Long Island Rail Road-Oyster Bay Branch

Making progress on a part of the layout I’ve ignored for too long. The first picture is a retaining wall next to the main line. After that, I put down some basic ground cover. The rest of the pictures are of the Jericho Turnpike underpass in Mineola, Long Island, NY. For the street supports, I made a template out of oak tag, then transferred the shape to some scrap 3/4” plywood. After cutting and a little sanding, I screwed the curved road supports to the benchwork. I spray painted some 1/8” hardboard (Masonite) flat gray. I’ll follow up on the road with some weathering powders. I cut the walls out of the same thickness hardboard, and after priming with the gray, I sprayed on some Rust-Oleum Desert Bisque. For the folks that are familiar with the area I’m modeling, this is the underpass on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola. For those not familiar, this is a four lane road, and one of the main thoroughfares in the village of Mineola which passes under the Oyster Bay branch line that I’m modeling. The underpass is in progress, so more pictures to follow. Thanks for looking.

Andy

Great work on an interesting layout.  I really like the quality of the buildings.  Nice crisp corners, colors, good track work and the grider plate bridge is special. 

Thanks Pennsynut! Thank you for the kind words. The progress comes in spurts, but I’m happy with the overall look of the layout. I’m leaving the scratch building to the end. That will be a tall order, but enjoyable. 

Andy

Andy,

  Very nice. I was catching up on some of your recent posts. I like how the girder bridge came out. Also, good to see your B6 get some track time. 

Tom

Thanks Tom, I’m happy with how the girder bridge came out, it’s a nice scene with the underpass. That Lionel b6 is a good puller, especially backing a long cut of freight or passenger cars out of the yard on that curve. 

Andy

I added the sidewalks and cement cap/end pieces for the underpass, along with some ground cover. I installed more retaining wall pieces and some ground cover behind the girder bridge, and installed a cement retaining wall in front of the higher level industrial area on the layout known as “the hole”. I’ll add the street portion to connect that area with Jericho Turnpike (underpass) soon. I also put in a layer of some 1/2” Homasote in the corner and up the side of the grade. I’ll paint it earth brown and put down some ground cover and trees. I think it’ll be nice to give this area a little elevation. Thanks for looking.

Andy

Andy, your Jericho Turnpike girder bridge is in much better shape than the real thing, just drove through, it needs a good scraping & painting.

Art

Thanks Arthur! They repainted a few in Freeport, and they look much better. 

Andy

Andy your patience and your attention to detail is remarkable on this layout. Cant wait to see it finished, truly unbelievable 

Mike and Aidan

Mike, thanks to you and Aidan for the kind words. I'm really enjoying working on the scenery and structures.

Andy

Steamfan77 posted:

Thanks Arthur! They repainted a few in Freeport, and they look much better. 

Andy

I was on 135 yesterday. The bridge between Farmingdale and Bethpage is in sad shape.

It sure is Bob! I think they need to invest in infrastructure a little more. 

Andy 

I made some progress with the corner I started, and with the street connecting the upper and lower levels. I put down basic ground cover on the edges of the Homasote that are next to the walls before I put it in place. It just made it easier than having to reach and be fairly precise. After attaching the Homasote, I taped the near edge and ends to form a gentle taper. I’ll continue with the ground cover tomorrow. I’m happy with the look of the ramp between the two levels. I cut some 1/8” hardboard (Masonite), and painted the road surface a flat gray. I’ll paint the rest of the structure Rustoleum Desert Bisque for a concrete look. Maybe I’ll give it a dark wash afterwards. Thanks for looking.

Andy

Added some basic ground cover to the recently installed elevated area. The first three pictures are the ground cover, in the last four, I added a little greenery. Trees/bushes/trackside debris to follow in the future.

Andy

Excellent looking ground cover.

Thank you Arthur. The products are from Dennis Brennan at https://brennansmodelrr.com

Andy

Andy,   Just started reading this thread, Who makes the building kit below, or is it scratchbuilt ?

I just completed the Mineola sub station. I'll add equipment inside and fix up the grounds in the near future. 

Andy

Hi Chris,

This is a kit from Altoona Model Works. They call it the Power/Boiler house.

Andy

Continued with some ground cover, and started another elevated area. I wanted to use irregular shaped pieces of Homasote, because it’s what I have on hand. 

Andy

Andy:

Your layout progress is inspiring and brings back memories of my redo.  As you know, PRR owned the LIRR at one time and being a Pennsynut, I was curious about what locos you would be running.  I looked up LIRR on American Rails.com to see what steamers would have been on it's roster.  AM Rails listed four H6 Consolidations; 19 H10 Consolidations; four Atlantics; three G53 ten wheelers; 31 G5s ten wheelers; thirteen PRR K4s; two B8 PRR 0-6-0 and eight 0-8-0 switchers as of 1949.  Wondering what your roster of steamers and other locos will be.

Sorry about my last post Andy.  I see that a while back that you listed your locos and I missed that somehow.

Not a problem at all Pennsynut! I’m modeling 1948-1957ish, but I also have an Alco C-420, a GP38-2, and an MP15-AC that I run every now and then. But mostly I stick to my original roster. That time period has a nice mix of steam and diesel. 

Andy

Nice mix.  Can't wait to see more.  

As an ex-Long Islander I marvel at your layout!

Great stuff Andy- keep up the good work.

To add to what Pennsynut wrote- I found this image of 4 locos at the turn table in Oyster Bay. Don't remember the date on the photo but it right in your period for sure.

Bob

Thank you both for the kind words! Thanks Bob(Bwana) and Bob(RSJB18)! I’ve seen that picture before, I think it was right before the end of steam in 1955. 

Andy

I painted and installed the retaining walls that connect the upper and lower levels. To the left of the short wall,  I’ll build, paint, and install the remaining retaining wall for the grade sometime in the near future. I was also able to cover the newly created elevated section with some basic ground cover. I only created this area to break up all of the flatness. Plus, I wanted to get rid of the odd pieces of Homasote I had hanging around . Thanks for looking.

Andy

I haven't seen updates on your layout for a while, sorry I missed them.  You are making awesome progress.  Everything just blends nicely together.

Regards,

GNNPNUT

Have to say your "newly created elevated section" is topographically spot-on for Long Island. There are no mountains around here to get in the way.

 

Nice scenery!

I am concerned that certain cars will not clear that corner. Pecos River box cars and some cars over 50'.  Atlas T-MAN LIRR commuter cars are wide and might scrape as do the bay window cabooses. Diesel side railings are close too. Just a thought to check on.

Steve, 

Always a keen eye! You were right! The engines were fine, but I have 18” long Lionel passenger cars that just caught the underside of the cap. If you notice, in the last picture I notched the corner of the cap. Thanks for the heads up.

Andy

A true test would be to run a string of cars. They will tilt inward on curves with the drag factor. 🚧

 My bay windows have scrapes on them from the rock n roll along station platforms. I didn't know this until years later of operation. Oh, all the variations and sizes of O. 😵

I’ll do a test run like you suggested. I’ll report my findings.  Hopefully all goes well.

Andy

Man I love the progress on you layout. It’s coming alive. I wish I had the space now to build my LIRR branch I grew up along side. Keep it up Andy. And by the way I found a K-line Wilson’s car lines wood sided reefer. I had no idea about that meat factory until you built it and posted the pic of your reefer. 

Thanks DJ! Glad you were able to find the reefer.

Andy

Steve (SIRT),

I ran a string of my longest passenger cars in both directions, at different speeds, and it’s close, but not rubbing at all. The adjustment I made on the corner is sufficient for now. Thanks again for the suggestion. 

Andy 

Smitty says good job! 

https://youtu.be/8YBEpIiz_qA

Pennsynut,

Your post asking what motive power I’m running got me thinking. I’ve never posted my entire engine roster before. This is for you and anyone else that might be interested. Thanks for raising the question. First up is my favorite:

4-6-0 #35

2-8-0 #108

0-6-0 #2015

S-2 #447

VO-1000 #450

RS-1 #465

RS-3 #1558

H16-44 #1504

C-Liner #2404

The last three engines are not in the era that I’m modeling, but I saw them frequently as I was growing up.

C420 #212

GP38-2 #261

MP15-AC #163

Andy

Who made the "2404"? MTH?

Bob, you’re right, MTH. It’s a nice unit, and the engine has a nice “growl”. The 0-6-0, H16-44, and C420 are Lionel. The rest are MTH.

Andy