The purpose

 I began writing this blog and planning to build a layout of the Unadilla Valley Railway in 2013.
The one issue I had with building this short-line at the time was that I couldn't have operating sessions with more than 2 people! So, I moved on to other railroads and plans. I found the Eastern Pennsylvania Cement District really interesting. I began purchasing and building A LOT of cement hoppers. The one thing that kept nagging me about this idea was my real interest has always been agriculture ie: the dairy industry and the businesses required to support the farms.
I spoke to a few friends about the change in modeling themes with the first question being : "Am I crazy?" Well, it turns out many modelers have brief thoughts of tearing down their layouts and starting over, few follow through.  I decided to bite the bullet and just do it! So, my cement hoppers will be transformed into milk cars.
The year I am modeling this layout is 1953.

Ok, so, the decision is made to model the UV. The question of operations is still there. Keeping two operators busy was the most the UV could support. The UV interchanged with the NYO&W, New Berlin branch at New Berlin Junction and with the DL&W, Richfield Springs branch at Bridgewater. The plan is to model as much of each branch as possible which allows for more operations. I, like many model railroaders, like switching operations. Switching operations cause you to think.  In many cases it's like solving a moving puzzle.
So, off we go to build my "dream" layout. I'll try my best to keep this blog updated as the layout progresses.