WEAVER MAINE CENTRAL 2-8-0 501 ON LAYOUT

The Weaver 2-8-0 is a nice engine!

The layout is very well done. I get the Upstate NY/NE feel from it easily.

Peter

You've captured the feel. Have always loved the Weaver consolidation.

Thanks for showing.

Ron H

Thank you PUTNAM DIVISION and RON H. I appreciate your comments about the layout.

 I'm a a fan as well of the northeast. You have some nice looking scenes on your layout that captures the look of the rural look of the northeast roads. Nicely done.

Melgar that's a sharp little engine you've got there.  i miss Weaver.

Hi Melgar,

Love what you've done for a small layout. Soon we will be moving to a smaller home and I will be doing much the same. Nice that you put in so many buildings and good scenery, instead of all track. Looks more realistic, great job.

Robert

Real Nice! 

Anything Maine Central is thumbs up from me.

Looks great, you can't lose with those Weaver engines.  Very nice layout too. What did you use for the water in your stream. Thanks for sharing.  Nick T

DAVE C, COACH JOE, MODEL RAILROADER, MIKE and T8AFAO,

Thanks for the comments. First, about the Weaver engines: I have several of their Diesels, 2-8-0 die-cast steamers, and brass steamers. I really like them all. As far as the layout, I've been working on it for almost three years since I retired. It's supposed to look like a single-track branch line in rural New England between 1920 and 1960. About half is scenery, with a truss bridge, wood trestle, stream, and short tunnel. The town side is old-style buildings, most built from kits but some scratch-built.  Not too much track - it's not typical out in the country. The water is Envirotex two-part epoxy. Easy to use if you follow the directions. E-mail me if I can be of assistance.

MELGAR

Your layout is superb and really captures New England country side.

Small branchlines are very modelable , I like the way you incorporated the trestles and hills.

 I'm a fan of less track and more scenic elements. Without as much track your eye tends to focus on the scenery more and the train appears to enter and leave the scene. You have certainly captured the branch line look.

DAVE FUNK

Thanks. I wanted to convince myself that it is possible to build a realistic small layout. The layout had to have a stream with factory buildings along the sides, a tunnel exit leading directly onto a bridge, a trestle, and a hill above the tunnel. These things were intended to provide differences in elevation, which I feel add to realism. The objective was to have the train pass below some parts of the terrain and above others, as on a real railroad. The scenery is carved pink foam covered by a thin layer of Mold-a-Scene plaster. That was in one half of the layout. The other half will be a small town when finished. The layout is designed and built in two 5'-by-5' sections to be transportable, if necessary. The tunnel and hill, bridges and buildings are removable. Table is modular. I did not want to have to tear this layout down if I move...

MELGAR

I agree with others who have commented about your railroad having the right blend of track, scenery and structures. Often modelers seem to be collectors of everything and pile it on a layout until it looks like a circus. You have succeeded in making realism the dominant characteristic...and that's an elusive quality in our hobby.

Bob

FLANGER Bob,

Thanks for the astute observation. Making the layout look realistic takes a lot of time and effort. In keeping with the rural New England branch line theme, I'm now working on cobblestone streets in part of the town area.

MELGAR

Maine Central is my thing !!! I need one of those engines...

At the time these were sold by Weaver, K-Line was heavy into their bankruptcy,  Weaver acquired these, and I think one other steam locomotive, (?? a Pacific??), that had been produced for K-Line from the Chinese manufacture.  Most likely final paint and lettering was done by Weaver at their facility in Northumberland, PA.   They were sold at a very good, discounted, price at the time.   TMCC control, they lack speed control, though in some cases EOB upgrades may have been done.  It is a pretty good model of a Baldwin locomotive.  In some cases artistic liberty was taken and expanded to similar Alco consolidations.   Beautiful model and layout, thanks for posting.     

Another one from the same molds.

 Anyone interested in re lettering a steam engine into a Maine Central. Check out Highball Graphics. They offer the speed lettering set in O. I know Weaver offered a Pacific in this livery. Really nice looking loco and probably not to easy to find.

Great-looking layout and photos, thank you. Great theme too; it wouldn't be New England without Bridgeport Tool & Die, would it? 

Hello Mike & Dave, both K-Line and Weaver offered the die-cast Pacifics at the same time with K-Line having only a few liveries and Weaver having many liveries.

Hello Melgar, your layout looks great. I have tried to stay in New England with B&M locos, passenger cars, etc. and NE branded freight cars. My scenery has been kept simple with only one level, a double main line and about six sidings with a few crossovers. I think that I have every loco that Weaver built with the B&M logo, including a RS-3 that was made for sale by Charles Ro in blue with the old chain drive.

Thank you Art. How about some photos of your layout? I have been working on this one for nearly three years. These days, I limit my train purchases to New England based railroads...

Hello Melgar, my home page is in my profile, click on the model railroad page and the bottom of the page describes my 8 ft by 24 ft layout with many photos and one short video. Enjoy!

There is still some work that I want to do but it is in some of the details and will not be very obvious.

I began this thread in January 2017. Since then, my 10'-by-5' layout has been completed and I’m posting a few more photos and a video of Maine Central 501 running on the layout, which was built to look like a single-track branch line in New England. The engine was made by Weaver models.

MELGAR

Very well done. It really captures the feel of New England and I love the engine.The Main Central logo on the tender was alway my favorite.