About BS&T
The Blood, Sweat and Tears Railroad is a freelance branch line set
in the 1930's and portrays several eastern locals conveniently brought
together by model railroading. There are elements of traditional,
quaint New England waterfront, a bustling Northeastern cityscape, rural
Ontario and even an Appalachian mining town.
Inspiration for the
layout came from a couple of sources. John Allen has been a big
influence on the Blood, Sweat and Tears, and the high trestle over Solo
Valley was inspired by a scene on John's Gorre & Daphetid Railroad,
the bridge over Royal Gulch. Another modeler that has been a major
influence is George Selios, who's Franklin and South Manchester is
known for its big, busy cityscapes. The city of Dissonance on the
BS&T borrows much from the F&SM.
The model railroad construction is simple and makes use of readily
available materials. Its employs typical modeling techniques to create
the overall appearance of a well detailed, complete railroad. Benchwork
consists of 1"x3" lumber assembles into a box shape with 5/8" plywood
on top; where needed, the bench work is supported by 2"x2" legs.
Homasote® was placed on the plywood to provide sound deadening and to
provide a surface for the scenery, structures and roadbed. There are no
grades on the layout, and since the bench work is perfectly flat, there
is no need for risers. All the building and scenery could be built
right on top of the Homasote. In the areas where the scenery dropped
below the level of the bench work, the plywood was cut and a false
bottom built to the lowest level of the scenery.
Track work consists of commercial code 83 flexible track and Shinohara turnouts powered by Tortoise switch machines. Gary wanted to keep the track as simple and reliable as possible and opted for commercial components rather then hand laid ones. It also meant that the track could be put in place quickly. The layout is controlled by Standard d.c. blocks.
~ Pete Moffett
