CSX Hanover Subdivision in N Scale

07/15/2025

Alert the local hazmat departments along the rail line, sulfuric acid will now be travelling thru their jurisdictions. Picked these up from Mainline Hobby Supply today. Get them while they're in stock, i think Athearn is already out of stock on a few of these according to their website

07/15/2025

Got a phone call on Monday that a pre-order has shown up at Mainline Hobby Supply for me. Can't wait to add these to the layout!

07/13/2025

Today's activities were cut short by losing power this afternoon. I managed to get floors cleaned up this morning and ran over 100' of bus lines. I cut a bunch of feeders and got the first batch tinned before the power went out. The guys from the Reading and Lehigh Railroad, N scale stopped by for a visit during the power outage so not a lot could be viewed. By the time the power came back on, I was in full nap mode so nothing else was accomplished tonight. Big push starts now as we're only 70 days from the Mainline Hobby Supply Open House and Layout Tours Sept 20/21. Have a ton of work to do on the layout and not a lot of available hours to do it in....

07/11/2025

Timed up a trip to Mainline Hobby Supply with catching the westbound L137 at Greenstone with a long cut of cars from back from YorkRail with AgCom empties bringing up the rear. I'm sure some of the boxcars on the head end are from the Gettysburg & Northern

Caught CSX L137 westbound just after exiting the Jacks Mountain tunnel east of Blue Ridge Summit PA.

07/08/2025

Got some paint on the cement silos this afternoon before work. I need to go back and fill some cracks where I filled in between silos with flat styrene and some sanding to get scratches out of the pipe

07/05/2025

Big push tonight laying cork and track between Broadway in Hanover and Security. Temporary golden spike was driven around 1045pm. Trains can now make the run from Hagerstown to Hanover and beyond ! There is a 180 turnback loop in place until at least October when that will be pulled and construction of the new helix will begin. Until then, it will be running trains testing new trackage and new operations as CSX jobs can be added to the list. L136, L137, L139 and yard jobs can now start working out of Hagerstown and Hanover. Sorry L135 and L151, you'll have to wait until second level gets rolling

07/04/2025

Go big or go home. Well I'm already home so I'm going big(ger). I used Walthers Medusa Cement first time around to model Security. You can fit tracks thru the building but just barely. You have to have tracks aligned perfectly and trim the insides almost to the point of cutting thru the interior walls where the silos meet. Turn ahead to version 2.0, I'm using 2" PVC to make my silos. Google Earth measures the structure at almost 70' wide so this is very close to scale. I'm cutting it down by 1 set of silos and slightly shorter in height for space considerations. After it fully dries, I'll set up the table saw to cut the path thru the building for the tracks

07/03/2025

Progress tonight. Tracked tacked from Broadway to almost Radio Rd past Utz. I had to put Elm Siding on a curve, but think it will still work out. YorkRail trackage down to Sonoco as well

07/03/2025

Track planning on the fly, see what fits. Enjoying some peanut butter swirl with Hersheys chocolate syrup while I ponder next move. What's your go to ice cream flavor ?

07/02/2025

Bought one of the Broadway Limited parts grab bags they offered. Arrived today after getting shipped around the UPS system a few extra days. I thought maybe a little bit of care would be taken in packing but it looks more like they took a junk drawer and dumped it upside down into a box. A lot of usable handrails were in the bottom but are bent or broken from stuff on top. Won't do that again

07/02/2025

Tacked down Security tonight. The sidings that go to the silos will have to wait until I build new ones. The N scale version of Walthers are too narrow and cars scrap the inside. Ill have to try the HO version, or scratchbuild from PVC pipe