The Marietta Southern represents a fictional, free-lanced railroad purchased by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway and incorporated into its Georgia operations.
Designed to loosely resemble North Georgia & the Western & Atlantic line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, it features NC&StL & Seaboard Airline equipment and other southeastern railroads that my sons have an interest in, such as B&O, RF&P and others. The line features a single track main with two passing sidings and a diamond lift-out crossover, along with a yard, various servicing facilities, and industrial switching.
Having been originally built by Stephen Sprinkle & Scott Kelley, the railroad “went into receivership" back in 2018 due to a pending move and was facing abandonment. “Tarrant Family Lines” procured the line and various assets of the railroad, relocated it to our basement, and have been rolling back the scenery and structures to the glorious transition era of 1948-1952.
The MSRR provides a manageable layout with an enjoyable combination of continuous running and operational switching, highlighting coal drags, mixed freight, and heavyweight and streamlined passenger trains in both countryside and industrial settings (kids, be sure to look for the silver-back gorillas along the way…)
Scale / Gauge
HO
Size of Layout
12.5' x 14'
Prototype
Freelanced NC&StL, SAL & other southeastern railroads
Location Modeled
North Georgia, loosely representing the W&A line
Era
1948-1952 steam-diesel transition era
Style of Track Plan
Folded Figure Eight
Length of Main Line
90'
Layout Height
48""
Benchwork
Modular Box & Leg
Roadbed Material
Homabed
Track Manufacturer
Atlas
Turnouts
Peco
Minimum Main Line Radius
24"
Scenery Techniques
Foam and hardshell
% Scenery Complete
95 %
Backdrop
Photomural on foam core
Control System
DCC - Digitrax
Car Forwarding System
None
Train Authority / Dispatching
Mother May I
Operating Group
N/A
Direction Comment
Parking on the street
Wheelchair Accessible
ADA Comments
Access via stairs to the basement or through the level pine island to the basement door; house has front porch with five wide steps and no handrails and garage or back porch entry with 1-2 small steps
