CHiPS Model Railroad

The area surrounding Columbia was a large iron ore producing area during the early decades of the 1800s. The town of Ironville got its name from the iron ore mines at Grubbs lake. The Henry Clay was one of several iron furnaces between Columbia and Marietta back in the 1830s and 1840s. The HO model was constructed from photographs, but had to be modified because of space available (about 12 inches between backdrop and the edge of the layout). That area had to be shared with a double track mainline. We also changed it to a coal facility to add operation options. A small enginehouse was placed here to provide helper service for long trains hauling freight up the grade to Mellinger's Lumber Mill.

This photo is the Henry Clay Coal Facility. The prototype structure was one of five iron furnaces between Columbia and Marietta in the 1840's. We modified it because of space.

The photo above shows some of the crew at the coal facility.

The photo above shows the enginehouse and coal switcher.