A D&H through freight rumbles across a bridge on Justin Jankauskas' D&H Penn Division layout.
This month we’ll tour Justin Jankauskas’ Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) Penn Division model railroad. The layout highlights the two towns of Carbondale and Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the late 1970s. Justin grew up in the area and has a lot of knowledge of the railroad and its operations. The layout is closely based on the prototype, with many scenes created from memory or photographs of the area.
The unique four story building, with the third story access to the bridge, was modeled based on a prototype structure that occupied that location. Justin showed me a photo of the prototype scene and it looked exactly like the model. This scene no longer exists today because both the bridge and the building have been torn down.
In looking at the photos of Justin’s layout you’ll notice lots of “negative space” (empty areas that don’t attract attention) which lead to making the layout look very realistic. Justin mentioned many times visitors remark “Why don’t you add more industries?” His answer is “Because I am modeling what was really there.”
As an example Justin modeled an old abandoned building that is no longer rail served. The overgrown siding, dilapidated rusting structure with broken out windows, and junk around the building tell a story of what was there in the year he is modeling. In addition, he dedicated a lot of space to a model of the Capitol Records industry building that was rail served, but no longer is, because it sets the location of the railroad.
The Carbondale yard area is another example of modeling what was there on the prototype. You’ll notice that there is some “extra space” between the yard tracks as some have been removed because the railroad did not need them anymore.
The Vine Street Branch is a fun job to work with all its switching.
The main portion of the layout is in an approximately 11’X 30’ room, with a branch line located in a portion of another room adjacent to the layout room. The Vine Street Branch line is reached through a hole in the wall that allows trains to run from the Scranton yard to the branch line. The Vine Street Branch features numerous industries and it a popular job for operating sessions.
Justin’s layout is double decked with the upper deck modeling the two towns, and the lower portion used for two large staging yards. The distance between the upper and lower decks allows him to be able to see and easily re-stage trains in the staging yards. The upper deck is accessed by a ramp on an approximately 4% grade from each staging yard to the upper deck. This arrangement allows trains to leave the staging yard, travel once around the layout, then descend back into staging on the other side. To re-stage the layout, Justin is able to move complete trains from one staging yard to the other, and he is ready to go for the next ops session. In addition, Justin has a connecting track on the upper deck that goes over a bridge (seen in the lead photo), and permits him to run a train around only on the upper deck for open houses.
Justin holds frequent operating sessions on his layout. Crews can work yard jobs, local switching jobs, and through freights. Operating sessions last about two hours, depending on the number of operators, and trains run during the session. The layout is operated with a Digtrax DCC system, and turnouts are controlled by toggle switches located on the fascia on track diagram panels.
It was great meeting Justin, seeing his layout, and learning about the D&H. He has done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the railroad in the 1970s and recreating his childhood memories.
Until next time, stay safe and keep model railroading.