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Scotts-dale Division Site
| The Chesapeake Power Plant is located near the Gilmerton station on the NS (old N&W) mainline at mile marker N7.5. The plant was originally built in 1953 with several additions and modifications over time. The plant was originally built to burn coal, but converted to oil in the early 1970s. In the 1980s the plant was converted back to burning coal. Presumably the tanks left near the plant are from the period of time when oil was burned. |
Layout Design Element
The area around the N&W Station makes an interesting layout design element because of the numerous junctions. My design focus on taking advantage of these junctions for operational interest. Scenic interest is provided by the urban landscape.
My Suffolk LDE, captures all the turnouts and tracks of the Suffolk station area, as well as the overall look of the area. It is a large LDE, because only limited compression was used. The distance between the diamond and the station is compressed about 50%. However all of the structures are actual scale size. Critical distances between structures, such as within the public storage complex are scale size; however, distances between groups of structures, such as from the public storage to the station, have been compressed as needed to fit the scene.
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Dominonion VA Power, VA LDE Prototype: NS (Old N&W Mainline) Dimensions: 9.5 feet x 3 feet, 12" Grid Scale: N Track work: Atlas Code 55 Flex track & Click here to download LDE as 3rd Plan It file. Click here to view as large JPG
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The key elements which capture the scene are the station, diamond and trackage, old main street buildings, public storage complex, and cell phone tower. The station is the visual focal point for the LDE. The diamond provides operational interest. The old Washington Street buildings (lower RH corner) serve to place the station near downtown and highlight that the area has fallen on hard times. The public storage because of its new buildings and their bright paint, is a key visual element to the look of the area. The cell phone tower is a key element to capturing the feel of the area around the station.
Also, three elements are used as visual dividers to hide the compression between the station and the diamond. First, the repetitive buildings of the public storage service as a divider. Second the street between the station and the public storage helps separate the area. Third the houses and buildings in the foreground and along the street provide details and mini-scenes making the space feel larger.
Operations
Pictures
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| This overview of the area from Microsoft's Virtual Earth (maps.live.com) shows the area of the LDE. | ||||
References
1. Suffolk, VA - Wikipedia website
2. Google Earth - Suffolk, VA
3. Microsoft Virtual Earth - Suffolk, VA
4. http://www.dom.com/about/stations/fossil/chesapeake.jsp