I grew up in an epicenter of railroading. The Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley’s rich deposit of anthracite coal fueled the nation’s Industrial Revolution, peaking at 7 major railroads and dozens of shortlines and branch lines in the mid-1900’s.

The collapse of the anthracite market, industrial disaster, the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and natural disasters in the 1960s and 1970s led to the collapse of major industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania and, in turn, the collapse of its major railroads.

Growing up in the area in the 90s and the aughts, Scranton still bore the scars of its industrial past, with rusting buildings, shuttered mines, and landscapes dominated by manmade mountains of coal waste. But there were glimmers of hope – the emergence of “The Office” put Scranton on the cultural map, but for rail fans around the world, another star emerged on forums and on YouTube – The Delaware-Lackawanna railroad, a modern short line operating around 70 miles of trackage with a rainbow fleet of aging Alco locomotives.

I’m lucky that my first railfanning almost 20 years ago was of this extremely compelling subject. The sights and sounds are compelling enough that manufacturers like Atlas, Bowser, and Rapido have released locomotives decorated for the railroad, making it easy to model. To this day, railfans from around the world visit quiet Scranton to experience and document these Alcos soldiering away.

Now that I find myself living away from Northeast PA for almost as long as I lived there, the D-L was the obvious choice for my current layout.

My layout is a Lance Mindheim-inspired “One Turnout” track plan, in HO Scale, representing what locals still call Chamberlain Manufacturing or “Chamberlain”, but what is today called the General Dynamics US Army Ammunition Plant.

Itself a relic of Scranton’s past, the site just a couple blocks from “Steamtown USA” once housed the DL&W’s steam locomotive erecting shops. In the mid-1900’s, it was converted to a manufacturing facility to build weapons, specifically 155mm artillery shell components for the US Army. (Note: this plant has been highlighted recently for its prominent role in supporting the war in Ukraine).

The D-L serves this facility on two spurs – on the north side of the facility, where boxcars are spotted, and on the south side, where they spot gondola loads of steel.

On my layout, I represent the boxcar loading area on the north side, served from the historic Laurel Line, an interurban trolley line that carried freight and passengers through the mid-1900’s. Under trolley poles, the D-L spots a handful of boxcars. I’m not quite sure of the frequency of empties and loads on this track, and for a long time, I thought that boxcar service had ended for this industry, until I noticed a few 60’ boxcars spotted there in my last visit to the area.

The environment provides extra operational interest – the “main” and industry tracks both cross South Washington Avenue, a busy street for cars and pedestrians with an unprotected level crossing. The unprotected crossing forces the D-L to cross very slowly with the protection of a flagman, who directs traffic and walks the train across the street. By featuring this crossing in the middle of the layout, train speed is limited to walking speed for almost the entire length of the layout.

For a layout 7’ long and just 12” deep, a typical ops session featuring one of the D-L’s signature Alcos and a handful of 50’ boxcars takes around 25 minutes, about as long as my attention span will allow.

In this video, shot quickly with my iPhone, I wanted to capture an idea of the sites, feel, and pace of operations on my layout. This represents a small, compressed portion of a typical operating session. It’s the first time I’ve photographed my layout, and I see better lighting and camera equipment in my future.