Vol. 59: Bluff City Southern Part 2
Allen Keller’s remarkable Bluff City Southern model railroad features five railroads. Since releasing the overview of his first installment in 2001, he has completed the Tennessee Peninsula. Now the layout consists of three peninsulas including Bluff City Yard in Memphis, which is the main classification yard.
Each peninsula is controlled by a different railroad; in Mississippi it’s the Illinois Central, in Arkansas it’s the Frisco, and in Tennessee it’s the Southern. The Missouri Pacific and the Louisville and Nashville have trackage rights on some of the lines. The colors of the ballast and the company-owned buildings in each peninsula are appropriate for each railroad.
The Bluff City Southern completely fills Allen’s 30×44-foot basement. It’s built on two-inch Styrofoam panels, each with a minimum radius of 34 inches. Each of the three peninsulas operates like its own division, although all interchange in Memphis. The tour of the railroad will begin at Jackson, Tennessee, where an IC passenger train comes from the Chattanooga and Points North staging yard.
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2:16Overview of the Bluff City Southern Part 2
Here is a look at Allen Keller’s own Bluff City Southern model railroad featuring five railroads in the second installment of his video series. Since his part one overview in 2001, he has completed the Tennessee peninsula, so now the layout consists of three peninsulas including Bluff City Yard in Memphis, which is the main…
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9:52Touring the Bluff City Southern Part 2
The tour of the Bluff City Southern model railroad of Alllen Keller starts out with the Illinois Central City of New Orleans coming from Chicago powered by E-8 number 4011. The brown and orange cars pass by downtown with Dixie manufacturing and a tanner on southern trackage. The City glides by the freight house and…
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2:45Owner Inspiration & Techniques on the Bluff City Southern
Bluff City Southern has an operating scheme that is different from any other model railroad with five railroads interchanging in Memphis. Allen Keller’s wife, Janet asks him how that all works. Cars interchange in Memphis in Bluff City Yard, The Frisco comes in from Arkansas, and the Missouri Pacific comes in from Arkansas running on…
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7:24Allen Keller’s Lessons
Allen Keller knows that you can’t learn everything you would possibly want to know about model railroading from instructional manuals and magazine articles alone. For example, you don’t have to model straight lines, his curved peninsula creates a more interesting effect. The other thing to consider is fatia, it’s a good idea to drop the…
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5:11Making Cotton Fields with Allen Keller
Allen Keller models many cotton fields on his Bluff City Southern model railroad layout because the area he modeled of the South in the 1950’s was primarily a cotton growing area of the Mississippi Delta and West Tennessee. He goes on to demonstrate how he creates these fields. To start, he takes a piece of…
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8:56Vehicle Bashing and Operating
Following this demonstration, you can take any metal vehicle and damage them to make them look like they are wrecked for an abandoned field. The tools you will need is a dremel tool with a round ball burr bit of a small diameter, some cutters, a needle nose pliers, a hobby knife, a razor saw,…
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8:54Making Swamps on the Bluff City Southern Model Railroad
Something often found in the South is a swamp. Allen Keller has two swamps on his Bluff City Southern model railroad layout. One swamp is down by the Mississippi River and the other is in the area between Toone, Tennessee and Jackson and the Hatchie River Bottoms. His swamp at the Hatchie River Bottoms is…
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3:34Arranging Urban Structures on the Bluff City Southern
Many model railroaders don’t have enough space to create large city scenes. Allen Keller’s downtown Memphis area on his Bluff City Southern model railroad is about seven feet deep. It has the illusion of having a lot of buildings, but there are really not that many. Some of his buildings are even removable and blank…
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