South Grand Arbor
S scale Module
by Don DeWitt
Version 6, 10, 13, 15, 16  3/24/08

(Go to Construction Page)

In 1985 I built a 12 ft, 3-section module that eventually led to a total of 32 ft.  (See modules at Grand Arbor.)
All of those have been sold, so it is time to start again.  My car can hold three 4-ft x 2.5-3 ft sections, so here we go again.


This module will be a simple industrial complex with companies named after
two beloved Central Jersey S Scalers, Bill Daiker and Howie Waelder.
The Kerr Products is named after my wife's family.

Krause Avenue is named after a beloved Connecticut S Gaugers founder Bill Krause, and
DeWitt Street is named after my grandfather, father and brother, who were/are model railroaders.

This complex is part of the imaginary city Grand Arbor which is part of my imaginary Great Lakes and Atlantic Railway.

This module will have a dual mainline with crossover using Tomalco #8 turnouts, and #6 turnouts elsewhere. 
All mainline track will use code 100 rail while the yards will be code 83.

There is also a run-around for the switchers serving these industries.
Note that there is not much room in the Daiker Industries spur, so switching teams will need to supply
Waelder Works one car at a time, or move some of the cars at Daiker Industries!

This module can not only be used as part of a oval layout, but can also be used as an interchange with modules attached to the branchline.

If used in a oval layout, the branchline modules would extend into the inside of the layout.
Another option would be to flip the module and extend the branchline away from the oval layout.
Ahhhh ... how flexible that S-MOD system is!

If placed in a branchline, the module could then be used to create a second branchline.
Two branchlines are available.  Either one or both could be used.

It will be wired using the S-MOD standards and be able to be used using DCC or DC control.

My plan is to bring it to the public at the 2008 Central Jersey S Scalers fall Get-Together.

You can see some of the many layouts created by the CJSS module mavens at: Module History.

This drawing was created using Railmodeller 3.03.

The track is shown with roadbed, in case you are wondering why it is so wide.
The mainlines are separated by 2.75 inches to match the S-MOD / NMRA standard.


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11/20/07

After being advised that a crossing will be difficult to wire for DC and DCC use since S scale crossing do not have insulated diamonds,
I have removed the crossing shown above in version 6.

Version 10 shows the plan using a turnout from the branchline to feed Waelder Works:



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12/10/07

VERSION 13
After setting up the track on the top of the module and playing with the turnouts and flextrack, the module plan has
evolved.  I was also worried about the idea of branchline angles causing problems in a layout, so my current thinking is
to create a branchline extension that will bring branch out parallel to the mainlines.  If we need to turn the branch, then a corner
module can be used. Much of the track placement is based upon the sizes of two pre-existing large buildings that I have been
storing since the early 1990s that were used on my first module.  I will probably disassemble them and modify them somewhat
but Daiker Dynamics and the right side of Waelder Gas Products are already in existence.


(Go to Construction Page)


3/13/08  & 3/24/08
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VERSIONS 15 and 16
As time has passed, I have realized the need for a more dramatically themed module.  There is hardly anything more dramatic
than a steel mill!  However, a steel mill on a module is a bit too dramatic for my vision, and I have settled in on an associated industry
of a coke (made from coal, not from drugs) facility.  In my research I realized that coke is generally associated with the production
of steel.  However, most of us remember the large gas tanks around the cities that we lived in or visited.  The tanks were used to
store gas created in the production of coke from coal.  Cities and towns used this gas for heating and cooking purposes during the
19th and first half of the 20th century. With the advent of the steel mill and gas plant kits in HO by Walthers, I found the ideas for
Waelder Gas Products with its Coke Retort for the production of Manufactured or Town Gas. 

My module versions 15/16, as an idea for a gas production and storage facility, are shown at WGPModule.html.


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