x4 anywhere. Too much time spent picking through the stacks .

 

Andy

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Last edited by Steamfan77

Andy,

 

if the quality of your benchwork is any indicator this is going to be one heck of a layout. I hope you keep posting pictures. Those blue walls are just begging for some beautiful LI beach scenes.

 

 I spend many of my younger days on the LIRR Ronkonkoma line going into the city.  That was back in the days when they had smoking cars,  bar cars, and some double decker cars.  

 

Thanks for sharing your work,

Ed

Thanks Ed. I'll try to show more water by the Jakobson Shipyard area, maybe even a tug sitting nearby. The LIRR had more interesting cars back then, didn't they? I'll keep posting pictures as I go. The benchwork is the easy part for me. It's the rest that will be a challenge .

Ben, what a cool place to live near! Lots of action, I'm sure. My two favorite engines are the MTH G5s (Sunrise Special), and the H10s. I got them from Charlie at Nassau Hobby in Freeport. If you're interested, I'd start there. My white whale is the C-Liner. I'd love to get my hands on one.

Artie, what a great memory from the past! I have a couple of RS-3's for the layout. Nice looking engines. 

PW, I remember reading about that club. I'm lucky, because I live on the South Shore and can visit Mineola, Oyster Bay, and Locust Valley to take some pictures. I have a few of the spur that went into the lumber yard and of course the stations of all three locations. Thanks for all of the encouragement and kind words.

 

Andy

The next section of benchwork is complete. It's where the main comes up to grade with Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. If you look at the PDF in the beginning of the thread, this is the area of the layout that has Kurtz Iron Works, Latham Lumber, etc. This area had more sidings than I'm modeling, and was known to the LIRR folks as "The Hole". I went to Latham Lumber (which is now Riverhead Building Supply) last year, and the track for the siding is still visible in the shed! I'm also putting heavy duty lifting levelers on the bottom of the legs. $25.99 for a pack of four. I had a fair amount, so I only had to buy a few more. From Rockler  http://www.rockler.com/product...053&site=ROCKLERThey are a little pricey, but for me, ease of use outweighs cost. 

 

Andy

 

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Last edited by Steamfan77

Andy Nice design and quality L-Girder bench work. We at the TMB are just starting to put the bench work together on a new 4000 SF layout and we are now locate din Farmngdale, if interested in joining let me know  we would love to have you visit.

 

Ben

I might have a beat on the LIRR H-10 Sunrise special. The one you saw at TMB MIGHT be available

Steve

 

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