More Revisions

I suppose you can call me fickle. After declaring the name of the layout to be White Haven Junction, I've started not liking it as much. Traditionally layouts are named for the railroad that's being modeled; in my case, it's the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern, or simply Reading and Northern, as the real railroad often calls itself. So, that's now the layout's name. Further, the specific portion of a line represented—a division, subdivision, branch or locale—is often tacked on, which in my case may either be Lehigh Gorge or Rockport.



Some of these changes were inspired as I revised part of the layout plan itself: I've moved the (originally fictional) passenger station from the right end of the upper loop to inside the lower loop, which corresponds quite well to the setting for the Rockport station (above), surrounded as it is by spectacular rock cliffs, from which it gets its name. The layout will also include the road that descends along a small gorge down to the station.



With the station now gone from the upper loop, the model town, such as it is, can now more accurately represent Lehigh Tannery (above). And now I'm torn whether to name it Mud Run, the fictional name I'd previously chosen, or Lehigh Tannery, for the sake of accuracy. I'm likewise divided about the tunnel; initially it was to be the Rockport tunnel, representing both ends; but it would be geographically more accurate to make the lower portal Rockport (below), and the upper portal White Haven—that which started this whole naming game.



Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide what to do about the new switch I've just completed. Although I hadn't planned on it, I'm increasingly tempted to install it in the layout. This would require removing and replacing a fairly substantial chunk of track—that is, assuming I can decide where to put the switch. There are a couple of short sidings on the Reading and Northern line in the gorge (example below); I suspect they once served industries, now long gone, and appear to be used for temporary equipment storage.



If nothing else, finalizing these decisions will serve as a good distraction from a rather disastrous gearbox modification attempt.