The On30 Layout

The Mountain

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:49:51 -0400

This module was born out of sketches made while trying to eliminate a loop at the end of a point to point layout. A full train turntable needed to be over five feet long to match the passing sidings, so the module was planned as 6 feet long. Portals are built at all four corners, and scenic plugs are used to close off unused entrances. The foot wide turntable frame accommodates three tracks, so they can also be used as a sector plate; a british favorite means of stowing some of the trains “offstage”.

The sides are the same black felt-like material used on all the Berrett Hill Modules, and the openings on either side are hung like curtains. The sides of the turntable rise several inches above the railhead to protect and hide the trains when they are turned, and to allow the curtains to be trimmed off high enough to keep them from sweeping trains off the tracks.

Although this module is built with the same lightweight construction used throughout the set, the extra weight of trains, turntable, and extra length make it a bit too heavy for the lightstand legs used elsewhere. A new bunch of flat sliding leg units as shown in the drawing, have been found to support the heavier unit with ease.

Now I need to complete the eight or nine square feet of detailed mountainside and cliff face scenery to pretty up the mountain.

The Hill Modules

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:20:13 -0400

The hill was thought up on the spot, while reading a Free-mo specification that said “We’ll write a spec for mainline grades as soon as someone actually wants to build one!” I took this as a challenge and had the necessary modules built within a week. There are two modules required, each one foot long; One is the vertical curve at the bottom of the hill, the other is the vertical curve at the crest. The hill itself is a series of relatively straight modules installed at a 2.3 degree angle, or a 4 percent grade.

Although the hill has been set up a couple of times before, its official roll-out was at the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Narrow Gauge Meet in Kimberton PA, where it received some notice. In photos of the meet it can be found leading up to the tunnel in the Mountain Module. The slope is quite noticeable when you are standing near it, but it is harder to capture in photos. I hope the drawing above makes it all quite clear.

Note: Careful testing has shown that the Bachmann Forney can uncouple even on a gentle 25’ vertical curve; Just one more thing that model can’t do. Maybe that engine should be run with extra long link and pin couplers? I am thinking of chopping off the aft frame of mine and hooking a tender to it. It will make a lovely little 2-4-0 just like the ones that ran on the original Peach Bottom Railway.

The Berrett Hill Sectional Guidelines

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 04:59:48 -0500

The standards: The Berrett Hill Sectional Guidelines (PDF)

Existing modular standards weren’t suitable for the sectional On30 layout I was planning, so I developed these.

I developed mating surfaces similar to those used by the North Carolina Sipping and Switching Society. They are designed for a precise alignment, and run their rails right out to the surface of the end plate. Getting the construction right can be a little tricky, but the result is a fit that you can mate up very quickly and (perhaps) even after you've been sipping.

I’ve included a new rule that lets curves run right to the end of the section, and still lets sections be connected in almost any order without making "S" curves.

A minimal transition is included that let my sectional units link to standard Mid-Atlantic On30 Modules. Similar transition units could link to Texas Outlaw, or any other standard.

These guidelines are just what worked out for me. Please feel free to mix, match, alter, and in any other way use them for yourself. Contact me if you have questions. Find the info at:

Berrett Hill Trains :: www.berretthill.com/trains

The Origins of the Peach Bottom Railway - Western Division

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 11:16:53 -0400

The true part:

After the Civil War, just north of the Maryland line along the Susquehanna River, the businessmen of Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, hatched a plan to build the Peach Bottom Railway.

The narrow gauge line was begun, with mighty aspirations to run from Philadelphia to the Appalachian coal fields. As it grew the line was reorganized and renamed several times.

The Eastern division became the Lancaster, Oxford and Southern.

The Middle division became the Peach Bottom Railroad, then the York and Delta Railway, then the Maryland Central Railroad, and eventually the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad; or Ma & Pa. Well known in Baltimore into the 1950s. The Ma & Pa still operates around York Pennsylvania.

The town of Peach Bottom is now under the waters of the Susquehanna River above the Conowingo Dam.

And the story of the Western division has remained untold,  until now...

The should be true part:   The History
as told to Kevin Hunter, October 7, 2008

When the Peach Bottom Railway assembled its board of directors in 1871, Nostradamus One was included. Mr. One was from the productive industrial and farming interests of the Hanover, PA area, and was thus the only board member to represent any area of the Western Division.

The thick German accent common to the area at the time may have added to the poor communication that haunted the development of the line west. But no cause of confusion was greater than the name of the strongest proponent of the Peach Bottom Railway's Western Division.

In the style of the day, Nostradamus abbreviated his written name "No.", and in a minor tragedy of English translation signed into his arrangement with the company as "No. One". In some cases updates and invitations were lost or miss-delivered, but eventually they were simply no longer forwarded to No-One.

The confusion persists to this day where in the George W. Hiltons book "A History of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad" it declares, "... no one from the western reaches of the proposed line was represented in the new company."

Quite to the contrary Mr. One was quite productive. Collecting subscriptions from businessmen and farmers of the area, the Western Division was well funded. The news of the Railway's decision to go to York, and not to Hanover Junction was never received, and so the Middle and Western Divisions never actually met. This may have been fortuitous since the single document that reached the Western Division describing the track gauge stated a gauge of 3' 0" but had been misread as 30", and the entire Western Division had been built to that incompatible gauge.

Mr. One took lack of communication from the primary company as a vote of confidence, and proceeded to procure rights of way, grading, facilities, engines, and rolling stock, continuing in a matter-of-fact way towards the time when the Middle division would complete its construction. When they never appeared, he took solace in the fact that their failure had not been his.

Without a directive from its eastern founders, the Western Division grew to meet needs as they presented themselves, sprawled across the Pennsylvania and Maryland countryside, grew to a modest prosperity, and a pleasant old age.

The Western Division, having been written off the books by the rest of the company as early as 1873, was never missed, and remains undocumented to this day.

The narrow rails of the Peach Bottom - Western Division, so long neglected by history and historian, have developed an almost leprechaun quality. In many places it still runs; ‘though without apparent connection between many of it's distant routes. It may often be found just around a bend or on the far side of the hill. Photography of the line remains "slippery" at best. Even the operators sometimes doubt its existence.

Why Narrow Gauge

Thu, 22 May 2008 04:46:53 -0400

Narrow gauge trains were more human sized versions of the trains we see today. Narrow gauge means the rails were closer together, so everything about these trains were smaller.

Narrow gauge trains became a phenomenon during Reconstruction after the Civil War. Smaller trains meant smaller prices, so every town that wasn't on the main line could afford to build a smaller inexpensive connecting line.

These little trains were great for the job, but by the late 1880s the new practice of interchanging railcars from one railroad to the next made the differences in gauge a quaint nuisance.

When there was money for the job, many of the small railroads broadened their gauge, moving the rails apart and buying new cars and engines to become "Standard Gauge" railroads. Most of the tiny railroads had become standard gauge (or failed) by the early twentieth century. Only a few were too curvy or too specialized to bother changing their gauge, and the few of those that are left are now prized museum railroads.

Part of the charm of the narrow gauge is that they are now mostly gone; their delicate nineteenth century trackwork never saw the massive lumbering steel behemoths of mid-twentieth century steam, or rumbling strings of connected diesels. Their equipment wore much of their working gear on the outside where it could be seen. Tiny trains were supported by smaller shops. A big yard might have only a few tracks. A fully loaded boxcar was considered a big shipment, and a man of today’s normal stature would have to stoop a bit to walk into the boxcar without banging his head.

At that time, the only competition on the road were the horse and cart. Other than a gunshot, the whistle of a steam engine might have been the loudest man-made noise most folks had ever heard. Electric lights were only shining in some distant cities. The chain driven bicycle was brand new.

Why On30

It’s the sound that did it. Tsunami sound decoders are too good. Now I have to run the trains if I'm going to let the sound out. And that means I need some track. In planning I reflected:

• I've come to appreciate shelf railroads: a foot of mainline for every square foot of scenery.
• I like modules too: easy to service (just stand them on edge) and easy to stash away.
• Years of work with tiny temperamental HOn3 models led me to look into On30. They are a nice size to model, and they WORK.

So I started working on a plan for a narrow sectional O scale layout. The story of the layout.

The Plans

The layout was planned to be both a modular railroad and a shelf railroad. I developed a standard to build the sections; The Berrett Hill Sectional Guidelines

These guidelines are just what worked out for me. Use them as you wish. Contact me if you have questions. Find the info at:

Berrett Hill Trains :: www.berretthill.com/trains

Modules in the Layout

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:56:50 -0500

I have a number of sections following the rules written up in the Berrett Hill On30 sectional guidelines. These are the sections and their count to date:

The basic 90 degree curve section. Curved Sections with 26" radius track have a 30" outside facia radius and an 18" inside facia radius. That makes this unit fit in a 2'-6" square in a plan view.
6 of these are in operation.

The 60 degree section, similar to the 90 degree section above.
2 are complete.

And the 30 degree section.
2 are complete.

The 2 foot straight section. It can be turned end for end to provide a left or right through track.
2 are complete

The 2 foot "S" curve section. These are either right or left handed.
1 left and 1 right are complete

4 foot sections can be 4 foot straight or 4 foot "S" curve designs.
none of these are currently built

The 4 foot section with a spur track is a straight design superimposed on an "S" curve design.
1 left and 1 right are complete

A spur track section may be used in three different ways:
• The straight track may be used as the through track and the crossed-over track used as a spur.
• The crossed-over track may be used as the through track and the straight track used as a spur.
• Two units may be used together for use as a through siding.

The 4 foot by 18 inch offset section.
4 of these sections are complete

Two of these offsets when paired with two 90 degree curves will create a "lollypop" shape.

The 4 foot by 18 inch offset with reverse loop connector section is really just a modified version of the offset module above.
Two of these are complete, one left and one right.

The 30 degree reverse loop connector. A customized curved section connects to the section above with a similar turnout and a tangent track.
Two of these are complete, one left and one right.

This is how the two modules above can be arranged using a bridge track to complete a reverse loop.

The 60 degree fork section. A peculiar shape is formed by a 60 degree turn combined with a 4-1/2" offset. This creates a fork to a divergent route.
Three of these are complete, one left and two right.

The shape of the 60 degree fork section makes more sense when assembled into a wye. The wye is 5'-2" wide and about 4'-6" deep. The two bottom exits are opposite and in-line with each other, while the top exits at 30 degrees from perpendicular.

Finally, the 6 inch adapter section will correctly mate the Berrett Hill sections with the Mid-Atlantic Standard endplate. Peco code 100 track is used here, a one inch setback for bridge rails and a 6" straight track complies with the module requirements of the Mid-Atlantic standard.
Five of these are complete.

Here is an example of a layout built to connect other modules. This grouping is quite compact, about 16 feet wide by 10 feet top-to-bottom. Other sections could be fit in if the space can be arranged, like straight lengths added in to extend the loop. "T" or "L" shapes can be created if they fit the space better. The isles as shown are 3-4 feet wide.

All turnouts are operated by Tortoise machines controlled by NCE Switch-It DCC controllers fitted with local manual push buttons.

I use NCE controls. I have two 5 amp Power Pro supplies and three handheld controllers. I have 7 network jack panels mounted to clamp under the facia. All primary wiring is twelve gauge with barrier strips and PowerPole pig-tale connectors.

Note: Several less “geometric” modules have been completed since this was first written. The 10 foot long station sectional was followed by the Hill and Mountain modules. A flour mill module and engine terminal module are each partially completed. A trestle and a mountain-side module as well as some large radius curves are planned.