by Steve Jackson

These modules are a testament to the power of a standardized modular construction practice like NTRAK.

History

These two four-foot modules were originally constructed in 1996 while I was a member of the Fort Bend Model Railroad Club in Sugarland, Texas (a suburb of Houston). The modules were basic 4’ by 2’ modules with the red (front), yellow (middle) and blue (back) lines. Our club did not own yard facilities, so passing sidings were a desired quality for our modules. We were sorely lacking passing sidings on the red line, so I decided that I would put one on my modules since I had 8’ and could fit a pretty respectable siding. However, I did not want to have four tracks running across the front of the modules because four tracks in central Texas is called a yard. Therefore, I chose to divert the yellow and blue lines toward the back of the modules. The end result is that these modules have a passing siding on the red line that actually sits in the yellow line position and is about 6 ½’ long. When I left Texas, the modules had been sceniced to resemble the flat terrain of the Houston area farming community. I had wanted to build a mountain division (green line) while I was in Houston, but there are no tunnels to model on the SP in central Texas. I remembered how much I enjoyed seeing trains run through the tunnels when I was only a few years younger and I wanted to give that to the next generation.

After the move to Northern Virginia

After I moved the modules to Northern Virginia in the summer of 1997, I found that the NVNTRAKers have a mountain division. Therefore, after the first show with NVNTRAK, I brought my modules home, removed the scenery, and began to renovate the modules to include a mountain division. This modification was not necessary, as the modules did just fine with the regular NVNTRAK modules, but I wanted the change of pace. Since I had elected to divert the yellow and blue lines in the original construction, this gave me an easy way to add tunnels to the modules as well. I constructed the mountains by carving blue construction foam and covering them with paint and ground foam. I had spent so much time at my previous club, which models 1952, that I decided to keep the modules in that same basic time span.

What’s in a name?

At the first setup with NVNTRAK, I was asked what the modules were called. I replied that they had never needed a name before and tried to give them some "Jackson Junction" sort of name. They said that they had too many something-junctions, something-crossings, and something-depots and that I would have to get more creative than that. So after some thought, I decided to pay homage to my home state and pick the name of some Texas city. The scenery that I have on the modules looks nothing like any Texas city that I have ever seen, so I just needed a name. I decided to name the modules after Mount Pleasant, Texas. The town is on the way from my childhood home to my grandmother’s home. The town also happens to be home for a large paper mill. If you have been around a paper mill, you know that pleasant is not a good description of their smell. The family car did not have air conditioning, so we had to ride with the windows down. One hot summer day, my brother made the observation that the place was most definitely misnamed and should have been called Mount Stinky. The family has referred to Mount Pleasant as Mount Stinky ever since. So, I named one of the modules "Mount Pleasant" and the other "Mount Stinky".