Web page in progress

Operations on the NEK

Operations on the Northeast Kingdom Model Railroad are conducted using a crew of 4-7 people. The layout accommodates 2 yardmasters, one at St. Johnsbury and another at Morrisville. The St. Johnsbury yardmaster can be augmented with an engineer to perform the switching of the yard while the yardmaster manages the paperwork and directs the road and switching crews. Road crews handle the Maine Central. Lamoille Valley, Boston & Maine and North Stratford Railway trains.

Sessions last approximately. 4 hours, but can be adjusted to annul certain trains to accommodate less people or a shorter time period.

All trains feature sound-equipped locomotives and cars have extra weighting to help provide more realistic operating characteristics.

Turnouts are controlled by manual ground throughs (Caboose Industries) and also Touch Toggle controls via glass panels at certain locations (Tortoise machines).

DCC control is provided by Digitrax with individual blocks protected by Powershield circuit breakers. Control is via Digitrax simplex and duplex receivers as well as LNWI for wifi control via TCS throttles and smart phones.

Canadian Pacific Trains

• 904 (East Deerfield MA to Newport VT through) Northbound CP/B&M Pool train, interchanging cars for MEC & LVRC at St. Johnsbury VT
• 914 (Newport VT to Springfield MA) Through train picking up MEC cars at St. Johnsbury destined for Montreal QC
• 917 (Newport VT to East Deerfield MA through) Southbound CP/B&M Pool train, interchanging cars for MEC & LVRC at St. Johnsbury VT
• RS-1 (Newport VT to Woodsville NH Local) Switching Lyndonville
• RS-2 (Wells River VT to Newport VT Local) Switching St. Johnsbury

Maine Central Trains

• RY-2 (Portland ME to St. Johnsbury VT) Westbound, CP and LVRC interchange traffic
• YR-1 (St. Johnsbury VT to Portland ME) Eastbound, CP and LVRC traffic inbound to the MEC
• ZO-1/OZ-2 (Bartlett NH to Gilman VT Turn) Local, pulpwood traffic for International Paper at Gilman
• YT-1/TY-2 (St. Johnsbury VT to North Stratford NH Turn) Local, traffic for N. Stratford interchange with NSRC/GT
• YQ-1/QY-2 (St. Johnsbury VT to Whitefield NH Turn) Local, serving E. St. Johnsbury, Whitefield and B&M interchange
• RJ-X (Portland ME to St. Johnsbury VT Turn) Wood job as needed, pulpwood and wood chip local
• ZY-X (Bartlett NH to Hardwick VT Turn) Ballast Extra as needed, ballast for Mountain Division track work, trackage rights over LVRC

Lamoille Valley Trains

• MJ-2/JM-1 (Morrisville VT to St. Johnsbury VT Turn) Northbound CP/B&M Pool train, interchanging cars for MEC & LVRC at St. Johnsbury VT
• MX-H (Morrisville VT to Hardwick VT Turn) Local as needed, servicing Hardwick
• MJ-X (Morrisville VT to Crawford NH) Passenger Extra fall foliage special, trackage rights over ME, returns to Morrisville
• MV-1 (Morrisville VT to St. Albans) Through train to CV interchange
• WTRC-1 (Woodsville NH to Morrisville VT Turn) Woodsville Terminal interchange train with LVRC trackage rights

Boston & Maine Trains

• GT-1 (Groveton VT to Whitefield NH Turn) Local servicing Groveton paper mill and delivering MEC interchange to Whitefield
• 4301/4302 (White River Jct. VT to Groveton VT Turn) Local to service Groveton paper mill
• GT-2 (Groveton VT switcher) Local crew to assist switching inbound cars to Groveton paper mill from train 4301

North Stratford Railway Trains

• NSRC-1 (North Stratford NH to Beecher Falls VT) Local train to service MEC/GT interchange and the Ethan Allen plant in Beecher Falls

Central Vermont Trains

• CV 538 (Richford VT to St. Albans VT) Local train from Richford to St. Albans, interchange with LVRC at Sheldon Jct.

Train Cards

Each train has a train card to help the operator understand the job.

Car Cards & Waybills

Car movements are done using card cards and waybills. Each car has a color-coded car card inserted into a clear plastic sleeve. A waybill is then inserted into the sleeve to provide infornation on the cars routing and destination.