Goshen Subdivision
The New York Central Railroad
I was born and raised in the small Indiana town of Goshen. The house we lived in was a stone’s throw from the busy main line of the New York Central Railroad. The focal point of my model railroad is the town of Goshen, which occupies about 35 linear feet of the layout. The name “The Goshen Subdivision” is fictitious as the modeled portion of the railroad comprises portions of 3 actual divisions: the Lake Division, the Western Division, and the Indiana Division. The model includes mainline trackage from east of Goshen to Northwest Indiana (the Region), the former Big Four line running south from Goshen to Anderson, Indiana, local industries around Goshen, and heavy industries in the Region.
The East end of the railroad is an eleven track staging yard representing Toledo and East. The hidden double track main comes into view just east of Goshen. From there, it continues westward through farm country, then to Elkhart, which was and is a major division point on the real railroad (now owned by the Norfolk-Southern.) The model has a large yard at this spot, with Elkhart taking up one side of a 26 foot long peninsula. From Elkhart, it continues west to a junction with the Indiana Harbor Belt, then to another eleven track staging yard representing Chicago and West. The mainline is approximately 180 feet long.
Southward out of Goshen is the single track former Big Four branch line. After passing a grain elevator at New Paris, the line continues south to a junction with the Nickel Plate Road at Marion, Indiana, then through Marion and on to Anderson, represented by a four track staging yard.
On the West end, from the IHB interchange, a steel mill, an oil refinery, an auto plant, and a large portland cement plant represent the industrial area of Northwest Indiana and South Chicago. These are served by a small yard located above the Chicago staging tracks.
The layout supports 10 to 14 operators, but can be run by as few as 4 or 5. The operating system is NCE-DCC. Dispatching is done with verbal authority. Eventually, I plan to have complete signaling and computer generated CTC dispatching.
Jim Baker
