RUN NIGGER ISLAND POMPANOOSUC R. R.
THIRTEEN STUDENTS and two faculty members of Thayer School have for the past year been enjoying a busman's holiday on the "Nigger Island and Pompanoosuc Railroad," a complete railroad system in miniature. The line takes its name from a Connecticut River island below the College and from the little Vermont village five miles north of Hanover.
On the third floor of the Thayer School, which opened its new building last fall, the railroad now has more than 400 feet of track in use, 185 of them on the main loop, a complex double-eight figure. The rolling stock, all built to absolute scale, includes seven engines, five of them built by the club members themselves, one from a Lionel Model train kit, and one bought fully constructed. There are 35 freight cars, all kinds from oil tank and flat cars to cattle cars, and six passenger cars to complete the stock. These cars, all built by hand by members of the club, are correct in scale and detail down to the smallest rivet which has been put on them by an ingenious trick of the Thayer engineers. Most of the stock is made of wood, except for an occasional car which has a side of metal.
In the intricate system of the track layout there is a total of 40 switches, including a double-clip switch believed to be the only one of its kind in miniature railroads anywhere. Cross switches and single switches connect the eight tracks in the main yard and make numerous sidings along the main route of the track possible. The latest development in the Nigger Island and Pompanoosuc is a round table which is as yet incomplete. This new addition will be attached to one of the yard tracks and also to a passenger siding on the opposite side of the lower figure eight of the main track.
The switches and the railroad are run from three main control boards by automobile choke wires, requiring a crew of eight men and a superintendent to be run efficiently. An interlocking system of wiring allows seven trains to be run at the same time with no fear of accident. Circuit breakers prevent damage by short circuit. The track laid down on hand-made and hand-laid wooden ties is so banked and constructed that there can be no accidents of any kind. All curves have been constructed on a radius of six feet or over so any engine can be run over them. The enrestricted to 90 scale miles per hour in keeping the system exactly to scale. A new engine, now under construction, will have a 3-100 horse power motor, but will also be restricted to the established speed limit.
Two motor generators supply 20 volts and ago watts of electric current broken down by two transformers so the current can be supplied as either direct or alternating. The alternate current is merely used when visitors wish to try their own engines on the club's track. The direct current used by the railroad itself allows the use of the control boards and permits slow starting and stopping of the engines, bringing reality just that much closer to the Nigger Island and Pompanoosuc.
