3D printing has allowed me to start a layout I’ve always wanted to create. It would be a small piece of a prototype line that had some interesting operation and built exactly as it existed in the 1945 – 1950 era. I started with a section of the Wilmington, DE waterfront from the PRR station to the Davos shipyard. After over a year building a model of the PRR station I realized that with the modeling tools available 30 years ago this vision was simply unattainable. Using 3D printing highly detailed structures can be produced relatively quickly and for a very reasonable cost.
At 80 years old and following the C&O prototype, there was only one option, Thurmond, WV. The engine terminal, mainline,and staging tracks, all hand laid, are complete. Background scenery based on a high definition topographic map, is being installed before foreground buildings are positioned. The current project is the truss and deck girder bridge across the New River, which has to be completed before building the South Side yards where empty hoppers were stored.
