Our Layout at a Glance

Interesting Facts about our Railroad

  1. Scale: HO (1:87.1)
  2. Style: Single track, double deck, walk-in and follow your train
  3. Room Size: 44'x 48'
  4. Prototype railroads: Various
  5. Locale: Northwest, especially the Inland Empire
  6. Era: 1970s
  7. Mainline Run: 1,152 feet
  8. Minimum Mainline Radius: 36"
  9. Minimum Mainline Turnout: No. 10 with a few 8s
  10. Maximum mainline Grade: 2%
  11. Number of mainline sidings: 10, Length 17' or greater
  12. Track: Code 83, flex, nickle silver
  13. Roadbed: Spline with 1/4 inch cork
  14. Benchwork: Open grid with risers and "glulam" beams for lateral support
  15. Backdrop: 1/4 inch hardboard painted to match the scene
  16. Number of Yards: 7
  17. Yard subbase: Plywood and "dished" to allow for car sorting
  18. Branch Lines: 3 (Keystone, Highland and Philmont)
  19. Minimum Branch radius: 24"
  20. Maximum Grade on branch lines: 3% with 5% on Logging branches 
  21. Layout height above the floor: 40" to 72"
  22. Scenery: Cardboard lattice, plaster and extruded-foam insulation board covered with plaster and topcoat
  23. Control: Digitrax Digital Command & Control (DCC) with 10 power boosters
  24. Operating Sessions; Dispatcher controlled
  25. Number of cars on the layout for operating sessions: 500
  26. Signal System, Mainline switches and Dispatcher control: Computerized using Chubb Computer Model Railroad Interface (C/MRI) system
  27. Operating Sessions: Train manifests generated using JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface) PanelPro