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Middletown - the Plan
In late April 2010, with the idea of an underground loop long forgotten, the river trimmed back to something that would actually fit within the overall plan and the sector plate not only drawn but actually built, the plan for Middletown was drawn full scale on various pieces of paper which were photographed and sent to Mark Underwood who then drew it as a computer image. Middletown was officially established:
New paper was laid out on the benchwork and the drawing of a final paper copy began.Every detail had to be worked out on paper before I would begin building anything. I have always been that way because ... I know it works.
The first and most important element to get drawn correctly was the main rail yard with the passenger terminal and engine service spur. Those had to be "carved in stone" before anything else could be drawn in. Then I could add Main Street and Acadia Square. All of that became the core around which determined where everything else was going to go.
Once I had the downtown core drawn, including the main rail yard, passenger terminal, engine service spur, I started placing other nearby elements. These included the two side streets, feed mill, museum, freight warehouse, park, and smaller shops. This gave me the downtown area. On the left of Acadia Square is Mill Road and on the right is Park Street.
Having completed the downtown area and the spurs for the warehouse, feed mill and museum, the hill could be roughed in. West River Road climbs the hill from Main Street and passes through a small residential neighborhood before turning in front of the church yard and exiting the layout. It remains to be see how the houses and the church will be arranged when all is said and done but essentially the plan for that end of town is done.
The only remaining area to be drawn at this point was the East Bay Road area with the sector plate yard and a non-descript construction site which, to be honest, is an excuse for me to have some really neat construction machinery and trucks. In the process of drawing the sector plate I decided to build it so I could be certain all the angles would work in the final analysis. Once the sector plate dimensions were confirmed the plan was done and it was time to move on figuring out the one thing I feared most in all of this - the electrical.
Note: April 2011 It is important to note at this point that although everything above was written and drawn into the original plan, as building began the plan started to evolve and in the final analysis more than a few of those numbered items either became something else or were taken out entirely.
As a result the town now looks like this:
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