The things that make a great layout is the attention to the little things. As seen in the previous post I knew the best way to give a true C&O fashion signal was to find and adapt a signal box for all my searchlights. Well some of the other details that are defiantly not going to be easy are the little things. Mileposts along the division were marked from Saginaw (Potter St. depot MP 0.0) all the way to Ludington docks (MP 137.7) Now no manufacture makes these listed so I am currently making my own from Plastruct triangular styrene. Along the ROW there were all makes and models and sizes of signal boxes but a good handful are of the one seen above. Again no manufacturer makes these so I am constructing them from styrene as close as I can (minus the bullet holes)
One of the hardest things about building a railroad that you fondly remember is not re creating the whole division, but just the things that make it important for you. One of the things I remember is the classic searchlight signals that lined the right of way from Saginaw to Midland into late 2000. One thing that was unique about he Ludington Division was that the searchlights were of a common manufacturer and an electrical box at the base of each signal. Most grade crossings had these as well in a smaller form but the vast majority along the division had these boxes. Unfortunately I never expected the signals to ever fall they did the summer of my senior year and I failed to obtain good pictures for documentation. Although I was able to track down a former signal and get accurate measurements (the Sanford MI historical society has a donated signal from the former ROW) finding a reproduced replica in HO scale was going to be hard. But I was able to find a close by dimension electrical box from details west (TB-912) which seemed to work well.
