Welcome to the Valley Local!
***UNDER (RE)CONSTRUCTION***
(thanks for your patience while we rebuild)
This site is dedicated to information on life in the Connecticut River Valley during the early post-war period. While all aspects of that period are fodder for exploration, the primary focus is on re-creating the day-to-day movement of freight along the picturesque Valley & Airline branches of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad during an Autumn day in the late 1940s.
To navigate the site, be sure to check out the hierarchy of links at the upper-left area of the page.
For the latest happenings, be sure to check out the Valley Local Blog and Facebook Group!
For a 55 minute presentation on the layout, including prototype background and modeling, click here.
Thanks to Ian Thorpe for the drawing
Layout at a Glance
Prototype: Connecticut Valley Branch of the New York New Haven & Hartford, as well as a portion of the Air Line branch
Locale: Wethersfield, CT to Old Saybrook CT (Hartford, New Haven, and New London represented by staging)
Period: October, 1947 - 1949
Scale: HO (1:87.1)
Layout Size (approx): 663 sq.ft.
13.5x18.7 (left room), 13.4x21 (right room), 5.5x23.5 (Saybrook/New London extension)
Style: Walk-in
Benchwork: Traditional L-girder
Roadbed: Cork
Track: MicroEngineering Code 70 w/#6 turnouts, Mix of Code 83 & 70 on the Shore Line & Airline.
Mainline Run (approx.): 70' (Wethersfield to Middletown), 25' ("Air Line" branch), 65' (East Haddam to Old Saybrook), 62' dogbone (Shoreline), 25' hidden (East Haddam to Middletown)
Maximum Grade: 2% (East Haddam to Middletown)
Minimum Radius: 24"
Power & Control: NCE wireless DCC & primarily manual point-thrown turnouts; Old Saybrook turnouts all powered remotely from a prototype-styled model board.
Backdrop: Masonite with vinyl coved corners
Scenery: Cardboard lattice, plaster cloth, 2" foamboard