Current Layout by Roger Nulton

Layout Name:

"Monon Railroad Fourth Subdivision"

Layout Status:

active

Track Type:

Layout Space:

1,500 sqft

Layout Style:

Point-to-point, with continuous-running option

Track Manufacturer:

Tomalco, Shinohara & hand-laid

Rail Size:

code 100, 83, 70

Min. Turnout Frog:

#8 (main & sidings), #6 (spurs)

Min. Radius:

48" (main), 36" (spurs)

Ruling Grade:

2.5%

Track Height(s):

32" to 52"

Mainline Track Length:

> 325'

Completed:

benchwork: 100%; track: 90%; scenery: 70%

Era:

1946-49

Setting:

west central Indiana

Railroad(s) Modeled:

Monon (CI&L)

Control System:

DCC (North Coast Engineering)

Featured In:

Model Railroader, Nov 2024, Jun 2017

The Hoosier Line (Monon Society publication), Aug 2024, Aug 2011

Railroad Model Craftsman, Oct 2016, Aug 2013 (pg 40)

NMRA Magazine, Mar 2014, Nov 2014

NASG Dispatch, Aug 2013, pg 18

1:64 Modeling Guide, 2012 Winter, pg 11

YouTube Channel:

visit

Notes:

This is Roger's third layout. The layout is room-filling, measuring about 62' x 29', with three staging yards going through the walls into the garage. After 50 operating sessions, Roger has decided to stop those, and he is now in the process of starting to take down his layout, with perhaps preserving some sections to keep on modeling. Roger successfully completed the NMRA's MMR program.

Other Links:

Photos taken at the 2015 Sn3 Symposium (click for larger ones)

Layout summary and photos

A few photos

Videos:

Roger demonstrates his under-construction Monon's Lafayette Shops transfer table.

Video of the layout as the videographer was operating on Roger's layout

The last of steam meets a new F3 set in Greencastle, Indiana. The track in this scene was installed by Dick Karnes, MMR, including the single slip switch and the crossing that he scratchbuilt. The F3 diesel units are by S-Helper Service and were converted to Phase I versions. All the structures, except those in the far background, were built from S-scale kits.

Northward freight #72 approaches the crossing of route 231 in Greencastle, Indiana. S-scale modeler Phil Johnson scratchbuilt the Monon Grill from Roger's photos so that fellow operating crew members had a place to "go for beans" while waiting for the dispatcher's clearance in Greencastle. Brooks Stover authored an article based on the model's story, as told to him by Roger, which was published in the June 2022 NMRA Magazine issue.

This is the same scene as the previous photo, but taken from a different angle.

Number 450 is an American Models Pacific. Many details were added to make it resemble its Monon prototype. The truck is a Milestone Models kit.

Number 281 approaches the White River Bridge just south of Gosport, Indiana. The engine is a Southwind Models brass UP 2-8-0 with an Overland Models USRA tender. Both the engine and tender have had substantial changes applied to "Mononize" them. The cut stone is plaster, cast in molds made with Slater's "Plastikard" for a pattern. The bridge girders are sold as HO-scale.

Ed Loizeaux' Monon business car number one heads northbound on an inspection trip. The car is a custom-painted American Models Observation car in the red and gray passenger scheme used during the railroad's transition period.

USRA Light Mikado Number 550 waits on a siding at Wallace Junction while SW1 diesel engine DS50 positions its caboose. The Mike is an Overland brass model fitted with a capped stack and other characteristic Monon details. The track at Wallace Junction was installed by Dick Karnes, MMR.

The scene is Fourth Street in Lafayette, Indiana in the late 1940s. The houses are, left to right: Branchline Trains "Deluxe Farmhouse" kit; Wild West Models' "Pitkin House" kit; and the gray house was scratchbuilt by Goeff Stipps for Paul Scoles. The garages are HO-scale plastic kits with S-scale doors. All the fencing is HO-scale. The underpass stone walls are from Chooch.

The Monon's Fourth Street overpass was the most restricted spot on the line, requiring detours to other lines when taller equipment started being used. The F3A is brass from Overland Models.

Gosport's "run through" combination depot was built in the early 1880s and lasted into the diesel era. The model is scratchbuilt. The Pennsylvania Railroad is up to the right behind the depot in this view and intersects with the Monon at Gosport Junction to the north. The bunk and kitchen cars are modified Sunshine Models kits. The B&O round roof box car is Overland Models brass, as is the modified Light Mikado steamer. F3 number 65 is an S-Helper Service product.

The Monon had several wood trestles in southern Indiana. This one serves the limestone quarry district. The model was modified to fit the scene from one donated by Dick Karnes, MMR. The NW2 diesel is an S-Helper Service model. The box cars are Pacific Rail Shops kits. The caboose is scratchbuilt.

Limestone mined from quarries such as this one was a substantial source of tonnage for the Monon. Large blocks of stone cut from solid deposits were loaded onto flat cars and gondolas with giant "stone cranes" for further shaping at mills along the line. The material was used in buildings such as the Pentagon and the Empire State Building. These model cranes were built from HO-scale high-tension towers from Kibri, with other bits of styrene added. The model blocks are cast tinted hydrocal, drilled and split much like the real thing.

This scene represents the coal chutes at McDoel Yard in Bloomington. The structure is a Mini-Structures wood and cardstock "craftsman" kit that was significantly modified to represent the prototype more closely. The light Mikado #450 is a brass model from Overland Models that has been "Mononized" with a capped stack, crescent running board steps, and other details. The outside-braced hopper is ready-to-run from S-Helper Service and is custom-painted.

This photo appeared in the Railroad Model Craftsman July 2022 issue of the NASG-sponsored inside-the-front-cover ad.

The completed caboose shop is part of the six buildings making up the Monon Shops complex (the distinctive chimneys are the only missing parts, to be added later). The transfer table is a Walthers model that Roger adapted for S-scale use, including re-doing the bridge track and building a new operator's cabin to match S-scale. The transfer table itself, according to Roger, is actually the correct size in S-scale for this particular installation.

This shows a closer view of the shop. To simplify construction, Roger fixed the doors in these positions.

NW2 #13 positions flat-top caboose #C-303. The custom-painted locomotive was made by S-Helper Service. The Monon's black and yellow paint scheme was short-lived and was replaced with the more familiar black and gold. The caboose is scratchbuilt. The code 100 track on the main, the code 83 on the siding, and the turnout are all Tomalco Track (now "S Scale Track") products that were installed by Dick Karnes.

Northward train #4 rounds the curve approaching Gosport Junction. The F3 units were produced by S-Helper Service (now ScaleTrains). Roger converted them to Phase I models by installing high fans, removing the grills between the two portholes, and installing a third porthole. Decals are Microscale, now available from Des Plaines Hobbies.

Similar to #65 in the previous photo, the two F3 A-units were produced by S-Helper Service. Roger converted them to Phase 1 versions by installing high fans, removing the grills between the two portholes, and installing a third porthole. The B-units only needed high fans. He used decals sold by Microscale Industries.