The Louisville Southern Line Railroad

Bob Frankrone, modeler

I began building the Louisville Southern Line (LSL for short) railroad in 1986, and it has been evolving and growing ever since. The layout measures 15’x 30’ overall and has approximately 200’ of main line track The current LSL layout is point-to-point and utilizes cab control, however, I have purchased a DCC system and will be installing that in the near future. The illustration below shows the track plan and bench work configuration of the LSL.

Cabot yard is the main classification yard and it is located in the geographic center of the layout. This is where trains are made up and/or broken down during operating sessions. It is a large, flow through yard with ten parallel tracks, the longest one measuring 17 feet in length.

Trains leaving Cabot yard can head one of four different directions; south to Falls Creek; east to Nitro, West Bluefield, and East Bluefield; north to Fargo; west to New Brunswick. There are several industries located in each of the six towns including an industrial park in New Brunswick and a steel mill in Falls Creek. Operators have their hands full during operating sessions, where they utilize a total of seven dispatch lists to service the many industries.

Fargo

There are two industries located in the town of Fargo which are serviced by rail. Fargo Feeds is a large grain complex that utilizes three sidings, accommodating up to 20 covered hoppers. Bekins Furniture warehouse is a large structure that can accommodate three box cars at a time.

Nitro

Nitro is a small town with an oil storage facility that is serviced by rail. I hand laid the 4' siding that leads into the Shell Oil facility. --->

Falls Creek

 The town of Falls Creek has three industries that are serviced by the LSL. The largest and most prominent of those is Bethlehem Steel Corporation (BSC). BSC operates a full size blast furnace and rolling mill, which generate a significant amount of rail traffic and car movements.

Swift Meat Packing and Chauncey Creamery are located side by side across town.

The town of Falls Creek was named after the creek that runs through the heart of town. It is a gentle, meandering stream that provides recreational opportunities such as fishing and canoeing.

The LSL crosses Falls creek twice over plate girder bridges as it passes in and out of town. An interesting feature is that of a turnout located on the center of one of the bridges. This was necessary to accommodate the spur which serves the creamery and meat packing businesses.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is a major town located at the far western edge of the layout. It has its own industrial park and a small rail yard located on the outskirts of town. The rail yard has a single stall engine house.

One of the major tenants of the industrial park is Mainline Transfer Company (MTC). MTC has eleven tractor trailer bays and nine freight car bays. Having two spur sidings, it is a major source of rail traffic on the layout.

West Bluefield

West Bluefield is a mid-sized town with several light industries serviced by rail. Among these are Valley Lumber Co., Sunkist Citrus Exchange, Swayzee Coal Co., Schaefer Brewery, and Wayside Freight. This conglomerate of buildings and intricate track work presents some difficult switching problems for the operating crews.

East Bluefield

East Bluefield is the other major town served by the LSL, and it is located at the far eastern rim of the layout. The town supports several major industries including a downtown business district. It is also the hub for LSL rail operations.

The LSL operates a twelve stall roundhouse with eleven satellite tracks. Though the roundhouse complex is a remnant of the steam era, the LSL has upgraded and outfitted it for diesel repair and servicing. It is a major complex with plenty of motive power stationed about.

Allied Rail Rebuilders (ARR) and Basic Steel Corporation are two of the major industries in East Bluefield. Both are serviced by rail, however, Basic Steel is the only one that factors into an operating sessions. ARR is located in a "hard to reach" area of the layout and is physically difficult for operators to access.

The LSL is far from a finished layout. There is plenty of scenery work left to do, as well as adding details to the many existing scenic areas. I also need to install my DCC system, which will open up many more operating possibilities than what I have now. My goal is not necessarily to have a finished layout, rather to have fun and enjoy working and operating on it. Perhaps one day, it will be finished.

Author's Note:

The LSL layout will be featured on a layout tour to Louisville, KY during the NMRA National Convention this summer (July 2005) in Cincinnati, OH. To learn more about the construction of the LSL, refer to my article in the November 2002 issue of Model Railroading Magazine.

A special thanks to Joe Fenley for helping me with the digital camera and for transferring the pictures to a CD, a capability not available on my computer.