Peninsula Progress on the Green Mountain Division

An overall look at the peninsula shows all the track and turnouts in place except the siding to the foreground factory.  I have yet to determine its exact location.  The track in the foreground is the main track and will curve to the left and end up at the junction to the branch line straight ahead at the far end of the room. 

    A Small Town Starts To Take Shape....by Don Janes

 Well, I finally finished building the turnouts, six in all, and laying the track for the small town on the new peninsula.  Several of the structures seen in the photo will be used on this section.  These include the feed mill and creamery on the right side and the white factory across the tracks from the station.  I really like the model of the Wells River depot in the foreground but can't decide if it might be a little too large or not.  It really is hard to tell when structures are sitting on bare plywood with no scenery around them.  If I do use it I will most likely name the town Wells River since it is an exact replica of that station.
   The feed mill is a Fine Scale Miniatures kit I salvaged from the old layout and it fits perfectly in its new location.  The creamery beyond it is the Millett Creamery from South River Model Works, also saved from the old layout and another of my favorites.  The white factory in the foreground is very special to me as it was built by Lou Sassi and I bought it from him when he tore down his layout several years ago.  It is Martin Machine by SRMW.  I like it so much because it is a multi-level structure and the back will face a deep gorge and dam which hopefully will be one of the layout's more scenic spots.
    Right now the other structures are just stand ins until I get the kits built for the permanent buildings.  I hope to add a small village atmosphere in the open area across from the feed mill with a gas station, general store and a couple of other small buildings.  These will back onto the river along the inside of the peninsula.
   Once the track was installed and wired I added Tortoise switch motors and built a temporary control panel so I could operate this portion of the layout.  Once the area is done and fascia added I will build a permanent control panel.  Presently I am building the junction turnout so I can lay the track for the branchline and get this section connected to the main line.  As they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Here is another view of the factory and depot at the end of town.

This is the back side of the factory.  This scene will feature a rugged gorge and dam which supplied power to the mill.  Hopefully it will be a dramatic scene when finished.

These two views show the feed mill.  The two round foundations in the top photo are for large coal bins for a coal dealer I might locate beside the feed mill.

The Millett Creamery  is one of my favorite structures and by placing it on the peninsula it can be viewed from both sides.  

At the end of the creamery there is a coal trestle which supplies coal to run the creamery.  Retail coal can be purchased here for home use also.  It is scratchbuilt from scale lumber and plaster castings for the footings and retaining wall. A walkway and railings still need to be added.  The building at right is temporary.

This is the temporary control panel I built so I could test and run trains in the peninsula yard.