Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

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BrianMoore
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Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

As said in another thread, I'm building 16' of modular boards, and calling the location,"Quisling".

Q: Where does the name come from? A: I personally don't like using real names for imaginary locations, and it's a bit more difficult than it sometimes seems to make up reasonable-sounding names that we are individually happy with. For a club module, I had originally been gathering a lot of kit for some boards that would be based around the Southern Pacific's Donner Pass route at Emigrant Gap - deep snow, spreaders, flangers etc., but finally, I had to accept that it would be totally out-of-place with the modules the other guys were building. So I had to compromise, and I really did feel a traitor to the Donner Pass plan. That's where the Quisling name occurred to me. It's also that rare thing, inasmuch as there is no settlement in the US called Quisling (I can't think why... it's the same with "Hitler"); there's a Quisling Cove in Alaska, a Quisling Park in Wisconsin and a Quisling Cemetery in Kansas, but that's about it.

"Imaginary" Quisling is a small town in California, on a single-track main line served by the Southern Pacific; it has a Depot, a siding (loop), and a house track, which is a double-ended team track that runs nearest the depot. There's also a Sunkist fruit packing plant plus a few more small industries on a couple of spurs. To add spice to the JMRI-based, Dispatcher-controlled modular-board operations that we now undertake every month at the Western Union meet in Plymouth, there's also a short MoW track, where Rob Mallett and I can drop off and pick up bespoke SP MoW equipment.

The construction methods and materials used will be covered in a forthcoming Roundhouse article or two, so I won't dwell on them here, but as well as using the module every month to contribute some actual railroad to the fun, it will also be employed for taking photographs, both of early eighties' stock, as well as my main interest, the Southern Pacific railroad of 1954. The buildings, therefore, will have to look the part for both eras, and luckily, upon examination of many pictures form both periods, things didn't change much in thirty years. The depot itself is a laser-cut kit for a Southern Pacific Type 23 building, from AMB, the first laser-cut wooden model I've painted and assembled. I've also just finished another laser-cut building, of a speeder shed. Other buildings will be by DPM and Walthers, with a semi-flat scratch-built Sunkist plant.

Anyway, here's the general track plan with an idea of the major buildings. Four Peco Code 83 #8 switches are used, two on either end of the main line, with #6 switches for the off-main tracks. A final #8 gives access to the two Sunkist sidings at the top LH. All will be locally-controlled using SPDT toggles and Conrad motors.
Image
Quisling track plan by bxmoore, on Flickr

Thanks for looking. I plan to update this as I go along.
Last edited by BrianMoore on Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
Brian Moore
calaf01
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by calaf01 »

G'day Brian.

Are you asking the question about the meaning of the word itself or its application to your fictional town?

One could dream up a whole history based on the meaning of the word itself depending on your context for the town. That might be quite fun to do.
Alan C.
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

I'm sticking with the name for the reasons I gave. Firstly, I felt very guilty, almost traitorous, abandoning my Donner plans after putting lots of time and resources into them, and secondly, it's that rare thing, a name that is almost without use in the US.

And things change. My son met a girl last year, aged 18, who was called Jezebel by her parents. He knew there was a vague historical context to the name, but all of his friends were completely unaware of what the word has meant for a couple of thousand years. In the end, all it is, is a name anyway. I've known two excellent guys called Ian Brady, and also met a lovely woman called Myra. All three were really annoyed that "their" name had, completely by chance, been unfairly castigated by the horrors of another. Que sera.

Three more pics, of boards 2 and 3, with a few buildings temporarily in place:
Image
Quisling track to Sunkist packing house by bxmoore, on Flickr
Image
Quisling depot LH by bxmoore, on Flickr
Image
Quisling grade crossing site by bxmoore, on Flickr
Last edited by BrianMoore on Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Brian Moore
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Gloriousnse
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by Gloriousnse »

looks good Brian :)
Martyn Read
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

I laid the final two spurs and switch today, and it was a pleasure to be able to erect all 16' in the house (just).

Main line in the middle at bottom of picture, MoW siding on LH, industry spur on RH. The main line then takes the curve through the two #8 switches and continues as the far left-hand track. Siding in the middle, and house track nearest the depot with cars spotted.
Image
Quisling by bxmoore, on Flickr

Quisling house track. Main line on left, siding to its right, and house track with three cars spotted. Lead to Sunkist plant on RH, with two reefers spotted there in the distance.Image
2013-09-12 010 by bxmoore, on Flickr
Quisling, full 16'.
Image
Quisling: full 16'. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Next step, the powering and wiring experience.
Last edited by BrianMoore on Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

It's looking great Brian, and I like the track plan, there's plenty of operations potential, but something tells me that's what you had in mind :-)

Koos
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

torikoos wrote:It's looking great Brian, and I like the track plan, there's plenty of operations potential, but something tells me that's what you had in mind :-)

Koos
Thanks, Koos.

Yes, it's a combination of building something that will give decent "play-ability" for use at the club every month and possibly elsewhere, as well as keeping in line with my own interest in the SP, and wishing to create a reasonably accurate and hopefully eventually decent-looking 16' of real-estate that says "SP". It would benefit from a couple of, say, 4', simple, straight-track extender modules either side, but that's way away (and would make it... gasp... 24'). The room we set up in is 42' long, but with some 180-degree curves, we could lay a lot of railroad.

I'm mentally braced for eventually having to see regular "foreign" power, such as BN and CP, switch the industries at the club meets...
Brian Moore
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Gloriousnse
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by Gloriousnse »

BrianMoore wrote:I'm sticking with the name for the reasons I gave. Firstly, I felt very guilty, almost traitorous, abandoning my Donner plans after putting lots of time and resources into them, and secondly, it's that rare thing, a name that is almost without use in the US.
Given the history that the word was originally (and in fact still is) a name then it giving it's name to a place is plausible. I can't find any evidence of it in this case, but the US does 'have form' for running renaming programs for place names that later generations thought were distasteful, even though they missed a few obvious ones in the process...
I'm mentally braced for eventually having to see regular "foreign" power, such as BN and CP, switch the industries at the club meets...
Letting foreign power in? That'll be more Quisling then? ;)
Martyn Read
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

You took the words right out of my mouth, Mr R. Could also call it "Traitor's Gate".
Brian Moore
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

The boards were set up at the December meet. Still to do all the electrics (for which I'm getting a lot of help).
Image
Boards, 14 December 2013. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Channels cut in underside for wiring:
Image
Underneath, pre-electrics. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Main line in middle (at board edge - it veers off to the extreme LH, through 2 No.8 switches), MoW siding on LH, industry siding on RH. 3mm plywood will be laid on the hatched markings.
Image
Main line at board edge. MoW siding on LH. Industries siding on RH. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Last edited by BrianMoore on Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

Here's the main line form the other end. Epicure Valley Foods will be on RH. Fruit Packer (to be built) will be on LH.
Image
Fruit Packer fror LH sidings, Epicure Valley Foods for RH siding. Cut rectangle for SP Type 23 Depot. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Epicure Valley Foods. Can take two mechanical reefers.
Last edited by BrianMoore on Tue Nov 18, 2014 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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