Photos – Paul Allard’s Northern Vermont

Paul Allard is a long-time member of the NWV Model Railroad Association. As one of our most experienced members, Paul is a valuable asset to the  club and a mentor to other members. He has been recognized by the NMRA  for these skills, holding Master Model Railroader certificate #358.  He  is also one of only a handful of MMRs to have completed the requirements for all 11 certificates.  Only 7 are required to earn the MMR but as  Paul said – I was having so much fun that I earned all 11!

Paul’s home layout is the Northern Vermont Railway.  Constructed in his  basement in a 35’ x 12.5’ room, the NVR is a freelanced HO scale model  railroad set in October, 1954.  It’s an East-West line with its western  terminal at Adams, Vermont.  It runs east through northern Vermont and  terminates in Hamilton, New Hampshire. There are four major interchange points with prototype railroads. The D&H interchanges with the NVR via a car ferry operation that docks at Adams Terminal located in Adams. The Canadian National & Central Vermont  Railways enter the NVR main line at St. Jean Junction and have running  rights into Franklin, Vermont. The Canadian Pacific Railway plus the  Boston & Maine enter the NVR main line at Granite Junction and have  running rights into Franklin, Vermont. The Maine Midland Railroad plus  the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad enter the NVR Bedford Branch Line at Birch Junction.  They travel down the NVR Bedford Branch and NVR main  line to interchange at Hamilton, New Hampshire. The CNR, CVR, CPR,  B&M, MMR and BAR are staged from yards in adjacent rooms. There are  three car ferries to handle the D&H interchange traffic. The room  size is 35’ by 12.5’. The NVR main line travels around the room  twice crossing the room entrance on bridges mounted on a swing out  section. Most visible track work including nearly 100 turnouts is  hand-laid on individual wooden ties using code 100, 83 and 70 rail. A  North Coast Engineering 5 amp Power Pro system provides DCC control.  Most locomotives are sound equipped. The NVR diesel power includes:  F3’s, NW-2’s, BL-2’s and GP 7’s all custom painted in maroon, red and  black with gold lettering. The steam locomotives remaining on the roster include: 2-8-0 Consolidations, 2-8-2 Mikados, 4-8-2 Mountains plus  0-6-0 and 0-8-0 switchers.

Here are a few photos of his fine layout!

Northern Vermont BL-2 #123 switching Romanoski Coal Company in Lincoln. The 123 is one of six EMD BL-2’s, numbered 120-125, that arrived on the NVR in June of 1949.

CNR #1364, a class H6g ten wheeler, handles switching duties at Oliver Feed and Seed in Chateauguay. This locomotive was leased for a short period in 1954 while the NVR completed locomotive repairs on their own fleet and awaited delivery of new GP-7’s from EMD.

CPR E-8 #1802 pulls a short passenger train as it passes over the NVR BL-2 #125 on its way to Island Falls where it will return to home rails on its journey to Sherbrooke, Quebec.

NVR F-3A #110 is pulling into the Mapleton Station. A group of nuns are waiting to board the train after returning from a summer retreat in Maine. They will travel to the western most terminal of Adams, located on Lake Champlain. The NVR received six EMD F-3A’s, numbered 110 – 115, in March 1946.