Railroading is an activity that captures the imagination. Often this propels us into model railroading in an effort to create in miniature the aspects of the full-size operations we find most captivating, whether it is memories from our younger days or capturing the present day. As a former professional railroader (working my way up from brakeman to agent to trainmaster and ultimately vice president over a 20-year span), I appreciate the efforts to model specific company operations. But the challenges to do that can be great, given the scope of most popular roads and the many compromises required.
Proto-freelancing is a way to create your own vision of the ideal railroad, without being constrained by specifics. Few capture this better than Mike Confalone, who has built the Allagash Railway (AGR) in the home he shares with wife Susan and son Tom.
Mike has accomplished something that many only dream about: imagining, designing and building a model railroad that closely replicates a 1:1 scale railroad. The AGR looks and operates like a prototype, with realistic scenery, backdrops, trackwork, equipment and more. Mike also works hard to share his many skills by creating a series of first-rate informational videos on “how-to” subjects from scenery to operations. He also actively posts videos and photos on Facebook so people can get a real flavor of the railroad.
ABOVE: The crew onboard Alco RS-11 703 has taken their coffee to go from the Bear Hill Variety Store as they notch up, headed for New Portland Jct., and New Sharon Yard on a snowless day in March 1979. The 703 is a former Penn Central unit, but now wears a fresh coat of “Allagash Gold.”
Like many of us, Mike was inspired by the seminal work of modelers Allen McClelland, Tony Koester, and Jack Ozanich, who realized you could create in miniature the operations that reflected the movement of freight across the rail network. McClelland’s Virginian & Ohio was a pioneer in the “beyond the basement” concept that provided the theatre stage to show trains coming and going beyond the confines of the layout. Koester chose a specific period for his Allegheny Midland layout that allowed for the use of first- and second-generation locomotives for a predominantly coal-hauling regional carrier. He also advanced the cause of “beyond the basement” by simulating interchange with the V&O by hosting operating sessions on the same night. The late Jack Ozanich’s Atlantic Great Eastern, also set in Maine like the AGR, was another key influencer in Mike’s development of the concepts he realized in building his railroad.
We will take a detailed look at the development and execution behind the building and operation of the AGR, from the point of view of a railroader. Much has been written about the AGR, so the focus here is more on the layout as it is today (presently set in Spring 1982), with a bit of history.
The art of model railroading can take many forms, with each of us having different goals for our hobby. Coming from a railroad background, building a model railroad that performs like the real thing is the holy grail. That means conducting transportation in a prototypical fashion: moving freight through the network as efficiently as possible through pickup, line haul, and delivery.
ABOVE: The yard at New Sharon is one of the most strategic locations on the railroad. In April 1982, the New Sharon Switcher is tied up at the yard office after building the Madrid Turn. Chop-nose 507 is at the fuel rack getting serviced for its run north to Madrid.
The key to this is reliability, including locomotives that run well, cars that don’t derail, with solid trackwork and wiring underlying it all. Mike aptly referred to this as an “Industrial Game,” where the object is to move cars across the railroad starting with yard jobs, then to locals and through freights; classifying cars, making pick-ups, set-offs, and honoring connections with other carriers so that the freight gets where it needs to go.
Concept and Design
Mike Confalone’s Allagash Railway took time to develop. His first step was building a layout called the Woodsville Terminal. Inspired by New England short lines like Lamoille Valley, the WT was small, but it was a great proving ground for the construction methodologies and techniques that would later be applied to the AGR. That layout had operational limitations that led to a certain level of frustration, leading Mike to seek a more comprehensive design that more closely replicated a larger regional carrier.
While Maine Central and Bangor & Aroostook dominated central and eastern Maine, in real life no carrier served western Maine. Mike and lifelong friend Joe Posik conducted several field trips, visiting sites along the future AGR right-of-way, like the town of Weld, Maine, and photographed the small villages and scenery unique to that part of the state.
ABOVE: A trio of Allagash F-units are in full dynamic brake as they descend the 2% grade down Holman Mountain on the Androscoggin Sub. The top of the hill at Holman Summit is behind the train, just shy of the station at Carthage.
Fortunately, Mike is blessed with a supportive wife and a large basement and garage suitable to accommodate what he had in mind. The track plan evolved over time to provide a close approximation of what a northern New England regional carrier might look like in 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 is more “Bangor & Aroostook-like,” with lighter rail, and smaller, more colorful, often hand-me-down locomotives, running through regionally flavored scenery and structures.
But, unlike the BAR, the AGR flexes a bit more muscle, hauling heavy-tonnage coal trains and aggregate in addition to the traditional paper traffic, and doing so with a fleet of journeyman, second-hand four- and six-axle Alcos. This sets the AGR apart from its northern New England brethren.
Mike also decided on two critical elements: time and season. The railroad is set in so-called “mud season,” that window between winter and full-on spring when the snow is melting and trees are still dormant, which calls for copious amounts of bare deciduous trees and, of course, evergreens. He also decided to focus his modeling on 1982, which helped provide guardrails for the type of equipment and vehicles that would be permitted. He wanted a period that accommodated both first- and second-generation locomotives and cars…
