LOVELL

THE PROTOTYPE

The northernmost "major" town on the railroad in Wyoming is Lovell (take that with a BIG grain of salt - I am talking about Wyoming, here. Lovell's population is around 2,200).

This is the north side of that rock wall. From this side, it looks like just another cut through a hill. To the left out of the photo is the bentonite plant.

This is the opposite side of the hill - this is where I got the term "wall." Maybe not real hard rock, but perhaps something like shale. Anyway, a really nice prototypical scene divider!

Another large industry in Lovell is the Western sugar plant, seen here as one enters Lovell from the north.

This facility is the Bentonite plant.

One of Lovell's current big industries is a bentonite plant north of town, through a rock wall that is just that - a wall that rises right out of the ground, is relatively narrow, and that the railroad punched through with a deep cut.  

Lovell's major railroad-related industries today are the bentonite foundry, a Gypsum wallboard plant, and the Western sugar factory. There is also some agriculture - notably sugar beets.

THE MODEL RAILROAD

No construction has yet taken place for Lovell - even benchwork.

The track arrangement for Lovell:

Lovell is the main line and sidings to the right in this diagram. 

As with many of the other towns on the layout, this doesn't represent what Lovell's track arrangement will be when complete, but just shows the passing siding and a couple of spurs. It also shows the bentonite plant as one of the Lovell industries, but I've found some data that indicates the plant wasn't built until the 1950s, so I may replace that plant with a different industry.

I mentioned the rock wall above - an interesting scenic element, and tailor-made for a model railroad - a natural scene block! It will, of course, be incorporated into the layout.