Insight Behind the Operations of the Clifton Forge Division
Mike BurgettDescription
Model railroad experts with exceptional layouts commonly serve as influencers for the hobby. For example, Mike Burgett has dedicated many hours, skill and hard work to the Chesapeake & Ohio layout and he graciously shares it with the model railroading community. Many modelers seek help and guidance from well-known experts to improve their skills. Experts themselves, like Mike, find inspiration and motivation from many different outlets and it can be interesting to learn more about their muse. With the help of Allen Keller, we gain some insight into Mike’s inspirations for the Chesapeake & Ohio layout and his reasons behind a few specific operational decisions.
The Clifton Forge Division
In part three of the 11-part Chesapeake & Ohio series, Allen Keller and Mike Burgett discuss the Clifton Forge Division on the layout. The Chesapeake & Ohio model railroad has a total of three subdivisions, which interchange at the Clifton Forge Yard. In this particular video, Allen asks Mike two questions pertaining to the layout. The first question dives into the operations of the three subdivisions for a better understanding of how they work. Mike describes why he found the multiple subdivisions to be appealing to him from an operational standpoint. The second question inquires about the heavy use of coal hoppers on the layout. Most of the traffic on the Chesapeake & Ohio layout consists of coal hoppers. Mike touches on his considerable use of coal hoppers and why he prefers to use them as opposed to manifest trains.
In this series, Allen and Mike continue to explore the Chesapeake & Ohio layout. The eleven segments of the series offer a comprehensive and detailed look at the railroad. Keep watching for even more insights into Mike’s inspirations, tips on design elements, and much more.
The areas that you model is known as a Clifton Forge Division. And you've got three subdivisions interchanging at the town of Clifton Forge. How does all that work? Well, the CNL coming East side of Russell, Kentucky is a double track main line. At Clifton Forge the railroad splits.
And one line goes up and over the Blue Ridge Mountains towards Charlottesville and eventually to DC. The other line, which was originally the Richmond and Allegheny railroad veers off and heads down the James River. It's predominantly on a downgrade to the east which is perfectly suited for the heavy coal traffic. So the whole concept of a main artery funneling into the coal classification yard trains having to be sorted and then either taking the mountain or taking the river line was very appealing to me from an operational standpoint. It seems as though most of your traffic is coal hoppers right?
Yes, sir. What's the appeal of that to you? That's a pretty much kind monotonous kind of laden is it not or? Well, it's like Stewart always said, coal is king. Okay.
There's something about, this single commodity that seems to be the lifeblood of a of a lot of railroads even today. And for my time period, you didn't really have the unit train concept yet. You know, coal originates as single car shipments and are basically placed in a- A mix rate? A common train, if you will. Oh okay.
So you get a very big variety of different types of not only coal, you know, eight coal, lump coal, stoker coal, but different types of hoppers. You've got the the newer 70 ton hoppers, hundred ton hoppers coming into the scene, but you still have a ton of the 34 foot, you know, rip side hoppers and stuff. So a coal train to me with all the different types of hoppers, different types, grades of coal is as interesting as a manifest train.
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