INTRODUCTION
The Cumberland West was a model of the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland railroads in the vicinity of Cumberland, Maryland in 1953. The bulk of the layout represented the track in the city of Cumberland and the routes to the southwest.
Both railroads had major mainline junctions in Cumberland. B&O trains from the east were routed either northwest on the Pittsburgh division or west over the West End sub to Grafton, while Western Maryland trains from the east were routed northwest toward Connellsville or southwest on the Thomas sub to Elkins.
The Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland were both major coal carriers and over half of the trains consisted of loaded or empty coal hoppers.
Operating sessions could feature either railroad running separately, or in a joint session with both running independently of the other, except for interchanges and minor trackage rights.
Cumberland West resided in a 1200 square foot room excavated under an existing house. The ceiling is 8 to 11 feet high and without interior posts. The layout was single level with truncated scenery dividers so that most of the layout could be seen from an elevated entrance platform.
Staging
Most trains originated in the staging yards located below the layout. The B&O and Western Maryland each had a separate double ended staging yard. All trains were stored facing the same direction. There were 35 tracks, each portioned for two trains for a maximum of 70 stored trains (25 car average). Any staged train could be sent to any location on the layout and any train leaving the layout could be stored on any track. Track selection and destination route were selected on an interactive computer schematic. A multi panel computer display was located on the entry platform for the use of the stage manager. JMRI Panelpro was the primary computer programs used for control.
Towers
The B&O had four touch screen stations around the layout which could display one or more tower panels. The tower displays showed the track plan of the interlocking. The tower operator communicated with the dispatcher by telephone and on his direction, controled the switches and signals and issued train orders to crews. Train crews did not contact the dispatcher directly.
On the Western Maryland the dispatcher could control train order boards at station locations and communicate with the train crews by telephone.
DCC Control System
The Cumberland West system used Digitrax DCC with Duplex Radio for control. All track switches were controlled with stationary decoders. The throttles were a mix of radio DT400 and UTX. Switches could be controlled by computer, throttle or fascia mounted momentary toggles. The staging switches did not have fascia toggles. Some of the complex track patterns such as yard throats used route selection buttons.
Two central power racks contained all DCC power sources and the major auxiliary supplies. 25 regional power distribution stations contained circuit breakers, auto-reversers and sensor boards.
Telephone System
The telephone was a seven line key system with 17 stations, designed and installed by Seth Neumann. The B&O and Western Maryland dispatchers, towers and stage manager each had separate lines to facilitate independent conversations and functional separation. When operating both railroads communication control was completely independent.
B&O Signaling
The B&O had Tomar Color Position Lights (CPL) with marker lamps to designate various speed requirements. The system supported 9 of the B&O's 14 signal aspects. The CPLs at an interlocking section were controlled by a tower operator and governed the passage of trains through the controlled section of track. Between control sections, train movement was governed by Rule 251. Trains proceeded in the direction of travel subject to intermediate signals until reaching another control section. Dwarf CPLs from ISS protected entry to the main track from many yard and industry switching leads
Western Maryland Signaling
The Western Maryland had a few signals to indicate hidden turnout position when entering staging, a long tunnel or to protect a turnout not visible from the aisle. Most Western Maryland towers and stations had Tomar operating bi-directional train order boards. The boards were Dispatcher controlled by the DCC control system.
Car Forwarding
Car forwarding used car cards and color coded waybills for manifest freights. Coal and empty hoppers used multi-car orders. A Coal Manager prepared Coal Orders to regulate coal loads and empty hopper traffic.
Track
All visible track was hand laid. Stage and ramp track was flex track. All switches were hand laid using Micro Engineering rail and Tortoise stall motors controlled via DCC stationary decoders.
B&O Mainline track was code 83, sidings and yards code 70 and industry tracks code 55. The Western Maryland followed the same pattern except that code 70 main was used on the Thomas Sub and the West Virginia Junction Beryl Wood Yard was code 55.
There was about 1200 feet of visible track for both railroads and 2400 more in staging. The mainline run was 243 feet of double and triple track for the B&O and 320 feet of single track with passing sidings for the for the Western Maryland. In addition each railroad traveled about another 190 feet on the ramps back to staging from the western end of visible trackage. There were a total of 365 turnouts on the layout.
Scenery
Scenery was constructed using Bragdon two part urethane foam. The foam had imbedded fiberglass screen and was supported by foam core board. Most larger areas were removable to all access to hidden tracks which are part of the staging or ramps. Rock casting were Bragdon two part urethane resin. Hot glue was used for assembly. The backdrops were all hand painted by noted railroad artist Mike Kotowski, who also constructed much of the scenery.
Updated April 14, 2025
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