MR ejemplar de muestra.pdf

8/14/2019 MR ejemplar de muestra.pdf

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Dream it. Pl an it. Build it.Two Big Boy steamers reviewed

Sample issue ModelRailroader.com

How to build a realistic

mountain scene

Add a commuter stationto your railroadDesign a mid-sizedN scale layoutTune up yourtrack and trains

Add mail andexpress service

Visit a layout thats big on detailLearn the basics of coal hauling

Special free sample issue!

PROJECTS

Donner River Canyonon Pelle Seborgs

HO scale layoutPLUS
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Contents

Model Railroader (USPS 529-810, ISSN 0026-7341) is published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Periodicals postage paid at Waukesha, Wis., and additional ofces.POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Model Railroader , Kalmbach Publishin g Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Printed in USA. Canada Publication Mail Agre ement # 40010760.

From the EditorWelcome to the hobby

Information Desk Coal train transportation basics for modelers

by Carl Swanson

Scenery Step by Step Adding Milwaukee Regional Rail service to our HOscale club layout

by David Popp Online extra: MR podcast on adding commuter

operations

COVER STORY

Build a realistic mountain scene: 2 Adding scenery, terrain, and a backdrop for the HODonner River Sub

by Pelle Seborg Online extra: Daneville, Calif., Union Pacic RR in

HO PDF article

Detailed to perfection An HO Pacic Northwest layout thats big on detail by John Elwood

Designing a mid-size N scale layoutThe evolution of a track plan for an unusuallyshaped room

by Tom Danneman

Head-end equipment and operationsPart 1: Add mail and express cars to your passengercar roster

by Paul J. Dolkos Online extra: Head-end references guide for

further reading

Tune up your layoutPart 1: Use the right tools to clean track and adjustrolling stock

by Paul J. Dolkos

Product Reviews Athearn and Precision Craft Models Big Boys in HO by Jim Hediger

Sam ple issue

Subscribe today!

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Contributing to Model Railroader : We welcome contributions from our readers, including articles,photographs, and prototype drawings. For detailed information on submitting material to MR, write orcall our editorial associate. Model Railroader assumes no responsibility for the safe return ofunsolicited material. We assume unsolicited material is intended for publication by KalmbachPublishing Co. unless otherwise noted. We assume letters, questions, news releases, and club newsitems are contributed gratis.

Subscribe to Model Railroader magazinetoday and get 12 issues for just $29.95 thats more than half off the newsstand price!

Read the latest product reviews before an is-sue hits the newsstands and post commentsonlineWatch how-to and product demo videos

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And much more!

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Dont miss this amazing offer! Subscribe and jumpaboard Model Railroader , the leading magazine onmodel trains for more than 70 years! Click here >

Dream it. Plan it. Build it.Two Big Boy steamers reviewed

Preview issue ModelRailroader.com

How to build a realisticmountain scene

Add a commuter station to your railroadDesign a mid-sizedN scale layoutTune up your

track and trains

Add mail andexpress service

Visit a layout thats big on detailLearn the basics of coal hauling

Special free sample issue!

PROJECTS

Donner River Canyonon Pelle Seborgs

HO scale layoutPLUS

On the cover: Pelle Seborg gives usa good look at the new Donner RiverCanyon scene on his amazing HOscale layout. Pelle Seborg photo

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3/503 Model Railroader sample issue

From the Editor

KALMBACHPUBLISHING CO.

Subscribe now to Model Railroader >

Founder A.C. Kalmbach 1910-1981

Editor Neil BesougloffExecutive Editor Andy Spe randeo

Art Direc tor Thomas G. DannemanManaging Editor David PoppSenior Editor Jim Hediger

Associate Editor Dana Kawala

Associate Editor Cody Grivno Associate Editor Steven OtteEditorial Associate Taryn SauerEditorial Intern Colleen OKeefeContributing Editor Tony KoesterContributing Editor Lionel StrangGraphic Designer Christy WeberGraphic Designer Drew HalversonIllustrator Rick JohnsonIllustrator Jay W. SmithIllustrator Theo CobbIllustrator Roen Kelly Illustrator Kellie JaegerPhotography Supervisor William ZubackPhotographer Jim Forbes

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Dream it.Plan it. Build it.

Contributing to Model Railroader

Thanks for your interest in Model Railroader magazine, the largest-circulation magazine in the worlddevoted to the hobby of modelrailroading.

Founded in 1934, Model Railroader spotlights inspiringtrain layouts in a variety of gaugesand sizes, each accompanied by atrack plan drawn in scale to allowyou to trace the routes andfeatures of the layout yourself.

Model Railroader also offershow-to stories for beginningthrough advanced hobbyistslooking to improve their trainlayouts and model-railroadingskills. Many of these how-tostories are presented in a step-by-step manner and include full-colorcharts and diagrams to better helpyou visualize the completedproject. Topics covered includebenchwork, scenery, wiring,structures, track, and more.

Plus Model Railroader delivers

unbiased coverage of new modeltrains and related products andaccessories, everything from thenewest freight and passenger carsto Digital Command Control ofyour locomotives.

In addition, our experiencededitorial staff explains how realrailroads and equipment work ineasy-to-understand terms thatapply directly to the operation of ascale model railroad.

The special sample issue ofModel Railroader that you are

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version of an actual issue. Althoughthis special sample issue holds noteven half of the stories aboutmodel railroading we publish eachmonth, it is representative of ourregular issues, which are well over100 pages each.

Our goal is simple: to be youressential source of information forbuilding, operating, and enjoyingyour model railroad.

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We welcome contributions from our readers, including articles,photographs, and prototype drawings. For detailed information onsubmitting material to MR, write or call our editorial associate. ModelRailroader assumes no responsibility for the safe return of unsolicitedmaterial. We assume unsolicited material is intended for publication byKalmbach Publishing Co. unless otherwise noted. We assume letters,questions, news releases, and club news items are contributed gratis.

Welcome tothe hobby!Neil Besougloff, Editor
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Information Desk Carl Swanson

4 Model Railroader sample issue

Im planning a layout and I needinformation on coal transportationon the Union Pacic RR. I live innorthern Illinois, and I see unit coaltrains twice a day a loaded train

headed eastward and an emptytrain returning west. I know theresa large coal-red power plant nearJoliet, Ill., but where were these UPtrains loaded?

Joseph Felker Plaineld, Ill.

Year after year, coal dominates therailroad commodity picture. In2005 Class 1 railroads loaded 805million tons of coal thats morethan 7 mil lion carloads. Coalmakes up 42.4 percent of Class 1

freight tonnage (but only 20percent of gross revenue).Coal transportation is a big

subject, so lets look at just a singleexample: the daily UP coal trainsthat caught Joseph Felkers eye.

Midwest Generations JolietGenerating Station is a fairlytypical power plant. The station hasthree coal-red generating unitsproducing a total of 1,334 mega-watts enough to supply the electri-cal needs of 1.6 million people.

Power plants this size burnabout 4 million tons of coal a year.

If served exclusively by rail (Jolietcan also receive coal by barge), theplant would require a unit trainnearly every day.

Union Pacic delivers Joliets

unit trains to West Chicago. TheElgin, Joliet & Eastern Ry. thenbrings the trains the last few milesto the plants rotary coal dumper.

A ram arm inside the dumperbuilding moves the train forwardone car length at a time, positioningeach car on a platform over ahopper bin. A clamp holds the car inplace and the platform, car and all,rotates to dump the coal. (Cars usedin this service have rotary couplerson one or both ends.) It takes threehours to unload a train.

The rotary dumper at Joliet isadjacent to one of the massivegenerating buildings. Conveyorbelts and rotary stackers move coalacross the river to the buildinghousing the other two units.

The coal is fed into a battery ofpulverizers that reduce the lumpsto an ultra-ne powder. The powderis then blown by compressed airinto the furnace. There are oftenve or six pulverizers feeding eachfurnace with a combined output ofhundreds of tons per hour.

Power plant boiler units arerectangular towers packed withhigh-pressure water tubes. The unitsare about 50 feet on a side and oftenmore than 130 feet tall. The inside

of one of these furnaces is nothinglike the glowing bed of embers in asteam locomotive rebox pictureinstead a blowtorch ame the size ofan ofce building.

Thats what happens to the coal theUP and the EJ&E deliver to Joliet.A similar drama plays out daily atcoal-red generating plants acrossthe nation coal generates morethan half the electricity consumedin the United States, and 65 percentof that coal is delivered by rail.

But where do all those coaltrains come from? Large minesoperate across the United States.Illinois, for example, is a major coalmining state with an annualproduction of 32.1 million tons ofmedium-grade bituminous coal andproven reserves of 68.7 billion tons.

Bituminous coal has a heating value of about 11,000 BTU (BritishThermal Units) per pound. Wyo-ming sub-bituminous coal has aheating value of about 8,500 BTUper pound. But coal from Ill inois

contains more sulfur, and sulfur is

Coals never-ending boom

A BNSF unit coal t rain depar ts Wyomings PowderRiver Basin coalelds with 19,000 tons of low-sulfurcoal, likely destined for a Midwestern or Eastern

power plant. The railroad owns 300 unit train setsand contracts to haul many more unit train sets ofleased and utility-owned cars. Thomas Danneman photo

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Information Desk a pollutant that must be scrubbedfrom power plant emissions.

The need to reduce sulfuremissions likely means that thoseUP unit coal trains rolling towardJoliet were loaded in WyomingsPowder River Basin (PRB). In fact,Wyoming mines shipped 41 milliontons of coal to Illinois in 2004.

The worlds largest coal minesare found in the PRB, and Wyo-ming leads the nation in annualcoal production.

Wyoming coal is also fairlycheap, averaging $7.88 a ton in2005. For many power plants,transportation costs exceed theactual cost of the coal.

You might say Wyoming digs up alot of business for UP and BNSF,

the two giant western railroadsthat serve the states coalelds.During September 2006, UPloaded an average of 34.3 trainsper day in just the southern part ofthe basin. Union Pacic and BNSFalso jointly operate a line servingother mines in the basin, and JointLine loadings that same monthaveraged 64.5 trains per day.

The basins biggest producer isArch Coals Black Thunder mine,which recently became the rst inthe country to mine more than a

billion tons of coal. Like manywestern surface mines, BlackThunder has surprisingly fewpermanent structures just ahandful of maintenance and repairbuildings, conveyors, and loadingsilos. The coal seam is so thick thattheres no need to clean stray rocksfrom the coal. The coal is simplyscooped up, crushed to uniformsize, and loaded straight into thewaiting trains.

The mine has two unit-trainloadouts served by loop tracks.

Each of the silo-type batch loaderscan deliver coal at a rate of 6,000tons per hour. The two loop trackscan hold four 135-car unit trains.

The Wyoming coal line is as closeas a railroad can get to a license toprint money, but its amazing howexpensive those prots can be.

A 135-car unit train can weigh19,305 tons when equipped withstandard 286,000-pound grossweight hoppers. To run a thousandor so of these trains a month, a

railroad needs to spend vast sumsSubscribe now to Model Railroader >

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on track and locomotive mainte-nance and expanding sidings andyards across its system.

In spring 2006, UP and BNSFannounced they would spend $200million in the latest effort to boostthe capacity of the joint line. Theprojects include $100 million forpreliminary work on adding morethan 40 miles of third and fourthmainline tracks. This is in additionto 14 miles of a third mainlinetrack completed in 2005 and 19miles of additional third main linethat entered service in fall 2006.

But how do you go about model-ing coal transportation?

Depending on the region youremodeling, a steam- or early diesel-era layout can often include a

small mine or two. In the 1940sand 50s underground mines weremore plentiful and could be smallenough to be served by layout-friendly short cuts of cars.

If youre interested in runningunit coal trains, recite this mantra:Selective compression is myfriend. Even on Kalmbachsemployee club layout, the 1,500-square-foot HO scale Milwaukee,Racine & Troy, we run unit coaltrains with just 30 cars, which isstill impressively long.

If youre in the design phase ofyour railroad, consider adding aloads-in, empties-out operatingscheme. By placing a power planton the opposite side of a hill orbackdrop from a coal mine onyour layout, you can connect thespur tracks for both industries.This way when a train deliversloaded coal gons to the powerplant, the string of cars is pushedthrough the backdrop or under thescenery and appears at the coalmine, ready to be picked up. And

you can do the same thing withempties, keeping you from havingto physically move coal-loadinserts between cars.

Additional information can befound in Tony Koesters new book,Model Railroaders Guide to Coal

Railroading (Kalmbach 2007). MR

Send your questions about prototyperailroading to Information Desk, ModelRailroader magazine, P.O. Box 1612,Waukesha, WI 53187, or e-mail [email protected]. We regret we cant answerall the questions we receive.


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Gary Hoover has built another masterpiece. With his newSanta Fe hes gone back to Aug. 29, 1951 and is modelingspectacular western scenery. This new HO railroad replaces theold Missouri, Kansas and Quincy and runs from Chicago to SanBernardino. The scenery and structures are based on photos so theycapture the look and feel of the Santa Fe. Since the line coversRaton and Cajon youll see Union Pacific trains. Some moreforeign roads appear in Chicagos Dearborn station. The layoutis an operation oriented railfan experience based on exactSanta Fe practices including signals, train consists andschedules. Gary will SHOW you how to make a custom backdrop, add aswitch panel, make Joshua trees, and build resistancewheelsets. The layout was featured in the Oct. 2005 MR.

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7/50Subscribe now to Model Railroader >

A commuter station forMukwonago

Weve decided it would be fun toadd commuter operations to theMilwaukee, Racine & Troy. Thoughthe greater Milwaukee area doesntcurrently offer that type of publictransportation, we gured it

should. With that in mind, wepurchased some Walthers and Katobi-level cars, and our MRail(Milwaukee Regional Rail) servicewas born.

Though we had downtowncovered with a model of Milwau-

kees Amtrak station (now obsolete,by the way, due to a major renova-tion project started in late 2006),we had no other stations withpassenger platforms to speak of.After some quick survey work, the

town of Mukwonago, with itscomplete lack of nished scenery,seemed the ideal choice for our rstcommuter stop.

I contacted my friend AndyRoth, who builds commuterstations for Metra, Chicagos

Step 1 Cork ller

Passenger platforms were once a common feature of most any railroad station. Today, however, passengerplatforms are primarily found on lines that serve commuters. David Popp photos

My rst task was to build up the surrounding sceneryto the level needed for the commuter platform andparking lot. I started by attaching a plywood shelf

along the front side of the right-of-way, matching theheight of the subroadbed. This formed a level surfacefrom which to build up the rest of the station scene.

Next, as shown in the photo, I cut up various piecesof scrap HO scale cork sheets we had laying aroundand t them together to form a foundation for theparking lot, platform, and station. I cemented the corkto the plywood with latex caulk, my favorite sceneryconstruction adhesive.

To raise the station platform to something close tothe proper level, I used uncut strips of HO corkroadbed. According to my friend Andy, the front face ofa standard Metra platform is 5'-6" from the center lineof the nearest railroad track. Using a scale rule, I

positioned the cork accordingly. While I was at it, I alsobuilt a foundation for the station. I pinned the cork inplace and let the adhesive dry before starting the nextstep. In my case, that was 14 months later (weve beenpretty busy), but under normal circumstances, over-night would sufce for a drying time.

Scenery Step by Step

More on our Web siteFor more information on how Davidbuilt the commuter station scene inMukwonago, visit our Web site atwww.ModelRailroader.com .

metropolitan commuter railroadsystem. Andy sent me some helpfultips and details on how modernplatforms are built. So, armed withthis information, I set to workconstructing our rst MRail station

on the MR&T. MR

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Step 2 Wrapped in styrene

I wanted a concrete platform and anasphalt parking lot for this station, soI completely clad the cork in .030"styrene sheet to get a smooth

surface. I started by cutting styrenepieces for all the at areas, includingthe platform, depot oor, and parkinglot. I cemented these to the cork withlatex caulk.

For the depot foundation and edgesof the platform, I used .030" x .188"styrene strip, which is approximatelythe thickness of HO scale cork. I usedliquid plastic cement to glue thestyrene strips to the sheet styrenealready in place.

Next I built two pedestrian rampsand cemented them on either side of

the depot. I used .030" sheet styrenefor these as well.

To help give the styrene the look ofpoured concrete, I scribed expansion

joints in the platform every 1 2" using ahobby knife and a metal straightedge.I then sanded the surface to smoothout the small ridges formed byscribing the grooves.

Once the styrene work wasnished, I added Faller no. 180527fencing along the back of the plat-form, as shown in the second photo.

After cutting the fencing sections to

t, I glued them to the platform edgewith liquid plastic cement.Make sure you brace the fence

vertically until the cement sets. Ididnt, so some of my fence leans.(See the nished photo on theprevious page for an example.) SinceI didnt notice this until after Idpainted everything, I left it alone.

I used Model Power no. 1254streetlights for the platform lights.Though I didnt cement the lights inplace until after Id painted every-thing, I did drill holes for them. To

make it easier to feed the wiresthrough the scenery, I inserted smalllengths of coffee straws into theholes. I left the straw standing about1 8" above the surface to act as acentering peg for the streetlight.

The last thing I did to the scenebefore painting the platform was buildup the surrounding scenery withSculptamold. Andy pointed out thatMetra platforms have a ramp at eachend so snow removal equipment canclear the platform easily. I used Sculpta-mold to add that detail.

Faller 180527iron fence

Coffee straws

David Popp

Strawts insidelamp base

Styrene ramp




Step 3 Painting the platform

I masked the fence with 1" masking tape andairbrushed the platform with several coats ofPolly Scale Aged Concrete. Metra platformshave a yellow stripe about 2 feet back fromthe edge; however, in my travels around thecountry, Ive seen other commuter platformsthat have the entire front edge painted yellow.Since that approach was easier, I masked offthe front 1 4" of the platform and painted it Polly Scale CSX Yellow.

Even though you may have taken every precaution, sometimes thetape will pull up small patches of paint, like those shown in the photo.To x this, ow more paint into the holes with a small paintbrush. Onceyou do a bit of weathering, you shouldnt be able to tell where the paintwas repaired.

Next I made a wash of black paint thinned with rubbing alcohol(approximately 1 drop of paint per 50 drops of alcohol). I owed thewash over the platform, letting it settle into the expansion cracks. Inplaces where it was too dark, I blotted the wash with a paper towel.

As a nal painting step, I airbrushed the platform and railings with aweathering coat of Polly Scale L&N Gray, thinned 70 percent withrubbing alcohol. The painted and weathered platform is shown in step 5 .

Tape damage

Step 4 Blacktop work

Lot weathered with Polly Scale UP Dark Gray

I used Busch nos. 7076 and 7085 parking lot sections for the com-muter lot. These are very thin foam sheets with self-adhesive backing.While they produce a nice asphalt look, it does take some work to getthe seams to blend well between sections. Any type of pulling or prod-ding will cause the sheets to stretch, distorting the printed parkinglines. I destroyed one of the sheets that way and had to replace it, sopatience is the name of the game here. I also used the material to pavethe snow-removal ramps on the ends of the platform.

Where there were gaps between the sections, I painted the seamsPolly Scale UP Dark Gray, using a ne-tipped paintbrush. I then lightlyairbrushed the parking lot with the same color to tone down the parkingstripes and weather the foam a bit. Once the paint had dried, I usedWoodland Scenics Accent Cement to tack Pikestuff no. 1016 concreteparking bumpers at the end of each stall.

Tape protects fence

Scenery Step by Step




Step 5 Cars, people, and other details

With the parking lot paved, I turned my attention toadding the details. I purchased an assortment ofvehicles from Model Power, Atlas, Busch, and Viking.To take off some of the plastic shine, especially from

the wheels, I airbrush-weathered many of the vehicleswith a light dusting of diluted L&N Gray. I left a few asis, however, to give the appearance of clean cars. Oneextra detail Ill add when I have some time will belicense plates. The few cars that came with them lookmuch more realistic than those without.

To install the streetlights I slipped the wires intothe coffee straws and then tacked the lamp postto the platform with Accent Cement. I prefer this typeof adhesive for these detail parts because it makes iteasy to remove them if needed.

The depot itself is a long-out-of-production Clousermodel that wed had knocking around the MR&T foryears. I spruced it up by adding window glazing,

station signs, and shades, and then weathered it abit to make it look like it was an old station that hadbeen renovated for commuter service. With the depotin place, I installed benches, garbage cans, and amailbox on the platform. Many of these details camefrom Model Power set no. 5710. I painted the benchesand garbage cans Polly Scale Pullman Green.

The last details to go into the scene were thepeople. I used a variety of Woodland Scenics,Preiser, and Model Power gures for the platform.Commuters typically ride the same trains everyday,and they know where those trains stop on theplatform. As a result, they tend to gather right wherethe car doors will be. Before cementing the people in

place, I parked a three-car train at the station andthen placed the majority of the passengers near thetrain doors.

With the Mukwonago station complete, I canmove on to adding MRail commuter service to thetowns of Big Bend, Lake Beulah, and Williams Bay.

Straw acts asmounting post

Parking bumpersSnow ramp

Preiser gures

Model Powerbenches andgarbage bin

People groupedby train doors

License plate



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Tall trees, clear streams, andrugged rocks are all par t of theexcitement of mountain scenery.Follow along as expert modelerPelle Seborg explains how heconstructed this impressive sceneon his HO scale layout.


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Build a

realisticmountain scene H O W T O

N othing says mountain railroading quite like a trainwinding its way through deep tunnels or along thebanks of an isolated river canyon. The impressive maj-esty of nature comes fully into its own when man-made lo-comotives, normally considered to be huge, are overshad-owed by the towering rock faces of a mountain pass. Andsome of the most memorable railroading scenes captured in

photographs and on lm feature breathtaking mountaintopography. I can think of few settings for a model railroadthat are more impressive, and with that in mind, I includedsome mountain scenery on my own layout.

In the November 2006 Model Railroader I explained howI designed the Donner River portion of my HO scale layout,as well as how I built the benchwork, laid the track, andconstructed the main bridge over the river. This month Illshow you how I made my mountain scenery.

Modeling mountain scenery can be very rewarding. Eachof the projects shown here is easy to accomplish thanks toreadily available materials and tools. With a little effort, youtoo can enjoy watching your trains work their way along atortuous route through rugged terrain. [For an in-depthlook at Pelles modeling techniques, see his new book, Moun-tain to the Desert: Building the HO scale Daneville & Donner

River , available from Kalmbach Books. Ed. ] MR

Part II: Making the hills, grass,rocks, and water for the HO scale

Donner River SubdivisionBy Pelle K. Seborg Photos by the author

I used tunnels to hide where the trains enter and exit theDonner River section of the layout, so before jumping intoconstruction of the basic terrain, I installed the tunnel linings.I used a Woodland Scenics tunnel lining form to makeHydrocal castings for the wall pieces. The process is veryeasy, and since you can remove the casting from the mold30 minutes after pouring the Hydrocal, you can make anumber of sections in one evening. Another nice feature ofthe wall sections is that the castings match the openings forWoodland Scenics tunnel portals.

I let the castings dry overnight and then stained themusing gray and black paint diluted with water. As shown in

the photo at right, I cemented the tunnel sections togetherusing Woodland Scenics Flex Paste. This product has a longdrying time, making it easy to adjust the sections. Once I hadthe tunnel walls in place (and before the paste had set), Ichecked the clearance using my largest rolling stock,including auto racks anddouble-stack cars, andthen cemented the tunnelsto the layout using moreFlex Paste.

T UNNELWALL S



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The next step was to add the basic terrain. I used extrudedfoam insulation board for my scenery because it has manyadvantages its lightweight, easy to work with, and providesa good, stable foundation for the rest of the scenery.

I started by cutting the rough shape of the basic terraincontours using a hot wire foam cutter. I glued these togetherusing Foam Tack Glue, made by Woodland Scenics, but you

can also use any foam-safe construction adhesive.For this project I tried a different approach for assembling

the foam blocks that make up the scenery. Instead oflayering them in the common wedding-cake style, I cut outproles and glued them together vertically, as shown in the

left photograph. The advantage of doing it this way is that itseasier to make rugged mountain shapes.

While working with the foam, its important to vary thecontours of the proles to create more dramatic scenery.Having a lot of dips and bulges instead of one solid rock walladds depth to the landscape, making it more realistic.

Once I was satised with how the foam scenery looked, I

sanded the seams smooth. Though rock outcroppings canhave sharp edges, erosion wears down the landscape, so themajority of topography is curved and soft looking. You cansee this effect clearly in the photo of the nished foamterrain, shown above.

F O A M

T E R R A I N

With the basic foam terrain in place, I installed the variousman-made engineering features, including bridge abutments,retaining walls, and tunnel portals.

Bridge abutments. I used several different types ofbridge abutments on the layout, including a pair of Walthersabutments and some I scratchbuilt from styrene sheet.

I painted and weathered the abutments and then installedthem under the bridges (built when I laid the track).

I supported the abutments on foam blocks to get a goodt under the bridge, and then I built up the river bank aroundthem with more foam. Youll notice in the upper left photothat very little of the abutment actually shows.

Retaining walls. Along a part of my mountain right-of-way theres a retaining wall. As shown in the photo at left, Imade the wall itself from styrene sheet, supporting it withstrips of foam insulation board. I cemented an .080" x .125"styrene strip to the top and then painted the wall a concretecolor. I mix equal parts of Testors Model Master White, GullGray, and Sand to make my concrete paint. After the paintdries, I weather the parts with a wash of diluted black paint.

Tunnel Portals. At this point, I test t the tunnel portalsand wing walls. Because I still needed to add the rockcastings and paint the scenery, I didnt install the portals justyet. I wanted to keep them from being damaged by otherscenery work, so I put them aside until the basic scenerylayer was in place. Later, I cemented them to the foam withWoodland Scenics Foam Putty.

M A N - M A D E S C E N I C F E A T U R E S

13 Model Railroader sample issue Subscribe now to Model Railroader >


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SERVI CE

R OAD

In this rugged terrain theres no service road following theright-of-way. However, with todays railroads, where there aresignals, there needs to be some sort of access road for thesignal maintainer to get to them. As in the real world I had tond the best location for my roads with as gentle a grade aspossible. As shown in the photo, I cut the road out of thefoam and then beveled the slopes and sanded the surfacessmooth so they looked natural.

Little things like service roads are important details when

it comes to creating realistic scenery.

R O CK

S

My next step was to add rock outcroppings to the foam.I made a large number of Hydrocal rock castings in variousshapes and sizes. After test-tting the castings on the foamscenery, I cemented the rocks to the layout using FoamPutty. Where two or more castings were needed closetogether, I cemented them to the layout with more Hydrocal.

If you use this method, be sure to wet the castings beforeplacing them in the wet Hydrocal, otherwise the dry rocks willdraw all the moisture out of the wet material, and the cast-ings wont stay attached to the foam.

When you press the rocks into the wet plaster, it will oozeout between the castings, which is great for lling the seams.To make the castings look like they ow together, I presscrumpled aluminum foil into the seam to shape the surface,as shown in the inset photo. The foil leaves the seam lookingvery similar to the casting itself.

BA SI C

S CENERYLAYER

The next step was to give the foam terrain a coat of at

earth-colored latex house paint. I painted the scenery in foot-square sections, being careful not to get any paint on therock castings. While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled somene sand into it. This creates an excellent base for the nextlayers of scenery products and helps prevent those materialsfrom sliding downhill.

Once the base coat of sand and paint was dry, I stainedthe rock castings, as shown in the lower photo. For this task,I used Woodland Scenics Earth Colors. These are concen-trated liquid pigments that you dilute with water to makestains. Before staining the castings, I sprayed them withwater so the casting wouldnt absorb too much pigment allat once. I then dabbed the rocks randomly with Stone Gray,Slate Gray, Raw Umber, and Burnt Umber. I nished the

processes by applying a light wash of diluted black and letthe castings dry.

More on our Web siteThe desert por tion of Pelles HO scale layout, the town of Daneville,was originally featured in the March 2005 issue of MR. To read thearticle, visit our Web site at www.ModelRailroader.com .

http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1276http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1276https://secure.kalmbach.com/offer/Default.aspx?c=ID7AMhttp://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1276https://secure.kalmbach.com/offer/Default.aspx?c=ID7AM


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B AC K D RO P Before adding any more scenery materials, I painted the

backdrop. Mike Danneman described his backdrop paintingtechniques in the October 2004 MR in great detail, and I usea similar method. The important thing is to paint the back-drop before youve added any of the tall scenic elements thatwill stand in front of it.

After painting the sky blue (something Id done beforestarting the scenery project), I began by painting the distantmountains. As shown in the upper photo, I used oil paints

(acrylics would also work), choosing light blue/green shadesfor the background mountains. I blended darker tones intothe wet paint to make shadows.

Next, I painted the closer hills with greener colors but alsoincluded some beige and brown shades. Even though itdoesnt look like it, Ive added some blue and white to thecolors to tone them down. Otherwise, the greens and brownswould be unrealistically bright. I used a couple of photos ofthe Feather River region as a guide for my color selections.Its easier to make the backdrop look realistic if you paintfrom photos of actual locations.

With the hills in place, it was time to paint a zillion pinetrees. I didnt make a big deal out of painting exact trees. I

just dabbed them on using a darker shade of blue/green.

Most of the backdrop will be covered by trees and busheswhen the scenery is com-pleted, so the backdrop trees

just need to give the impres-sion that there are morebeyond the modeled ones.

Painting my backdrop took just a couple hours, and whileyou could paint a more-detailed scene if you prefer,as shown in the photo at left,it doesnt take that muchdetail to make an effectivemountain backdrop.

2 N DSC E N E R Y L A Y E R

The second scenery layer adds much of the ground coverfor the mountain scene. As shown above, I used a variety ofmaterials to produce well-textured and detailed groundcover. To begin I poured four soil colors (all from ArizonaRock and Mineral) in plastic cups, including Earth, OrangeSoil, Cajon Sandstone, and High Desert Soil. I also worked



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with several sizes and colors of talus, from WoodlandScenics, as well as some of the rms static grass.

To apply the ground cover, I brushed thinned white glueon a foot-square section of scenery. With the glue in place, Ipoured small amounts of each of the four soil colors onto asmall square of cardboard. I then gently blew the soil blendinto the wet area, repeating this process until the entiresection was covered.

Next, I soaked the soil with wet water (water diluted withrubbing alcohol), being careful not to wash the scenery mate-

rials down the slopes. I then applied small talus bouldershere and there, sprinkling them on the surface of the wetscenery with a spoon, as shown in the photo at right. To xthe materials in place, I covered everything with thinnedwhite glue (1 part glue diluted with 3 parts water), again beingcareful not to wash away the soil and talus.

Once the glue was applied, I added more soil as neededand some static grass.

BALLA T

The next step was to ballast the track. As shown in thephoto, I spread the ballast with a wide soft brush, workingdown the center of the track rst and then shaping the sidesof the r ight-of-way.

To x the ballast in place, I soaked it with wet water andthen applied diluted white glue. Dips and low areas in thelandscape create small ponds of glue. I made drain holes forthese by pushing a screwdriver through the foam and thenplacing a cup below the hole to catch the glue.

RIV

ER

Once the entire area around the river was covered withsoil, grass, and ballast, I could then concentrate on DonnerRiver itself. Before applying any scenery materials in the

riverbed I drilled a couple of drain holes for the glue in theplywood base. (Be sure to plug those holes before pouringthe water or youll have a mess!)

I started by applying a layer of Arizona Rock & MineralRiver Bottom to the riverbed. This is a mix of sand and gravelmaterials that look like a real mountain stream bed. To theriver-bottom mix I added a selection of various size boulders(more Woodland Scenics talus), as well as some of the rmsdeadfall tree branches to the banks. I then soaked all thesematerials with wet water, applied diluted white glue, and letthe riverbed dry thoroughly.

Riverbanks tend to have more vegetation than the higherareas, so I planted a lot of Woodland Scenics Fine LeafFoliage along the rivers edge.

I used an industrial polyester for my water, but most anyresin water product, such as Magic Water or Enviro-Tex Lite,will work. I dyed the polyester with a little tan paint and thenadded the hardener, stirring the material carefully to avoidintroducing air bubbles. Resin fumes arent good for you, sobe sure you work in a well-ventilated room. On my layout, itssummer, so the water level in the river is low. I cast the riverin two layers, approximately 1 4" each, which was sufcient.



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For pine trees I chose Woodland Scenics older pine treekits with metal armatures because they hold their shape welland can be customized easily so no two trees look exactlyalike. As I was going to make a substantial number of pinetrees, I built them 10 at a time in assembly-line fashion. Whilebuilding the trees, I drilled small holes in the bottom of thearmature and cemented a mounting wire to each trunk withcyanoacrylate adhesive. The wires make the trees easy toplant on the layout just stick the wire into the foam and they

stay put. I didnt glue the trees to my layout because I wantedthem to be easy to reposition if needed.

I used Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage for makingsmaller bushes. I added drops of white glue to the sceneryand placed the clump foliage on the wet glue. For largerbushes and smaller trees I used the rms Fine Leaf Foliage.I planted clumps of this material along the river and therailroad right-of-way. As shown in the photo below, I alsoplanted various-size bushes around the rock outcroppings.This is an important detail to remember because even inareas where you dont think anything can grow, theres oftena surprising amount of vegetation.

With the foliage in place, all that was left to do was cleanthe track, and then I could enjoy running trains through the

canyon on my Donner Subdivision.

T R E ES A N D B US H ES

A unit coal train makes its way through Donner River Canyon, bat tling the stiff grade on its ght to reach the summit.One reason mountain scenes look spectacular on a layout is that the massive scenery dwarfs the trains.



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Detailed to


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perfection


By John Elwood Photos by Lou Sassi

I remember reading the editorial writ-ten by Andy Sperandeo in the May1994 Model Railroader . It was titledSearching for smaller model rail-roads. You see, MR had conducteda survey of its readers and found thatthe average-size model railroad wasapproximately 215 square feet. Thoughit was nearly 10 years later that I sub-mitted an article on my layout, at ap-

proximately 250 square feet, it appearsthat my HO scale Olympic & PugetSound Railway ts into that average-size category nicely.

When designing the O&PS, I startedby making a list of features I wanted itto include. I knew I wanted the nishedlayout to create the feeling of mountainrailroading, with its bridges and tres-tles; however, I also wanted it to displaymy passion for maritime modeling.And, I wanted the layout to have a largesawmill as well.

With those things in mind, I set my

model railroad in the Pacic Northwestin the early 1950s. My Olympic & PugetSound Ry. is a ctitious branch line ofthe Northern Pacic that starts at theNPs yard in Tacoma, Wash., and headswest onto the Olympic Peninsula. Thisregion gave me the scenic features Iwas looking for in a realistic setting.With my theme decided, I moved on todesigning a track plan.

Like most model railroads, the sizeof my layout was dictated by the avail-able space. My layout resides in aroughly 14 x 16-foot alcove in my base-

ment, and once Id started working outthe track plan, I quickly understoodthat Id get the best use out of my areaby working with a single-track mainline. Also, one of the things I wanted inwhatever railroad I ended up buildingwas that it would give me the option forcontinuous running. This way I couldeasily display the railroad for visitors.

After struggling with several of myown track plan ideas, I happened uponTerry Walshs West Agony & InchoateRR in the August 1960 issue of MR.The layouts track plan was compact,

yet designed for operation, and it t ina room smaller than mine. In the end, Iadapted much of Terrys plan, but inexpanding the design to t my space, Irearranged the yard and the industriesto suit my needs.

The nished plan for my O&PS Ry.features a 100-foot mainline run but

1. Northern Pacic 2-6-2 no. 2345switches the town of Puget Mills onJohn Elwoods HO scale layout. Johnssmall model railroad is packed withdozens of detailed craftsmen kit andscratchbuilt structures.

An HO scale Pacic Northwest-theme layoutthats big on detail


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Sawmill

Accesshatch

AmericanBoathouse

WymanLumber Co.

Depot

Lighthouse

Puget Mills

Texacogas station

Duckunder

Georgetown

Puyallup River

Canning Co.Rock bunker

Coal tower

Icingplatform

Enginehouse

Lift bridge

TACOMA

Sewall's Foundryand AbramsonConstruction

ChesterRawlings Co.

Less-than-carload-lot

Ambassador HotelTower

Collett Tractor& Equipment

YakimaFruit Growers

Depot

Kent Coal Co.

LakeQuinault

Olympic & Puget Sound Ry.HO scale (1:87.1)Layout size: 15'-0"x 16'-4"Scale of plan: 3 8" = 1'-0", 12" gridNumbered arrows indicate photo locations

50"46"

46"

46"

46"

46"

46" 50"

50"

9

8

25

7

Cover

6

3

1

4Duckunder


Name: Olympic & Puget Sound Ry.Scale: HO (1:87)Size: 12 x 16 feetPrototype: Northern Pacic and

Great NorthernTheme: freelanced Tacoma, Wash.,

and Puget Sound area

Era: early 1950sStyle: around the room shelfMainline run: 100 feetMinimum radius: 24"Turnout minimum: no. 4Maximum grade: 2 1 2 percentLayout height: 46" to 50"Benchwork: 1 x 4 open gridRoadbed: cork on 1 x 3 boardsTrack: Shinohara code 100 extrackScenery: hardshellBackdrop: painted drywallControl: cab control with one

Aristo-Craf t wireless throttle

Layout at a glance

Illustration by Rick Johnson and Elisabeth Kelly

2. A 2-8-2 is big power for the Olympic & Puget Sound. John modeled thebridge after one on the Valley RR in Essex, Conn.


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without the feel of spaghetti-bowl rail-roading. The layout has two separate

towns, features a lot of switching work,and allows operators to run trains in aprototypical fashion.

Following the main lineLets take a look at my O&PS, follow-

ing the main line around the layout.Tacoma yard is the staging point for all

Car no. Type Destination a

Switch list Date:

3. The Dowd sawmill is always a busy place. Here we see the crew of Great Northern Consolidation no. 1246 picking up

some loaded lumber atcars. The 2-8-0 is an old Pacic Fast Mail brass import.

The yardmaster at Tacoma prepares alist of the cars in the train and wherethey need to be set out, using thissimple switch list form.

4. The American Boathouse is one ofthe main structures on the waterfrontat Puget Mills. John built the model ofthe shing boat and the marine railwayusing one at the Mystic SeaportMuseum, in Connecticut, as a guide.


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trains heading west onto the OlympicPeninsula. The O&PS shares trackagerights with the Northern Pacic andthe Great Northern, so much of therolling stock and motive power on theline comes from these two railroads.

After leaving the yard heading west,the line crosses the Puyallup River on a

Scherzer rolling lift bridge. The mainline then climbs into the mountains ona 2.5 percent grade. Along the way thetracks push through a rock tunnel andcross two curved wood trest les.

After passing a small water tank,the line enters the town of LakeQuinault. This is an active town, fea-turing a passenger station, four indus-tries, and a less-than-carload-lot (LCL)dock. The O&PS uses a gas-electric forpassenger service on the branch, andLake Quinault is a regular stop.

Continuing west, the main line headsdowngrade to the waterfront town of

Puget Mills. On the outskirts of town isa busy sawmill. I scratchbuilt the com-plex in 1976, and the Narrow GaugeGazette featured my mill in the May/June 1979 issue. There is no log dumpas logs are rafted in, pulled by tugboat.

The waterfront in Puget Mills fea-tures a steamboat wharf, boat repair

shed, and a marine supply store thatincludes a gas dock for small pleasurecraft. I put a lot of detail into this scene,and it includes speedboats, a shingboat, and the steam tug Lorraine J. Theres also a lighthouse. This area isequipped with sound effects, so visi-tors can hear seagulls and other water-front noises, as well as the occasionalblast of the lighthouses fog horn.

From Puget Mills, the tracks passthrough another tunnel that leads backto staging, giving me the continuous-run feature I wanted for display pur-poses. When we operate the layout,

Puget Mills is the end of the line, so wedont use the connecting loop track.

Building the layoutIm a rm believer in solid bench-

work. With the advantage of havingconcrete walls around most of the rail-road, I bolted the benchwork to thewalls every 24". I also bolted each 2 x 2support leg into the concrete oor. Theframework is made from 1 x 4s built insections. Those sections are then bolt-ed together to form a solid base.

I covered the at areas, includingTacoma Yard, Lake Quinault, andPuget Mills with 1 2" plywood and thencemented 1 2" Homasote on top of it.The rest of the main line is supportedon risers. I built the subroadbed using

1 x 3 pine boards laid at. My curvedroadbed is made using a quadrant tech-nique. Each 90 degree arc consists ofthree straight sections, each covering30 degrees. I cut 15-degree angles onthe ends of each segment and splice thesections with a small piece of 1 4" ply-wood glued underneath.

I used cork roadbed for the entirerailroad. On top of that I laid Shino-hara code 100 extrack and turnoutsfor the main line. I also used some code70 extrack on the sidings and spurs.All my trestles and bridges featurehandlaid rail. I painted and weathered

5. John is a rm believer that detailsequal realism, and even a simplescene like the Abramson Construc-tion Co., here is no exception.The crane started as a model from

Vintage Vehicles, which John super-detailed and tted with a delicateSheepscot boom.


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7. Northern Pacic 2-6-2 no. 2345passes the depot at Lake Quinaultwith a local freight. The crew will workseveral of the industries in townbefore proceeding to Puget Mills.


the track with a combination of FloquilRust and Roof Brown.The Olympic & Puget Sound is wired

for DC cab control. Power is suppliedto the railroad using MRC power packs,but the main line can be run off theyard throttle or from a wireless Aristo-Craft cab. Since my layout has duck-unders, the wireless throttle is reallyhelpful, and I enjoy running trainsfrom either inside or outside the lay-out. Ive used my current system forabout 30 years and have enjoyed nearlyawless operation. As a result, I have

no plans to convert the layout to DigitalCommand Control.

Details equal realismEver since I started in the hobby, Ive

been fascinated with realistic struc-tures and scenery. After building myrst two Fine Scale Miniatures kits inthe mid-1970s, I discovered that real-ism is in the details. Soon after that Igot to visit George Sellioss Franklin &South Manchester, and it pushed meinto a modeling direction that contin-ues to this day building realistic,highly detailed models and scenery.

My O&PS currently features ten FineScale Miniatures structures, includingthe rst craftsman kit I ever built, FSMdepot kit no. 110. Ive augmented thesewith several craftsman kits f rom othermanufacturers, including Builders-in-Scale and Campbell Scale Models. Ialso have a few brick buildings from

various companies.

I particularly enjoy scratchbuildingwood structures. Visitors to my layoutmay recognize many small structuresthat I scratchbuilt from photographs of

6. Puget Mills wharf is the perfectplace to spend the day watching trainsand taking in the sights and sounds ofthe bay. The throttle and control panelare mounted in a retractable drawer.


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John Elwood has been modeling inHO scale since 1972, and he nowcalls the hobby his mild obses-sion. Since retiring from theconstruction industry, John nowhelps others build their layouts aswell. He is a charter member of the

Valley HO Trak modular club in

Connecticut and is also a memberof the Friday Knights of the Road, around-robin modeling club.

John has been married to hiswife, Lorraine, for 42 years. Theyhave three grown daughters andve grandchildren.

Meet John Elwood

Pine trees are in abundance on theO&PS. Many of the trees on the layoutare Heki ready-made models, but I didmake some of the taller ones by carv-ing balsa trunks and adding branches

made from caspia ferns. I also plantedhundreds of dyed jute twine weeds.Among the weeds and trees Ive placedmany mini scenes and details, whichhave a way of tying the layout together.

For modeling water, I used Enviro-Tex resin. Rather than struggle withteasing the resin into waves, I chose tolet the material dry at. For the pondsand even the waterfront, which I mod-eled at low tide, the smooth surfacelooks quite natural. However, for thestream, I coated the surface with Liq-uitex Gloss Medium and Varnish to

suggest running water.Operation

We operate the O&PS along ideassimilar to those presented in the No-

vember 1992 MR article, How to oper-ate a small layout realistically. Eachmainline industry is listed on a tabbedindex card and placed in a small lebox. Behind each tabbed industry cardwe place four additional cards, eachwith a different daily car requirementfor that business.

For example, a card for the YakimaFruit Growers may state that today the

buildings on Georges F&SM layout. Idetail my structures to what I call aplausible level, being careful not tooverdo it. Having too much detail can

detract from realism as much as nothaving enough.Although I model the Pacic North-

west, Ive never been there. Instead,my maritime knowledge comes fromthe coasts of Maine and Connecticut. Itend to model what I like, as opposed togeographical prototype. For example,the American Boathouse building isalmost identical to a structure of thesame name in Camden, Maine. Thisstarted as a Builders-in-Scale kit, but Iopened up the large doors and added atypical marine railway into the build-ing. The interior walls are nished with

1 x 6 sheathing and 2 x 4 framing. I thenadded the appropriate workbenches andmachinery, as well as lighting.

My 36-foot shing boat, the Hailey ,is a western-rigged dragger. For thehull, I used a kit from Sierra West. Ithen scratchbuilt the rest from the deckup using photos of the real boat, whichis still aoat at the Mystic Seaport Mu-

seum in Connecticut.Scenery made easy

Though my buildings and boats maybe complex, my scenery techniques arestraightforward. For the base scenerylayer I used the hardshell technique,working with Hydrocal-soaked papertowels and plaster gauze.

After painting the scenery, I coveredall of the land features with real dirt,sifted through a tea strainer and apiece of nylon stocking. I then applied

various shades and sizes of WoodlandScenics ground foam.

8. The O&PSs gas-electric carcrosses a plate girder bridge andtrestle on its way from Puget Mills toTacoma. The doodlebug is the mainpassenger service on the line.


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9. Following slow orders, NP 2-6-2 no.2345 creeps across the branch linestall trestle on its way to Lake Quinault,

just west of the bridge.


company needs two iced reefers forfruit loading. Other days it may needonly one or perhaps an occasionalboxcar loaded with wood for makingcrates. There may also be exceptions

where nothing is delivered to that spe-cic industry. All the industries on thelayout have similar scenario cards.

When the Tacoma yardmaster goeson duty, he pulls the rst scenario cardfor each industry in the box. Using theyards 0-8-0 switch engine, the yard-master then pulls the required carsfrom the yard to make up the localtrain. Once he has the train together,he lls out a switch list, like the oneshown on page 47, detailing which carsare to be dropped off for the industrieson the line. He then places the car re-quirement cards back in the box, be-

hind the remaining cards for each ofthose industries.

Next, the yardmaster selects an ap-propriate engine and caboose for thetrain, and the local is now ready to de-part. The crew for that train receivesthe switch list and heads out down theline to switch the industries at LakeQuinault and Puget Mills. Following

the procedure in the 1992 MR article,if there is a car at an industry, it mustbe replaced with the new one. This waythe train picks up empties and loads totake back to the yard as the crew workstheir way along the railroad.

Once the crew has nished switch-ing the line, they must turn the train atPuget Mills (the loop track back to theyard is off limits) for its return trip toTacoma. My operators and I have beenusing this system for seven years, andit continues to challenge us. We cankeep the crew busy switching for aslong as two hours.

Reections on the layoutThe late Jim Findley of Tioga Pass

RR fame once remarked that, Eachmodel railroad reects its builder. Lay-outs have only one thing in common they all exemplify the enjoyment real-ized as each individual re-creates hisminiature world as he sees it.

My Olympic & Puget Sound Ry. has

certainly done that for me. The layouthas allowed me to create and displaymy artistic interests that followed mefrom my childhood.

More importantly, however, I havedeveloped numerous friendships overthe past 30 years that could have comeonly through our common interest inthis hobby. My friends have providedme with constant inspiration to doquality work, and that inspiration isalso reected through their talents andenjoyment of model railroading. Tothis end, I believe that model railroad-ing is truly a great hobby. MR


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T heres nothing like the thought ofmoving to get the layout-designideas owing. Though I was wellon the way to completing my N scaleMontana Rail Link (MRL) layout, theplan for which was featured in the Au-gust 2003 Model Railroader , Id alwaysknown that my layout was temporary.

Due to the limited space in our tinycondominium, the railroad was much

smaller than I really wanted (though atleast I had a layout). And, because wewere starting a family, I knew that mywife and I probably wouldnt be livingthere long. So the discussions of need-ing more living space brought alongwith them the dream of building a big-ger layout.

When we started house hunting, oneof the things I kept in the back of mymind was the layout potential of thebasement. I wanted to nd a house witha basement that was nished and hadplenty of open space. In the end, thehouse we purchased had a basement

with a nished family room and two ad-ditional rooms any of which was well-suited for building a model railroad.

At rst I gured I would use the n-ished part of the basement for the lay-out. This way Id have the room to buildthe empire Id always wanted. But laterI realized that I didnt really want a

railroad that was so large it would takeme several decades to build.What I did want was something that

was bigger than my condominium lay-out I wanted a longer main line thatwould allow me to run more trains andhave more scenery. So, instead of look-ing at the nished part of the base-ment, I cast my eye on one of the sepa-rate rooms, an important feature ofwhich was a door. This way I couldkeep the layout a manageable size in aroom isolated from what has now be-come our family room.

Time to designI must admit that I can visualize

track plans, but Im not very good at put-ting them down on paper. My brother,Mike, had helped me design my lastlayout, so once again I put him to work.I sent him the rooms basic oor plan,which had an unusual angular shape.

While I was at it, I also sent the oorplan to friend and former Kalmbachcorporate art director Bill Edgar to seewhat he could come up with for thespace. I gave both him and Mike a listof my layout criteria. Some items on

the list included having as much main-line running as possible and a largeyard to store and switch trains. Justlike my rst layout, I also wanted thisrailroad to be based on the MontanaRail Link and to include scenes fromaround Helena, Mullan Pass, and Lom-bard Canyon, Mont.

When I got the plans back, Mike haddrawn three versions and Bill another.The evening I got the plans, I staredat the drawings for hours thinkingabout all the possibilities. They wereall good designs, and in some respects,I could have used any of them.

However, after looking closer at theplans I noticed some undesirable fea-tures. Some designs didnt t the sce-nic characteristics I wanted, and otherplans had narrow aisles and duck-unders. At rst, I wanted nothing to dowith a design that required me to get

on my hands and knees or to buildcomplicated drop-down sections to getin and out of the layout room. But, asyoull see from the nal plan, I con-cluded compromises were necessary.

All the plans gave me a great learn-ing experience in layout design. Followalong as I explain my thoughts on theadvantages and disadvantages of eachtrack plan, and why with some ne-tuning, certain features of each planwon out in the end. MR

DESIGNING A MID-SIZE N SCALE LAYOUT

The evolution of a trackplan for an unusuallyshaped roomBy Tom Danneman

Track plans by Mike Danneman

and Bill Edgar

A westbound BNSF Ry. freightworks upgrade across AustinCreek trestle near Skyline, Mont.

Tom Danneman photo



Numerous spursand industries

Prototype scenery would requirehiding much of the main line

Main line crossesitself unprototypically

Entrance to theroom is difcult

Main level

Plenty of staging andgood operating potential

1


TRACK PLAN 1 Two-level plan

Track plan 1

Pros Yards on upper and lower level for

staging and switching trains Numerous spurs and industries for

switching

Trackwork provides good operatingpotential

Cons Main line crosses over itself, something

the MRL doesnt do Prototypical scenery would require

hiding much of the main line Entrance to the room needs a duck-

under or lift-out section

Id not originally thought of having two levels, but I was intrigued by this plansince it included a long main line and a yard, two of my design criteria.

The plan has yards on both levels, which would satisfy my need for space tostage and switch trains. With the numerous spurs and industries, this track planalso offers a lot of switching. Its twice-around main line also provides some goodoperating potential.

However, one of the rst things I did when I saw each of the plans was visualizehow the track arrangements would t with the regions of the Montana Rail Link Iwanted to model. This proved to be Plan 1s main sticking point.

Since the MRL doesnt physically cross over itself or another railroad (either viaan overhead bridge or at grade), I just couldnt visualize my favorite MRL sceneswithout having to hide a lot of the main line. It would also have to be modied toinclude a duckunder or lift-out section at the door. I was afraid that this additionwould change the entire track arrangement of the layout.

However, if I wanted to freelance a little more than I did, or if I were modelinganother railroad, this plan might work well.

Illustrations by Theo Cobb



No doorwayobstructions

Nice scenicopportunities

No sidings

Main linecrossesitselfunprototypically

2

Missouri River

Optional branch linebut limited branchoperation

Lombard siding

Austin Creek Trestle

Optional tunnel

Lift-out girder bridge

Future extension

Helena industries28"

DepotHelper pocket

HELENA

Curvy main linewith siding

Numerousindustries

Good-sizeyard

Scenerymismatch

Scenes notin order

Entrance stillrequires lift-outsection


TRACK PLAN 2 Curvy main line

In some ways, this is the type of plan Id envisioned in my head before anydrawing started. I wanted a layout with no obstructions in the doorway, one or twopeninsulas, a yard, and a nice curvy main line. This plan has all of those items.

However, since the room is fairly narrow, I wasnt envisioning the awkward trackarrangement that would be necessary if I didnt have a duckunder. As I mentionedwith Plan 1, I wanted to model at least a few prototypical MRL locations. Having

the main line loop over itself twice didnt t.Not only that, but the return loops at either end took up a lot of space, limiting

the size of the yard quite a bit. Though I could do some switching in the yard, itdidnt allow for the long trains that I wanted. Also, the plan doesnt include anypassing sidings, something needed for running multiple trains in either direction.Without sidings, any opposing trains would always have to meet in the yard.

Finally, this plan included the possibility that some of the track would beinaccessible. Though I could put in access hatches, both of these things wereproblems I was trying to avoid.

Track plan 2

Pros No doorway obstructions Provides space for nice scenic

opportunities Long, winding main line

Cons Main line crosses over itself and

doubles back unprototypically for MRL No sidings for multi-train operation Track is potentially inaccessible in

some areas Turn-back loops take up too much space Yard tracks are too short



38"26"

26"

38"

This area hasprototype scenicpotential

Long main

line withsiding

Good-size yard

Straight trackworkdoesnt representprototype

No room forscenery here

Narrow aisles

Entrance requiresduckunder or

lift-out section

4

3


TRACK PLAN 3 The long peninsula

The key feature of this track plan is the long central peninsula, which greatlyextends the main line and offers some nice scenery options. This plan also keepsthe main line sincere, meaning that it doesnt run through the same scene twice(though it uses the same yard for both ends of the run).

When used in this conguration (coming from the short wall and running thelength of the room, which is already narrow), however, the peninsula also has its

drawbacks. The peninsula intrudes into the aisle space, making the walkwaystight. Also, the space taken up by the peninsula and the remaining aisles leavesvery little room for scenery along the wall opposite the yard. The passing sidingsits on a long, narrow shelf. The other problem with this plan is that it has a lot ofstraight track. While that will work well for some railroads, the design lacks thecurvy quality of the prototype Montana Rail Links main line.

However, despite its straight track, I really could start to visualize MRL sceneswith this design. The yard could easily be a miniature version of the prototype yardin Helena. And I could see a curved steel bridge, like Austin Creek trestle on theprototype, at the peak of the peninsula. We were denitely getting closer.

Right off the bat, this was the one I thought had the most to offer. It had a yard,turntable, plenty of industry tracks, and a good mainline run. The aisle width wasalso much better than Plan 3 it was really coming together.

As a special note, there is a pair of tracks at the lef t end of the yard that headfor the wall for future expansion. Okay, so maybe I can still have that empire if I justtunnel through the wall and extend the railroad out into the nished part of thebasement. Ill save that idea for another day, but its always good to plan ahead.

As wonderful as it was from the start, however, I did have a couple of issueswith this plan. I wondered if I could get more out of that optional branch line thatstub ends off of the main. I also wondered how I could transition from Lombardsiding to the Austin Creek trestle. The scenery around the real Lombard siding isdry and arid looking with brightly colored rock formations, whereas the areaaround the trestle is more wooded with lighter gray and white rock.

I was also hung up on the fact that when running a train from Helena yard westtowards the trestle, it would pass through Lombard siding and then cross AustinCreek trestle. Lombard siding on the prototype is east of Helena, so if youre goingwest from Helena, you wouldnt go through Lombard. All were points to consider.

Track plan 3

Pros Long main line with sidings Good-size yard Plan has prototype scenic possibilities

Cons Relatively narrow aisles Straight track doesnt represent the

prototype Back shelf doesnt provide room for

scenery Requires a duckunder or lift-out

section to enter room

TRACK PLAN 4 The big yard

Track plan 4

Pros Curvy main line with sidings

Good-size yard Plan offers possible future extension Numerous industries for switching Optional branch line

Cons Scenes not in correct order for

prototype running Scenery mismatches because of the

close proximity of various scenes Optional branch line is limited Still requires a duckunder or lift-out

section to enter room



5

Truss bridge onlift-out section

HelenaRoundhouse

Cement Plant

Wall

Mullan T

Mountain ridge

Austin Creek Trestle

Future extension

Engine service

Gooyard

Good prototyscenery optio

Space to runlong trains

Duckunder/lift-outsection required


To make the nal plan, I tweakedversion 4, starting with the trackarrangements around Helena Yard. I didthis by placing paper overlays on theexisting plan on a light table anddrawing in the new track layouts.

I made the changes after looking atthe prototype Helena Yard on GoogleEarth (www.googleearth.com). The Website provides detailed high-resolutionsatellite imagery. This is a wonderfultool to use for planning especiallywhen youre 1,400 miles away from thesubject. With Google Earth I could seethe exact track arrangement of parts ofHelena Yard and the surrounding area.This also let me see the relation ofnearby structures to the track.

By no means did I make the plan anexact replica, but I was able to get a

fairly realistic version of the trackarrangements around the turntable anddiesel servicing area, as well as thearea west of the yard.

As I mentioned in plan 4, I washung up on Lombard siding. EventuallyI just skipped trying to model Lombardand concentrated on the east side ofMullan Pass instead. It was simple toreplace the Missouri River with ameandering creek (Greenhorn Creek)which runs along the MRL as you climbout of Helena toward the ContinentalDivide. This also meant changing the

siding name to Austin, the rst passingtrack west of Helena. Finally, it madesense to me.

While I was at it, I moved the tunnelbeyond Austin Creek trestle backaround the curve a little. Ill model theportal after the one at the east endof Mullan Tunnel, which includes aventilation system.

The last part of the plan I worked onwas the branch line. Again, I wanted totie it in with a prototype, so I chose theBurlington Northern (now BNSF) Helena-Great Falls branch that splits off the

MRL at East Helena. I added a wye tothe plan, following the prototype.

Track plan 5

Pros Long, curvy main line with sidings Good-size yard Space to run long trains Operating branch line Numerous spurs and industries for

switching Good prototype scenery options

Room for future expansion Lower-level staging keeps the yard clear

of staged trains

Cons Some hidden track

Compromises Duckunder or lift-out section required to

enter the room

Big ideas for the branch. Instead ofterminating the branch like it was onPlan 4, I sent the track into a tunnel thathad a hidden reverse loop. This way Icould run a train down the branch andhave it come back later. The Helena-

Great Falls line has some interestingtunnels, so it wasnt much of a stretch.

Then an even bigger lightbulb turnedon. What if I expanded on that idea andmade a whole new lower level with astaging yard, similar to the rst plan?Now we were talking! After sharing

these ideas with Mike, he went back tohis drawing board and came up withthe plan you see here. I was sold!

I now had a two-level layout. The mainlevel is plenty in itself, but now I have aneight-track staging yard with a runaround

track. The shortest staging track is awhopping 12 feet in length, so my trainscan be relatively long. Since this plan hascopious amounts of staging, Helena Yardcan be used primarily for switchinginstead of train storage, making thelayouts operation more realistic.

TRACK PLAN 5 - The nal plan (2 levels)



591 4"

561 2"581 4"

581 2"

28"

Austin Road Austin Siding

Greenhorn Creek

Gravel road

Grain elevator

BNSF Great Falls Line

Elevator

Helper pocketLoading platform

Montana Avenue

National Avenue

Golf course

Roberts StreetNorthern Pacic steamlocomotive in park

Radio tower Parking lot

Combination girder/woodtrestle over road/creek

HELENA

Montana Rail Link's Third Subdivision

N scale (1:160)Room size: 9'-1" x 16'-5"Scale of plan: 3 4" = 1'-0", 12" grid

All turnouts Peco large radius

Tunnel ventilation structures

Depot

Long, curvy main line

Numerous spursand industries

Operating branch line

8-track staging yard

2 percent gradeHelix toseparate

decks To Helena(upper deck)

Runaround track

20" leads (long enoughfor four SD-type diesels)

Lower-level staging

Lower-level staging keepsyard clear of staged trains

Some hidden track

511 2"

561 2"

48"

Model Railroader sample issue

Name: Montana Rail Link ThirdSubdivision

Scale: N (1:160)Size: 9'-1" x 16'-5"Prototype: Montana Rail Link

Era: 1990sStyle: around the wallsMainline run: 40 feet Minimum radius: 18", except

where markedMinimum turnout: Peco large radiusMaximum grade: 2 percentHeight: 48" to 60 1 4"

Track plan at a glance

Mike also designed an ingeniousway of getting the trains to switchdirections in staging. Instead of havinga space-consuming return loop, theplan has two 20" leads at the end of theyard. I can pull a train into staging,

uncouple as many as four locomotives,pull onto one of the lead tracks, andthen run around the train on therunaround track. The train is then readyto go back to the main level.

In my view I now have the perfecttrack plan for my space.


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Mail and express cars were an important part of passenger-train consists

By Paul J. Dolkos Photos by the author except where noted

Part 1Head-end equipmentand operations

A s ubiquitous as coaches may seemin railroad passenger car rosters,baggage, express, and mail carsoutnumbered them. And even as travel-ers deserted the rails after World WarII, the non-passenger-carrying equip-ment up front, commonly known as

head-end cars, remained chock-full ofparcels, mail, money, perishables, liveanimals, newspapers, and magazines.

Head-end trafc was heavy and therevenues signicant: about 35 percentof mid-1950s passenger service reve-nues. It was often the rationale for run-

ning many trains. Baggage car isusually a misnomer because there wasrelatively little checked passenger bag-gage on board most trains. The termbaggage-express car, used by severalrailroads, is a better indication of howsuch equipment was used.


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