Dick Karnes
New York, Westchester & Boston

I model the New York, Westchester & Boston Railroad in S scale, circa 1925-1955. The real NYW&B was begun as a heavy-electric road, was purchased in the 1920s by nervous competitor New Haven, and mostly dismantled. The remainder was incorporated into various New Haven routes. I adopted an "alternate history," in which the NYW&B was never bought out but thrived. In this alternate history, the New Haven is confined to the Connecticut coast and the New York Central's Boston & Albany division trackage terminates eastbound at Springfield, Massachusetts. The NYW&B has three divisions: 1.) The double-track electrified New Haven & Northern division from New Haven, Connecticut via Troy, New York, to Montreal; 2.) The New York & North Eastern division from New York City via Springfield, Massachusetts, to Boston; 3.) The Westchester Connecting Line within New York City, connecting with the NY&NE via Hell Gate Bridge over the East River.

Other roads have trackage rights over portions of the NYW&B, e.g., the NYC between Springfield and Boston, and the New Haven from New Haven to Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, where the NYW&B's NH&N and NY&NE divisions cross each other. New Haven, Delaware & Hudson, and CNR passenger cars enjoy through service on New Haven-Troy trains. In addition, the NYW&B has trackage rights on the NYC from Troy to Springfield.

This concept gives me a rationale to host electric, steam, and diesel power. The NYW&B runs anthracite steam (camelbacks only) and electrics - no diesels. The single-tracked NY&NE runs steam only, and the double-tracked NH&N runs electric only. Additionally, the NYC from Troy to Springfield is electrified in order to power NYW&B trains between Troy and Boston. The NYC and New Haven run whatever they want - NYC steam and diesels, and New Haven diesels and electrics.

Published sources:
"Kitbashing a Union Station," Railroad Model Craftsman, Oct. 2000, page 74
"Easy Station Platforms," Railroad Model Craftsman, Feb. 2001, page 66
"Steel Station Beams," Railroad Model Craftsman, Nov. 201, P. 79
"Kitbashing a NYC Class DEf 2-D-2," Railroad Model Craftsman, Apr. 2006
"Juice for Your Juice Jacks," NMRA's Scale Rails, March 2009, p. 42
"Yard Throat Design for Model Railroads," NMRA's Scale Rails, July 2009, p. 52
"Fun with Mirrors," NMRA's Scale Rails, March 2010, p. 20
"So You Want to Run a Railroad," NMRA Magazine, Aug. 2010, p. 40
"Layout Height Considerations," NMRA Magazine, Feb. 2011
"Operations on the NYW&B," Railroad Model Craftsman, July 2012
"Passenger Operations on the NYW&B," NMRA Magazine, September 2013
Work Extra, 15 Useful Tips for Model Railroaders (book), RLN Publishing, 2013
"Troubleshooting Your Layout," NMRA Magazine, February 2014;
"New York Central Modeling in S Scale," NYCentral Modeler, NYCSHS, 1Q2014, Vol. 4 No. 1
"Building a 'What If' Layout Under Catenary," Great Model Railroads 2016, Kalmbach Publishing, 2015
"Building an MU Train," Railroad Model Craftsman, Mar. 2017, page 90
"Plausibility: The Key to Successful Structure Kitbashing," NMRA Magazine, May 2017, page 18
"The Milk Run (A Different Operations Opportunity)," Railroad Model Craftsman, Dec. 2017, page 58
"Modeling a B&M Caboose with a Little Help from Adobe Photoshop Elements," NMRA Magazine, May 2018, page 26
"Humanize Your Layout," NMRA Magazine, Sept. 2018, page 24

Basic information:
A. Scale: S
B. DC or DCC: NCE wireless DCC
C. Dispatching/control method: Verbal orders
D. Car control: CC & WB
E. Mainline: 90' + 115', 3 yards and staging
F. Room size: 12' X 43'
G. Percent sceniced: 100%
H. Handicap accessibility: none
I. Maximum number of guest operators: 6
J. Minimum number of guest operators: 2

Photos are copyright Dick Karnes - click here. Enjoy another good one here (copyright Loeb)