Benchwork

The benchwork for the HOG was designed to be simple and to be made with common tools that any homeowner should already have. You do have an arc welder, right? Just kidding.


Here is the cutting diagram. The Original HOG was made from ripped ply wood because things in the South tend to be sensitive to the humidity. However, dimensional lumber works very well. All you have to do is print and follow the instructions above.

Assembly goes VERY quickly. We had most of it done in two work sessions. One thing that we decided to do later was to add angular reinforcements on the wobbly legs. This is the same version of leg in pocket system used on in the Domino design, but it is too wobbly and needs reinforcing.
Using the cutting diagram above, we cut the foam top for the layout.


Once the wood sections are done, we put a 1" layer of extruded foam on top using Liquid Nails for Projects which is foam safe.


Once covered, we can add the scenery!


With the scenery and fascia boards added we are read to roll!


Zeeland farms.


The Norfolk Southern siding in Vidalia.


Lake Blacksheer...which looks exactly like the layout although draw here almost a year before construction.


Cordele and Lake Blackshear


I kicked around building an all foam layout, but the legs were a pain.

The HOG Track Diagram

Click to Enlarge

Industry Spotlight: Zeeland Farms

Zeeland Farms is the local purveyor of soybeans and seeds in Leslie, GA. This is a small but very busy industry on the tracks.
This can easily be modeled with the variety of grain industry kits that are available and it can be shrunk to size.


Zeeland also sells equipment, thus the reason that the feed silo is laying on its side. Mud roads, tons of signs and lots of trucks make this industry interesting.

There are a variety of metal buildings here, all of which are easily scratchbuilt. Maybe you should try your hand at it. For weathering, think of 100 degrees, hot and sticky, no rain and no wind. Lots of red clay and dirt.

Locomotives on the HOG

Bob Wheeler is a heck of a diesel guy, so Steve got him to construct the locomotives on the layout. To read about how it did it, go to the NMRA's Southeastern Division Magazine called The Southern http://www.ser-nmra.org/pdf/souv49n3.5.pdf
Below are the decal masters for printing on a laser printer. I was surprised at how easy it is to make your own decals.

The Original HOG by Steve Berkheimer

The Original HOG layout is owned by Steve Berkheimer and was built by Steve with the help of the North County Interchange Operating Group.


The West Bound is passing the locomotive servicing siding as it rolls by the Peebles switch.


This award winning locomotive was constructed by Bob Wheeler and is a perfect match for the real one.

Lake Blackshear

Bob Wheeler and Stever Berkheimer

Bob putting her back on the rails.

Steve is the engineer, running from the pit.

Lots of traffic in Cordele.

A little switching action.

Davis has a lot of aggregate heading for the highways in south Georgia.

The Heart Of Georgia Track Plan

With over 20 of these produced by modelers all over the US, it has become a staple among track plans. I've seen it in HO, N, On30 and an S-scaler is taking a crack at it. Click on the drawing to enlarge.