Goodbye Mayfield, Hello Binghamton!

 The route of my fictional Kings Port & Western R.R. included a branch line that ran to the fictional town of Mayfield (very loosely inspired by the actual town of Maybrook).   The purpose of this branch was to connect the KP&W with the Lehigh Valley for interchange, particularly to access the LV's coal connection.

After participating in "virtual ops" in our Penn Central Car Movements (PCCM) series for years with fellow modellers John and Neal I've become less satisfied with the fictional Mayfield and felt that I was under using the imagined connection the KP&W has at Binghamton.

A great article about Binghamton, NY railroading in the 4th Quarter 2018 issue of TRP "Trains & Railroads of the Past" informed me about this city's rail connections between the LV, the D&H, and the EL.   My own KP&W is essentially a bridge line like the D&H so it occurred to me that having my freelance interchange with the LV at "Bingo" instead of the fictional Mayfield would enhance a sense of realism and also allow me to have a feasible connection between the KP&W and the EL and the D&H.   All of these connections should increase operations opportunities and add a greater sense of realism to our virtual ops.

I'm imagining a Kings Port & Western "CS Yard" set near the famous Chenango Street area in Binghamton where the EL's "QD" Yard and the D&H's Liberty Street Yard were located    The KP&W has a long freight house at CS Yard seen below.  The large brick warehouse building in the background was created by enlarging a photo of actual structures frequently seen in railfan photos of the Chenango Street area.  The grocery warehouse that is part of this set of warehouses could possibly become another source of traffic and revenue in our PCCMs.  A D&H transfer from Liberty St. Yard is seen entering CS Yard below.

The long gray freight house provides a visual block that allows hidden trains to emerge at CS Yard.   Coming out from behind the KP&W freight house is the Lehigh Valley's Sayre Turn from Sayre PA.  This actual daily train ran between the LV's yard in Sayre to Binghamton coming into town on EL track from the west.   The Sayre Turn interchanged with the EL but I've re-imagined it also entering the KP&W's CS Yard.   Open hopper traffic to the LV's coal connection that provides coal loads for RMO Electric Co. on Neal's APRR will now be facilitated by interchange between the KP&W and the LV at CS Yard.

KP&W transfers to the nearby  Erie Lackawanna's  QD Yard will facilitate traffic to Corning Glass Company and International Paper.  EL train NE-5 will make the deliveries to  Corning Glass Co. and International Paper Co.    Industries like Cavendish Foods, ACCO, and ACME Auto Parts that were previously understood to be served by Mayfield Yard will now receive deliveries by KP&W locals out of Binghamton.

 In a way this is a big change but for our PCCM operations it merely entails re-imaging the routes cars from John's N.Y.C.T.L. and Neal's APRR  take once they arrive on my layout on Penn Central trains from Weehawken or Selkirk.   Empty hoppers from RMO Electric Co. will still go to coal mines served by the LV.  Freight cars that are typically sent to Mayfield Yard to serve various industries will continue to follow those cycles, only now via Binghamton instead of Mayfield.  Our Rail Traffic Management Form will need some editing to reflect the Binghamton location replacing Mayfield in the ops but I'm willing to take care of those.

 I think this should work out well and make car movements seem more realistic and interesting.   I plan to include moves at Binghamton in our next virtual ops series, PCCM 111.