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PRODUCTS
Scale: 1⁄2" = 1'-0"12" grid18" minimum radiusNo. 8 turnouts
Skyline Trestle
Five-track staging yard
ssouri River
Lombard siding (10 feet long)
Mullan Tunnel
Bozeman Tunnels
Mountain ridge high enough to hide staging
This track supported above staging yard by shelf brackets
Curved
Bridge with Montana R Link logo
3 percent up
3 percent
Forest road
Highway disappears behind hills
4.375"
0
0
0
2.125"
1.75"
5"
I N F O R M AT I O N S TAT I O N
Room-size model railroads
Iwanted out of my apartment! Forseveral years, I had collected Nscale locomotives and rolling stockhoping that one day I could buildmy Montana Rail Link empire. But
my apartment had absolutely no roomfor even a tiny layout. There clearly wasonly one thing to do – move! So I did.
Mind you, I still won’t be able tobuild that dream mile-for-mile MullanPass empire, but I will soon be able tosee all of my locomotives and rollingstock running on my very own N scale6'-6" x 12-'9" layout.
The space and the planI’ve always wanted my layout to be
in a comfortable setting. The space Ihave is a small basement that waslargely finished when I moved in, but Imade a few improvements before start-ing the layout. I installed new flooringand trim and did some other work tocreate a room that would be a nicespace even without a model railroad.
The next step was to come up with aplan. I enlisted my brother Mike forhelp. A few years ago, he designed andbuilt an apartment-sized layout basedon the Denver & Rio Grande Western,and is now working on a much largerRio Grande empire in his home.
I told Mike that I wanted my layoutto be scenery-driven and include Mul-lan Pass west of Helena, and LombardCanyon, which is between Bozeman
and Helena. I also provided the dimen-sions of the room (11'-0" x 14'-9"), alongwith the positions of the closets anddoors and the clearance a person wouldneed to move around the layout.
Mike soon designed the L-shapedtrack plan you see on page 96. This lay-out will provide plenty of mainline run-ning, a siding where trains can meet, ashort industry track, and a staging yard.
The staging yard was an importantfeature to me since all that rolling stockthat was buried in boxes could be kept
on the layout, ready to roll. It alsoallows me to store different types oftrains staged to run, such as a graintrain, a coal train, an intermodal train,as well as MRL’s own manifest freight,which is referred to as the LM and ML(Laurel to Missoula and Missoula toLaurel). I can even throw in a local forgood measure.
Inspired by Big Sky countryEven though the plan was based on
Lombard Canyon and Mullan Pass, I
By Tom DannemanPhotos by the author
Big sky(small room)
track planThree distinct Montana Rail Linkvignettes highlight thisN scale track plan
ROOM-SIZEDMODEL RAILROADS
was able to sneak another location intothe mix. I decided to model the twintunnel portals located on the west sideof the apex of Bozeman Pass. Therereally are two portals at West End. Oneis the existing tunnel Montana Rail Linkuses today. The other is the original1883 tunnel that Northern Pacific useduntil 1945, when a new 3,015-foot tun-nel was completed. Built at a cost of$1.25 million, the new tunnel accom-modated the massive Z-5 class 2-8-8-4sthat were used on this line.
Obviously, the MRL doesn’t use theold tunnel, but I’m applying a little“modeler’s license” here. That’s whatmakes model railroading fun!
The layout’s centerpiece is the por-tion that resembles Mullan Pass and, inparticular, Skyline Trestle (above) – oneof a pair of spectacular curved steeltrestles that grace the east slope of Mul-lan Pass.
Mullan Pass has a stiff 2.2 percentgrade, which crests at the continentaldivide, just outside the west portal.
Montana Rail Link’s train ML (Missoula-Lau-rel) glides down the 2.2 percent grade of theeast slope of Mullan Pass and over SkylineTrestle. The trestle and its surroundings arethe centerpiece of this compact track plan.
Semaphores
Scale: 1⁄2" = 1'-0"12" grid18" minimum radiusNo. 8 turnouts
Lombard Canyon
Skyline Trestle
MONTANA RAIL LINKFive-track staging yardTrack disappears in cut
Curved turnouts
Curved turnouts
Missouri River
Lombard siding (10 feet long)
Mullan Tunnel
Bozeman Tunnels
Mountain ridge high enough to hide staging
This track supported above staging yard by shelf brackets
Curved turnout
Bridge with Montana Rail Link logos
3 percent up
3 percent up
Forest road
Trident Cement plant
Highway disappears behind hills
4.375"
0
0
0
0
2.125"
1.75"
5.375"
In 1990, when I first encountered theMontana Rail Link, I immediately
knew that someday I would model thisoperation. Camera in hand, I’vereturned to Montana every year since.And every year the railroad changes justa little bit. New locomotives and freightcars are purchased, mergers are con-summated, and even a deluxe privatepassenger train, the Montana RockiesDaylight, started running.
Every time I go back, I like what Isee. In 1990, I photographed MRLlocomotives still painted BurlingtonNorthern green. In 1993, I was there tosee BN’s “whiteface” GP50s on thatroad’s train 21. And in 1996, I lovedseeing those smart-looking new orange-and-green Burlington Northern Santa FeDash 9s on a grain train.
The Montana Rail Link was in itsthird year of operation when I made myinitial visit, having started on October31, 1987. On that day, BN leased morethan 580 miles of well-maintained for-mer Northern Pacific Ry. main line tothe fledgling regional. The trackage run-ning from Jones Junction, Mont., (justeast of Billings) to Sandpoint, Idaho,was leased – and not sold – because BN(now BNSF) still has NP bonds out-standing until the year 2047.
Though MRL doesn’t own its mainline, it was able to purchase from BN
230 miles of branches in Montana, andit received trackage rights over the BNfrom Sandpoint to Spokane, Wash.
Montana Rail Link maintains a fairlyprofitable network of branch lines, butits primary traffic is BNSF run-throughtrains. Burlington Northern Santa Femaintains a guaranteed amount of ton-nage over the line as a condition of theoriginal contract between the two rail-roads. All this variety and traffic, alongwith the gorgeous Montana scenery thatthe MRL traverses, make the railroad amodeler’s dream.
More than 10 years ago, I startedcollecting N scale locomotives androlling stock with my dream layout inmind. I was drawn to N scale by thefantastic detail and exquisite runningqualities of the rolling stock, as well asthe ability to better emulate thescenery-to-trains size ratio – being ableto more closely represent a Montana-sized mountain intrigued me.
I decided I would model anything Icould have seen from 1990 through2000. While the trains change on myrailroad, the setting does not. Anyonewho’s ever been to Montana will agreethat the railroad is dwarfed by its sur-roundings. They don’t call it Big SkyCountry for nothing. My goal is to cap-ture some of the flavor of that impres-sive scenery on my layout. – T. D.
Modeling a big-train regional
Because the grade extends the lengthof the tunnel, westbound trains workhard all the way through and tend tobelch tremendous amounts of chokingblack smoke. Almost all westboundtrains require helpers, and in the case ofheavy coal or grain trains, two helpersets might be used. Helper crews arerequired to wear gas masks.
I will also model the east portal ofMullan Tunnel, which had an unusualtwin blower system that pushed exhaustgases ahead of the train to the west and
ILLUSTRATION BY RICK JOHNSON AND ROEN KELLY
out of the tunnel. The blower systemand its associated buildings were dor-mant for many years until MRL reacti-vated one of the blowers for emergencyuse – if a train stalls inside the tunneland the crew has to evacuate, they canstart this blower using their radio.
The serpentine line through Lom-bard Canyon is also represented. Thisdry, mountainous area along the Mis-souri River is, for the most part, devoidof trees and will contrast nicely with thepine-covered slopes of Mullan Pass.
This gives me at least three distinctvignettes of Montana railroading. WhileI could think of hundreds of scenes I’dlove to model, three will do for now.Since I’ve already completed bench-work and laid track, maybe I won’t haveto travel 1,354 miles to see big Montanarailroading action this summer. I canjust walk a few steps downstairs. 1
An avid N scaler, Tom Danneman isMODEL RAILROADER’s art director. Helives in Pewaukee, Wis.
Semaphores (top left) are still in usebetween Spring Gulch and Quinns, Mont. In1996, Burlington Northern train 125 (above)rolls along the Missouri River in LombardCanyon. A freight (left) led by an MRL SD40-2XR crests the summit of Bozeman Pass. Themodern tunnel is used today; the originaltunnel was abandoned in 1945.
� More on our Web siteFrom GP9s to SD40-2XRs, Tom Dannemandetails Montana Rail Link’s fascinatingand varied motive power fleet. Read hisreport at www.modelrailroader.com
By Roger Marsh
Plying its trade among the hills andtipples of coal country with mas-sive steam locomotives, growling
Fairbanks-Morse Train Masters, andextensive electrification, the VirginianRy. did things on a grand scale. Thedrama of tonnage grinding through themountains is appealing, but how do youdo justice to a sprawling prototype in alimited space? A 2-6-6-6 followed by fivehoppers and a caboose looks a littleodd, believe me!
Here are two plans, one in HO thatfills a small room and another in N scalethat fits on a pair of hollow-core doors,that show how it’s possible to do some-thing interesting with this railroad –even if you don’t have a gymnasium tocall your own.
HO in a bedroomI named this layout Cunningham’s
Gap, partly because it sounds Appa-lachian, and partly because it’s thename of a geographic feature near myhome. The west end of the Virginian,
where Fairbanks-Morse H-24-66 TrainMasters and 2-8-8-2 and 2-10-10-2steam locomotives moved long stringsof hoppers to waiting tipples, is theinspiration. If your nerves can handlerigging catenary, you can shift the lay-out farther east and take advantage ofBachmann’s EL-C electric.
As drawn, the plan requires a 10 x 11-foot room. At a minimum, the layoutcan operate with a pair of Athearn TrainMasters, though an additional pairwould provide more flexibility. If youprefer steam, the Proto 2000 2-8-8-2,and an Athearn USRA 2-8-2, dressed upto look more like a Virginian MC-classMikado, will fit the bill nicely. If youselect the steam option, you will wantto add some way to turn the engines inthe fiddle yard. The Virginian was nevera major passenger carrier, and for thepurposes of the layout I’ve assumed thatpassenger service has ceased.
Rolling stock naturally includes aheavy dose of coal hoppers. Accurail’sUSRA 55-ton hopper and Athearn’s 34-foot, two-bay, ribbed-side hopper bothcome decorated for the Virginian. Thesecars can be used to build up rollingstock quickly and more-detailed mod-els can be added later on.
Structure kits for the various build-ings on the layout are readily available
from the major manufacturers and canbe weathered for greater realism.
OperationsA fiddle yard gives this layout con-
siderable operational flexibility, en-abling a cycle of loads and emptiesthrough the mine. The yard has tracksfor staging a pair of hopper consists,one of empties and the other of loads,each with about 15 cars and a caboose.
The mine tracks connect to the fiddleyard to allow interchange of loads andempties. The stub-end tracks are forstoring general freight cars, whichenables the “dispatcher” to vary the con-sists of local freights. This helps to avoidthe funny feeling you have seen thatboxcar before – quite recently in fact!
Digital Command Control (DCC)would be a distinct advantage for thislayout. With the amount of activity I’vecontemplated in the staging yard, DCCwould simplify wiring and control.
This layout is capable of supportingfour or five operators, particularly ifcrews of engineer and conductor are
ROOM-SIZEDMODEL RAILROADS
The Virginian in HO and NBig-time railroading insmall-time space
The Virginian Ry. shuttled hoppers betweenWest Virginia’s coalfields and the ocean portof Norfolk, Va. Roger Marsh shows how this600-mile coal hauler can be modeled in alimited space in HO and N scales.
D. WALLACE JOHNSON
Layout size 10 x 11 feetScale: ⁄ " = 1'-0"12" grid
Interchange for mine
CUNNINGHAM'S GAP IN HO
Depot
Company storeFuel depot
Church
Curved turnouts
Stores andcommercial buildings
Freight housewith loading ramp
Company houses
Mining company tipple
Ridge hides stagingfrom the center of room
FarmStaging yard
Three-wayturnout
Entry
Liftout orduckundersection
1 2
Depot
CUNNINGHAM'S GAP IN NPlan using two 36" x 80" interior hollow-core doors
Scale: 5⁄8" = 1'-0"12" grid
Road overpass Backdrop
0.8 percent up
Virginian staging tracks
Chesapeake & Ohio staging tracksFreight
house
C&O interchange track
Gas station
Table joint
Chemical plant
Double-sidedbackdrop
0"
0"
⁄7 8"
1 ⁄ "43
0.8 percent up
0.9 percent up
87⁄ "
ILLUSTRATIONS BY TERRI FIELD
used. For a full operating session, a fid-dle yard operator/dispatcher is neces-sary to keep things rolling.
The staging tracks are mostly hiddenfrom the view of operators on theinside, with the fiddle yard operatoroccupying a position where all the stag-ing tracks can be seen. If DCC is notused, a yard control panel would beneeded for the yard. For solo opera-tions, it would be easy enough to takethe trains for a walk without being tooworried about losing sight of things.
The main traffic on this layout isgoing to be coal – empties westboundand loads eastbound. Not all of theseare through trains, as there is the neces-sity to set out empties for the mine andfor the next eastbound coal extra to pickup the loads from the interchange. Afreight house and a fuel depot add localswitching interest.
This layout mixes locals with longcoal trains, but the Virginian also oper-ated lengthy drag freights. Throughfreight trains can be accommodated byadding another long track to the stag-ing yard.
Construction considerationsI would build this layout 54" high.
That way a modeling workbench withshelves would fit comfortably under thelayout, and access to electrical systemswould be easier, quite apart from thevisual benefits of a higher layout.
The use of open-frame benchwork isan advantage since the ground level isconstantly changing, in keeping with
the hilly terrain so characteristic of theVirginian’s west end.
The plan was designed with Pecocode 75 track in mind, but you can useother brands as well. The minimumcurve radius is 24", with wider curvesused wherever possible. The entry to theroom can either be a duckunder or alift-out section. If the lift-out option isselected, care must be taken to ensurethe staging yard tracks are not occupiedbefore you heave away, otherwise veryexpensive noises could ensue!
N scale using two doorsThis compact layout uses two inte-
rior hollow-core doors as its base. Thelayout depicts a West Virginia industrialtown, with a freight depot, chemicalplant, and an interchange between theVirginian and Chesapeake & Ohio.
Atlas opened up the field somewhatfor the N scale Virginian fan by produc-ing the H-24-66 in the smaller scale.The Atlas RSD-4/5 is an ideal C&O loco-motive for this layout. As in HO, otherrolling stock is available, though per-haps not with the same variety that ispossible in the larger scale.
The N scale track plan is fairly self-explanatory. A grade separation allowsthe Virginian to cross over the C&O. Acoal preparation plant is suggested,rather than visually present. Long coaltrains are accommodated in the stagingyard, so you can still see the drags comethrough town. Local industries and theC&O interchange in the modeled townprovide the switching interest. I got the
idea for the chemical plant from anencyclopedia’s description of the indus-tries of West Virginia. There is more tocoal country than coal!
Digital Command Control is the pre-ferred mode of control, particularlysince the Atlas Train Masters come witha decoder socket. The model is alsoavailable with a decoder installed.
Stacked and carved extruded poly-styrene foam board is used to give relieffrom the rigid flatness of the doors.After all, West Virginia doesn’t lookmuch like Indiana!
The method of joining the doorsholds no surprises; it involves gluingtwo equal lengths of 1 x 2 lumber to theunderside of the doors where they inter-sect at the baseboard joint. Dowels andbolts provide the necessary alignmentof the baseboards.
Both plans can be adapted to suitany of the Appalachian coal-haulingrailroads. It’s even possible to build alayout that covers a range of eras orprototypes (through interchangeablestructures), increasing the value persquare foot of the layout. 1
Roger Marsh, a Presbyterian pastor,lives in Australia with his wife and twochildren. In addition to model railroad-ing, his other interests include ship mod-eling, poetry, and kickboxing.
The West Virginia coal district accounted formore than 86 percent of the Virginian’sfreight. This sprawling coal tipple dominatesthe little mining town of Slab Fork, W. Va.
THE VIRGINIAN RY. CO.
As the last of the benchwork for my 11 x 30-foot HO scaleSoo Line layout was unceremoniously shoved to theback of the storage unit, I figured it would be a while
before I built another one. A recent move had caused mywife and I to temporarily downsize to a small apartmentwhile we built a new house. Sensing my loss, however, Ingriddonated part of the living room for a small layout, and myplans for an N scale apartment-sized railroad were born.
A prototype with modelers in mindLooking for something different from the Midwest, I
sought out the New York, New Haven & Hartford for inspi-ration. After some research, I focused on the New Haven’sNaugatuck Line, following the Naugatuck River Valley inConnecticut. This area was once rich with mills and factoriesand would provide some nice industries to switch. In addition,a devastating hurricane in 1955 caused the New Haven torebuild most of the original double-track main line as a single-track one, making it ideal for a modeler with limited space.
The region also included some picturesque scenery as theNew Haven wound its way north to Waterbury. Its dramatic,near-water-level route was surrounded by tree-covered rockyhills between towns and included some nice bridges to model.
And by the late 1950s, daily traffic on the line was ideal for a small layout. It included a north and south throughfreight, a local serving the towns, and four passenger runseach way with Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs).
The layout planBecause of my space limitations, I knew my layout could
only be a representation of the New Haven. With that inmind, the towns of Seymour and Naugatuck exhibit the fla-vor of 1959 New Haven railroading in Connecticut but arenot accurate reproductions.
Two 1⁄4"-diameter dowels cut 13⁄4"long for centering pegs
48"
22"
141⁄2"16"
461⁄2"
131⁄2" cut with beveled ends
6" 1⁄4" x 2 " carriage bolt with 3⁄4" washer, lock washer, and wing nut
FRAME ASSEMBLY
An apartment-sized New Haven layout with room to grow • By David Popp
MOVING FREIGHT ON THE NAUGATUCK LINE
Late in the New Haven’s history, the railroad would run asingle freight north to Waterbury, Conn., each day. The
train would have three locomotives, typically RS-3s. InWaterbury, the crew would break up their train into threelocals, sending them off in different directions to switchthe main back to Naugatuck and the Torrington and For-restville branches. In the evening, the three locals wouldreturn to Waterbury where the crew would reassemble the train, and then take the whole thing back south to Cedar Hill.
By using the staging tracks as a fiddle yard, you couldeasily simulate this operation on this version of the Nau-gatuck Line or adapt it for your own railroad. – D. P.
Naugatuck Valley in NROOM-SIZEDMODEL RAILROADS
Hollow-core door 13⁄4" thick
1"x11⁄4" hole cut in bottom of door
1⁄4" dowel with tapered end
1" from edge
1⁄4" hardboard fascia
CLAMP ATTACHMENT
Small Quick-Grip clamp (2)
2" foam board
EXTENSION CONSTRUCTION DIAGRAM
Staging side
1⁄4" hard-board fascia
Legs cut to match table height
Nail-in 3⁄4" nylon furnitureglides
1x2 legs with a 13" spacer and triangular plywood cleats
1⁄4" x 2 " carriage bolt with 3⁄4" washer, lock washer, and wing nut
1⁄4" hard-board fascia
1x2 frame glued and screwed together
1⁄4" ply-wood top
2" foam insulationboard
12" x 40" .060" styrene backdrop sandwiched between foam and curv-ed to follow tracks
FRAME ASSEMBLY
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAY SMITH
Highway bridge
Store
Shed
Naugatuck River Shed Stores
Houses
Church
H E
F
G
G
M
K
Naugatuck
D
CB
Seymour
I
J
ATree-covered scenic divider with tunnel to hide loop track
12"-high styrene backdrop with building flats
Staging, southto Cedar Hill
Staging, northto Waterbury
Six-lane staging
Scale: 1" = 1'-0"N scale (1:160)23.5 square feet
Minimum curve radius: 12"All turnouts No. 4 unless marked 12" grid
L
6
8
8
8
86
6
6
6
6
8
wye
I designed the layout in two pieces. The benchwork for themain part is a 32" hollow-core interior door covered with 2"foam insulation board and has a completely independentloop for display running. For support, I set the layout on aninexpensive folding table.
To gain a little more space and add some operating inter-est, I built a 16" x 48" removable extension. This piece allowedme to include a six-track staging yard (three tracks for eachend of the railroad) and a 6"-wide industrial park for thetown of Naugatuck.
When in use, the extension clamps to the layout with twoQuick-Grip clamps and is supported by a removable leg. Tobuild the extension, see the series of construction diagrams.
Fun for twoI designed the layout with two operators in mind, and it
would be a good candidate for an entry-level Digital Com-mand Control (DCC) system with walkaround control.
For an operating session, using a simple timetable, oneoperator would run the local and switch the industries atSeymour and Naugatuck. The other would handle thethrough freights and the typical late-1950s New Haven RDCpassenger trains making station stops at both towns.
As you get more experienced, you could add waybills,extra trains, and even a fast clock! Despite my NaugatuckValley’s small, apartment-living size, its possibilities for rail-roading fun seem endless. 1
Track and roadbedPeco code 55 track387 no. 8 curved right-hand turnout (2)388 no. 8 curved left-hand turnout (3)393 20-degree crossing (1)1791 no. 4 right-hand turnout (2)1792 no. 4 left-hand turnout (6)1795 no. 6 right-hand turnout (2)1796 no. 6 left-hand turnout (2)1797 no. 7 wye turnout (1)5801 36" flextrack (25)
Midwest Products3019 cork roadbed (25)
Structure keyAtlasA. 2548 plate girder bridge
Bar MillsB. 304 low boy trestle (coal dock)E. 912 Whistle Stop Junction depot
American Model BuildersC. 617 barn (used as fuel dealer shed)
D. 638 Springfield depot
Design Preservation ModelsF. 506 Gripp’s Luggage (furniture factory)G. 660 Woods Furniture (kitbashed to
fit backdrop and as a view block to staging)
Micro Engineering Co.H. 75153 40-foot ballasted-deck bridge
(3 – cut to fit curve)
Model PowerI. 1572 Jackson Meat (kitbashed
into a textile mill)J. 1509 brewery (kitbashed into
lumber mill)K. 1546 Holland Iron WorksL. 1547 U. S. Customs (kitbashed
into warehouses to fit backdrop)
WalthersM. 3246 Gold Flame coal dealer
(modified to fit backdrop)
By Cyril Durrenberger
Short lines are sometimes obscure,but they can be excellent proto-types for model railroaders. Often
most, if not all, of the short line’s facili-ties and operations can be modeled ifsome “selective compression” is used.The April 1981 issue of The Soo (maga-zine of the Soo Line Historical andTechnical Society, www.sooline.org)had a comprehensive article on the Val-ley City Street & Interurban Ry.(VCS&I) of Valley City, N. D. The linehad several features that would makefor an interesting model railroad.
Valley City is in the valley of theSheyenne River, and both the Min-neapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie(Soo Line) and Northern Pacific servedthe area. In 1891 the Soo Line laid trackthrough the valley, but couldn’t locateits line to go through Valley City. TheSoo’s station was built 1.75 miles northof town.
The NP came directly through thecity, but in 1908 built a bypass thatspanned the valley on a long, tallviaduct. Local trains of the NP stillcame to Valley City to switch industriesand to pick up or drop off passengers.
The VCS&I electric line was built in1905 to connect the Soo Line with Val-ley City and the NP. It ran local passen-ger service on tracks in the city streetsand out to the Soo depot, but by 1945passenger service was dropped. The linecontinued to haul freight until its pur-chase by the Soo in 1953. In later yearsthe VCS&I mainly handled cars beinginterchanged between the Soo and theNP. It also switched industries in ValleyCity and carried LCL (less-than-carload-lot) freight from the Soo.
The VCS&I had a total of threepieces of motive power. Interurban
combine no. 1 was purchased second-hand in 1905 and used until 1915.Combine no. 2 was purchased new in1915 and used until 1947. In 1947 aused electric “locomotive” (really a for-mer line-maintenance car) was pur-chased and served until 1953. Plans forall three appear in the April ’81 issue ofThe Soo. When the Soo Line purchasedthe VCS&I, electric operations were ter-minated and the overhead removed.
The track planI’ve designed a track plan
to capture the neatestfeatures of the VCS&Iin the years after pas-senger service wasdiscontinued. Thelayout would occupyabout 40 square feetexclusive of the aisle-way and only 59square feet with it.
The two stagingtracks represent Val-ley City’s connectionswith the trunk-linerailroads and allowSoo and NP locals toappear at theirrespective stations,interchange cars withthe short line, switch acouple of industries each,and disappear offstage.
The Soo at North Val-ley City is much like theprototype but condensedto fit. The station was astandard Soo Line second-class depot.There’s a list ofstructure kits thatcould be used onthis layout online at
www.modelrailroader.com, includingtwo that could be modified to representthis station. For scratchbuilders, how-ever, there are plans in Soo Line Stan-dards, Vol. 3, published by the SLH&TS.
Freight cars are interchanged on thestation’s house track. There’s a grainelevator and a coal and fuel-oil dealer.The Soo main line proceeds through awooded cut into the staging trackbehind a low backdrop. This should be
just high enough to hide thetrain, and the higher the lay-out’s base height the lowerthis “train hider” can be.
The VCS&I leaves theSoo station and crossesunder the NP “High Line”
bridge. It passes a siding forthe Soo’s stockyard and theMiller Fibre Co. A fewblocks into town it reachesthe NP interchange track.The VCS&I serves CurtisOlson Oil Co., Smith Lum-ber and Coal Co., and afreight platform owned bythe Soo. The NP track ter-minates here, and there’s aspur to an NP gravel pit.
The NP track goes tothat road’s station where
there’s a runaround trackand a spur to Russell-MillerMilling Co. The NP “LowLine” out of town to thenorth terminates at the edgeof the layout, while the lineto the south passes behindflats of commercial build-ings to its own behind-the-backdrop staging track.
Traffic and equipmentSoo traffic at North
Valley City includes box-
Short line with aninterurban heritage
ROOM-SIZEDMODEL RAILROADS
The Valley City Street & Interurban Ry. as an HO switching layout
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NP Valley hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhCity branch
cars for the grain elevator, hopper andtank cars for the fuel dealer, and carsfor the VCS&I. The VCS&I deliversstockcars to the cattle pens, tank carsto the bulk oil plant, and boxcars to theremaining industries, plus cars to beinterchanged with the NP. The NPsends a few gondolas to the gravel pit,boxcars to the milling company, andcars for interchange to the Soo.
The VCS&I could be operated witheither a combine or the line-car “loco-motive.” Combine no. 2 could be mod-eled by using LaBelle Woodworking kitH064 and adding baggage doors. Theline car would have to be scratchbuilt.The diesel era would be easiest tomodel because suitable engines areavailable for the Soo and NP. If theperiod is post 1953, a Soo diesel wouldbe assigned to the former VCS&I.
OperationsThis layout might keep two opera-
tors busy if one ran the NP and Sootrains and the other the VCS&I. But thisis a low-key, easy-going sort of railroad,well suited to solo operation.
The NP local would run from stagingto Valley City. There it would switch thegravel pit, interchange track, and millingplant, drop off LCL boxcars, and returnto its staging track. The engine andcaboose could be “restaged” – exchanged– between operating sessions.
Then the VCS&I switches the localindustries and NP interchange track,and goes to the Soo station at NorthValley City. There it drops off cars andpicks up cars for Valley City and returnssouth, doing any switching requiredalong the way. Because of the electrics’limited hauling capacity, it may be nec-essary to make two trips each day.
The capacity for cars on the layoutand in staging tracks is limited, butnothing says all the cars have to be onthe track at the same time. Cars can berotated to and from storage when theconnecting trains are restaged, so agreater variety of rolling stock than youmight expect could be seen passingthrough this prairie metropolis. 1
Cyril Durrenberger is an air qualityofficial for the state of Texas. His ownHO layout models the “Rabbit,” the oldHouston East & West Texas RR, whichwas a predecessor of the Texas & NewOrleans and Southern Pacific lines inEast Texas.
Scale: 3⁄4" = 1'-0"12" grid
NP
Stockyard
Station
Station
VALLEY CITY STREET & INTERURBAN RY.
HO scale5'-6" x 10'-9"40 square feet (not including aisle)Minimum curve radius 18"No. 4 turnouts
Track with overhead wire
VALLEY CITY
Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line)
Northern Pacific
Soo staging
NP staging
Backdrop with hillsand sky
Low backdrop
North Valley City
Sheyenne River
City limit
Roosevelt Avenue
First Avenue
Second Avenue
Front Street
Fourth Avenue
Fifth Avenue
Sixth Avenue
Miller Fibre Co.
Coal and fuel yard Grain elevator
House flats
Gravel pit
Russell-Miller Milling Co.
Commercial buildings
Smith Lumber Co.
Sneakoff between tree-covered hills
Sneakoff through low backdrop
NP High Line (mainline viaduct)
Freight platform
Houses onbackdrop
VCS&I shed
Curtis Olson Oil Co.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY RICK JOHNSON
When I was still in my teens I hap-pened upon a couple of publica-tions that still affect how I think
about model railroading. These influ-ences show up in the track plan I drewfor the first in this new series of articleson layouts designed to be built in lessthan 100 square feet.
To design it I asked myself what kindof a layout I’d want if I had to live withthat limitation. A railroad featuringyard operation was an easy choice forme, and a division point where trainspassing through change crews, engines,and cabooses seemed to offer the great-est play value, although you can say“operating interest” if you have to bemore serious about it.
The basic shape of the layout is aloop or oval with the yard in a small cityout front and staging tracks concealedat the back. The staging tracks are vital,because the foreground yard is a placesomewhere in between really importantdestinations. Trains have to appear tocome from someplace else and go onto someplace different, and that’s whatstaging allows.
Although meant to re-create proto-typical railroad action, this is a free-lance design not based on any realplace. If you like this plan and want tobuild it for yourself, I hope you’ll feelfree to call it whatever you want. I’mcalling it the division point at Oldburg,on the Ozark Lines.
InfluencesThe first of those influences I men-
tioned is a book called Frank Ellison onModel Railroading. One of our hobby’sgreat pioneers, Ellison established theidea that operation, re-creating the dramaand excitement of railroading in minia-ture, was what a model railroad wasfor. After many years in the hobby I canappreciate that this is the key to long-term enjoyment and the answer to thequestion of what to do with a layoutafter you’ve built it.
Ellison made the division point yardat Colbert on his O scale Delta Linessound exciting, and while I never got torun it, I’ve had the chance to enjoy sim-ilar situations on a number of layouts.I’ve always enjoyed the challenge ofkeeping up with the flow of a busy mainline while sorting cars for throughfreights, locals, and town switchers, andeven a layout the size of this one candeliver that kind of fun.
The other influence came from thestories of Harry Bedwell and E. S.Dellinger in the old pulp Railroad mag-azines of the 1930s and ’40s. I’m tooyoung to have found those on the news-stand, but I accepted some with curios-ity from older friends clearing theirshelves, then eagerly bought more onauction at model railroad conventions.
Dellinger described the exploits of agroup of railroad men on the fictionalOzark Lines, which I always imagined
he based on one of my hometown lines,the Missouri Pacific. Steeped in steamand crackling with the crisp language oftimetable-and-train-order railroading,Dellinger’s tales vividly demonstratedhow people made the railroad work.
It seemed to me then that the fun inmodel railroading would be to take theroles of Dellinger’s characters movingfreight and passengers. As a model rail-road engineer, conductor, dispatcher,or yardmaster I’ve always found that tobe true and have never forgotten thosestories. Most events on the Ozark Linesrevolved around the yard and crew ter-minal at Oldburg, so that’s the name ofthis division point layout.
Practicality and imaginationOldburg is actually just about 75
square feet, less if you don’t count theopen access area. It would fit in a cor-ner of a basement or garage. I chose Nscale to allow for a reasonably extensiveyard that can handle trains of morethan just a few cars.
Setting the railroad in the steam erahelps too, with shorter, less massivecars and shorter but more frequenttrains. A steam engine terminal is bothvisually and operationally more com-plex than its diesel counterpart, and Nscale allows a fairly complete layout ofroundhouse, turntable, and servicingtracks in a remarkably compact area. Iimagine this railroad to be powered by
Industries
Railroad Avenue
City buildingsalong backdropface awayfrom railroadA division
point yardin N scale
A simple yard with staging tracks providesplenty of railroad action for one or two operators
By Andy Sperandeo
ROOM-SIZEDMODEL RAILROADS
Bachmann Spectrum Consolidationsand Kato Mikados, though I wouldn’toverlook the contrast and color of astreamlined diesel passenger train.
Layout heightThe track plan doesn’t show any ele-
vations because it’s meant to be flat.The overall height is important, thoughleft up to the builder. I suggest makingit fairly high for four reasons:
• Trains in any scale look betterclose to eye level, but that’s especiallytrue of the smallest scales.
• To back Oldburg’s narrow scenes Ishow flat or partial buildings, whichlook best when you can’t see their trun-cated (or complete lack of) roofs.
• A horizon at or near eye levelrequires little actual backdrop paintingto be effective – it can be mostly sky.
• Ducking under is necessary toreach the staging access, but the higherthe layout the less you’ll have to duck.
Oldburg in operationAlthough it could be enjoyed by just
one operator, I think Oldburg is bigenough to allow for two. One personcould concentrate on classification yardswitching, while the other could runtrains in and out of staging, hostleengines for servicing, and switch theindustries and freight house. If one orthe other ducked back to the stagingyard from time to time to rearrange the
trains – “fiddle” them as British modelrailroaders say – the operating sessioncould continue for as long as you like.
With through staging tracks theengines that go east from Oldburgcome back from the west, so we’ll haveto imagine a line that doesn’t have steephills in one direction and river grades inthe other. Steam still gives us plenty ofexcuse to relay engines so trains cankeep moving. Meanwhile arriving loco-motives have their fires and ashpanscleaned; coal, water, and sand toppedup; and lubrication renewed. Thenthey’re ready to replace the inboundpower on the next train through town.
If a little more space is available atthe left end of the plan, the industrialswitching district could be extendedalong a narrow shelf.
In no additional space we can inventa route map splitting both east and westof Oldburg to reach different majorcities or connecting railroads. Thatwould set up more switching complexityfor the classification yard. Despite itsname, I think it would be a while beforeoperating this layout grew old. 1
Scale: 3⁄4" = 1'-0"12" grid
Ozark LinesDivision point at Oldburg(With apologies to E. S. Dellinger)
N scale (1:160)6 x 12 feet with 2 x 3-foot extension15" minimum radius (visible tracks)No. 6 turnouts
op
Alley
Express
Passenger station and division offices
Platform
Backs ofcity buildings
24" minimum
Staging tracksOptional transferstaging track
Access to staging
Backdrop just higher than eye level
Drill track
Caboosetrack
Diner
Freighthouse
Team track
Hubbard Street
Backs of industrial buildings
Car shop
RIP track
Water column
Sand
CoalAshes
Crew room and roundhouse office
120-foot turntable (Walthers 933-32030)
Six-stall roundhouse (Walthers 933-3202)
Elevatedwalkway
Optionalcrossover
Engine supply track
Track plan highlights
Name: Oldburg, division point yardon the Ozark Lines
Scale: N (1:160)Size: 6 x 12 feet with extensionPrototype: free-lancePeriod: steam eraLayout style: table with access “pit”Turnout minimum: no. 6Minimum radius: 15" (visible track)Maximum grade: 0Options: optional crossover lets
switcher on drill track work trainson the main; optional stub stagingtrack holds transfer run fromanother railroad for interchange
ILLUSTRATION BY KELLIE JAEGER
