INTRODUCTION

As a former professional railroader (working my way up frombrakeman to agent to trainmaster and ultimately vice president over a 20-yearspan), I appreciate the efforts to model specific company operations. But thechallenges to do that can be great, given the scope of most popular roads andthe many compromises required.  Proto-freelancingis a way to create your own vision of the ideal railroad, without beingconstrained by specifics.  

Like many of us, I was inspired by the works of AllenMcClelland, Tony Koester, and Jack Ozanich, all of whom realized that you couldcreate in miniature the operations that reflected the movement of freightacross the rail network without modeling a railroad which really existed.  Coming from a railroad background, building amodel railroad that performs like the real thing was very important.  Fortunately, I am blessed with a supportivewife, and a large basement and garage suitable for what I had in mind. 

CONCEPT AND DESIGN

The Allagash Railway (AGR) took time to develop. My firststep was building a layout called the Woodsville Terminal (WT). Inspired by NewEngland short lines like Lamoille Valley, the WT was small, but it was a greatproving ground for the construction methodologies and techniques that I wouldlater apply to the AGR. That layout had operational limitations that led to acertain level of frustration, leading me to seek a more comprehensive designthat more closely replicated a larger regional carrier.  While Maine Central (MEC) and Bangor &Aroostook (BAR) dominated central and eastern Maine, in real life no carrierserved western Maine, so the AGR filled in this part of the state’s railnetwork.

The AGR track plan evolved over time to provide a closeapproximation of what a northern New England regional carrier might look likein the early 1980s. In contrast to a large Class I railroad, with high iron,deep ballast, CTC dispatching, and modern six-axle diesels, the AGR moreclosely resembles the BAR, with lighter rail, and smaller, more colorful, oftenhand-me-down locomotives, running through regionally flavored scenery andstructures.

But, unlike the BAR, the AGR handles heavy-tonnage coaltrains and aggregate in addition to the traditional paper traffic, and does sowith a fleet of second-hand four- and six-axle Alcos. This sets the AGR apartfrom other northern New England roads.  Therailroad is set in the spring of 1982.

(This material was condensed from an article in the January2025 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. For more on the AGR, see this publication.)

TrainMasters TV by Model Railroad Hobbyist Four-Part Video Series!

TrainMasters TV did a four-part series under the title "The Ultimate Allagash Layout Tour."  While TrainMasters TV does require a membership to see content, the quality definitely warrants consideration!  The buttons below will take you to each of the four parts in this series.