Ed's Railroad Retirement

Originally the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad operated a branch line that ran from New Berlin Junction to Edmeston via New Berlin.  The Unadilla Valley Railroad operated from New Berlin to Bridgewater where it interchanged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western.  After the O&W lost interest in this line, the UV took control sometimes operating as far south as Sidney.  Space limitations kept the UV off of my planned layout but display models were built. These hills were built to appear like those adjacent to the East Branch of the Delaware River.  The last glacier barely reached that far south so those hills have steep sides running right down to the water's edge.  The UV operated in the valley of the Unadilla River where the glacier extensively scraped the ridges and filled the newly formed valleys leaving wide level farmland.  Since I did not model the Unadilla River the pictured train is not shown at home. The early UV had four passenger cars and these plastic mode

Coal was one of the three primary sources of revenue for the New York Ontario & Western Railroad.  The other two were milk and people.  Since the coal deposits were in Pennsylvania, a branch line was built from Hancock to Scranton.  No models exist for the early mines but that was a non issue since available space would have prohibited an accurate representation of what used to be.  The kit placed here is merely a suggestion  of an old coal mine. Early O&W coal cars were built from wood reinforced with iron channel braces.  No kits exist for these early cars.  This car was built from scratch using basswood scribed sheathing and structural shapes over plans drawn from pictures.  Wire was bent for the ladders at the ends.   Champion decals were the source of the lettering.   Since a coal car has no roof these models presented a challenge.  Built from light wood, these cars would never stay on the tracks.  Messy coal would be needed to solve the weight issue.  The cars might not h

  The N.Y.O.& W. grabbed my attention rather late in life.  Native to close by Ithaca, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was an early interest.  The story of my trip home following birth had our car stopped at a railroad crossing.  My Father held me up so that the passing train was visible to the new born.  Memory fails me as to whether the engine was steam or diesel. My second teaching position placed me in the area where the O & W had operated and that railroad became the focus of my models.  A picture of the Maywood trestle can be seen on the wall in the background.  It had fourteen towers but available space limited me to only seven.  At this point on the trip to the big city, the milk train would have been pulling more than five cars but this image may still be seen by others as impressive.  The creamery in Sidney Center was large, employing many and providing transportation for many area farm's milk. No model could be found for these milk cars.  Pictures were abundant and ac

For those of us fortunate enough to have in some ways outlived our usefulness, changes are in order.  Model trains have been an important part of my life since childhood and were part of the retirement plan.  A layout larger than I could operate alone or ever finish was planned.  Construction began, track was laid, scenery installed and wiring providing electricity to the tracks was finished where the tracks ran.  The decision to take all of this down has been made.  Rolling stock is being inventoried and boxed in preparation for an auction. The Lackawanna Railroad once operated in this part of New York State.  Their crack passenger train, the Phoebe Snow, was seen in model form at the Roberson Museum  and I set out to duplicate it in model form.  Near the end of its existence, this train was powered by two diesel engines like those pictured above.  These engines are new never having been removed from their boxes.  A picture of them at the head of my model was desired but the body shel