MR Ejemplar de Muestra PDF

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

Sample issue ModelRailroader.com
How to build a realistic
mountain scene
Add a commuter station
to your railroad
Design a mid-sized
N scale layout
Tune up your
track and trains
Add mail and
express service
Visit a layout thats big on detail
Learn the basics of coal hauling
Special free sample issue!
PROJECTS
Donner River Canyon
on Pelle Seborgs
HO scale layout
PLUS
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 offces.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Model Railroader, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Printed in USA. Canada Publication Mail Agreement # 40010760.
From the Editor
Welcome 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 HO
scale 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 HO
Donner River Sub
by Pelle Seborg
Online extra: Daneville, Calif., Union Pacifc RR in
HO PDF article
Detailed to perfection
An HO Pacifc Northwest layout thats big on detail
by John Elwood
Designing a mid-size N scale layout
The evolution of a track plan for an unusually
shaped room
by Tom Danneman
Head-end equipment and operations
Part 1: Add mail and express cars to your passenger
car roster
by Paul J. Dolkos
Online extra: Head-end references guide for
further reading
Tune up your layout
Part 1: Use the right tools to clean track and adjust
rolling stock
by Paul J. Dolkos
Product Reviews
Athearn and Precision Craft Models Big Boys in HO
by Jim Hediger
Sample 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 or
call our editorial associate. Model Railroader assumes no responsibility for the safe return of
unsolicited material. We assume unsolicited material is intended for publication by Kalmbach
Publishing Co. unless otherwise noted. We assume letters, questions, news releases, and club news
items are contributed gratis.
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Two Big Boy steamers reviewed
Preview issue ModelRailroader.com
How to build a realistic
mountain scene
Add a commuter station
to your railroad
Design a mid-sized
N scale layout
Tune up your
track and trains
Add mail and
express service
Visit a layout thats big on detail
Learn the basics of coal hauling
Special free sample issue!
PROJECTS
Donner River Canyon
on Pelle Seborgs
HO scale layout
PLUS
On the cover: Pelle Seborg gives us
a good look at the new Donner River
Canyon scene on his amazing HO
scale layout. Pelle Seborg photo
42
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7
26
38
32
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3 Model Railroader sample issue
From the Editor
KALMBACH
PUBLISHING CO.
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Founder A.C. Kalmbach 1910-1981
Editor Neil Besougloff
Executive Editor Andy Sperandeo
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Senior Editor Jim Hediger
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Associate Editor Cody Grivno
Associate Editor Steven Otte
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Editorial Intern Colleen OKeefe
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Contributing Editor Lionel Strang
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Dream it.
Plan it. Build it.
Contributing to Model Railroader
Thanks for your interest in Model
Railroader magazine, the largest-
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devoted to the hobby of model
railroading.
Founded in 1934, Model
Railroader spotlights inspiring
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Welcome to
the hobby!
Neil Besougloff, Editor
Information Desk
Carl Swanson
Im planning a layout and I need
information on coal transportation
on the Union Pacic RR. I live in
northern Illinois, and I see unit coal
trains twice a day a loaded train
headed eastward and an empty
train returning west. I know theres
a large coal-red power plant near
Joliet, Ill., but where were these UP
trains loaded?
Joseph Felker
Plaineld, Ill.
Year after year, coal dominates the
railroad commodity picture. In
2005 Class 1 railroads loaded 805
million tons of coal thats more
than 7 million carloads. Coal
makes up 42.4 percent of Class 1
freight tonnage (but only 20
percent of gross revenue).
Coal transportation is a big
subject, so lets look at just a single
example: the daily UP coal trains
that caught Joseph Felkers eye.
Midwest Generations Joliet
Generating Station is a fairly
typical power plant. The station has
three coal-red generating units
producing a total of 1,334 mega-
watts enough to supply the electri-
cal needs of 1.6 million people.
Power plants this size burn
about 4 million tons of coal a year.
If served exclusively by rail (Joliet
can also receive coal by barge), the
plant would require a unit train
nearly every day.
Union Pacic delivers Joliets
unit trains to West Chicago. The
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Ry. then
brings the trains the last few miles
to the plants rotary coal dumper.
A ram arm inside the dumper
building moves the train forward
one car length at a time, positioning
each car on a platform over a
hopper bin. A clamp holds the car in
place and the platform, car and all,
rotates to dump the coal. (Cars used
in this service have rotary couplers
on one or both ends.) It takes three
hours to unload a train.
The rotary dumper at Joliet is
adjacent to one of the massive
generating buildings. Conveyor
belts and rotary stackers move coal
across the river to the building
housing the other two units.
The coal is fed into a battery of
pulverizers that reduce the lumps
to an ultra-ne powder. The powder
is then blown by compressed air
into the furnace. There are often
ve or six pulverizers feeding each
furnace with a combined output of
hundreds of tons per hour.
Power plant boiler units are
rectangular towers packed with
high-pressure water tubes. The units
are about 50 feet on a side and often
more than 130 feet tall. The inside
of one of these furnaces is nothing
like the glowing bed of embers in a
steam locomotive rebox picture
instead a blowtorch ame the size of
an ofce building.
Thats what happens to the coal the
UP and the EJ&E deliver to Joliet.
A similar drama plays out daily at
coal-red generating plants across
the nation coal generates more
than half the electricity consumed
in the United States, and 65 percent
of that coal is delivered by rail.
But where do all those coal
trains come from? Large mines
operate across the United States.
Illinois, for example, is a major coal
mining state with an annual
production of 32.1 million tons of
medium-grade bituminous coal and
proven reserves of 68.7 billion tons.
Bituminous coal has a heating
value of about 11,000 BTU (British
Thermal Units) per pound. Wyo-
ming sub-bituminous coal has a
heating value of about 8,500 BTU
per pound. But coal from Illinois
contains more sulfur, and sulfur is
Coals never-ending boom
A BNSF unit coal train departs Wyomings Powder
River Basin coalelds with 19,000 tons of low-sulfur
coal, likely destined for a Midwestern or Eastern
power plant. The railroad owns 300 unit train sets
and contracts to haul many more unit train sets of
leased and utility-owned cars. Thomas Danneman photo
Information Desk
a pollutant that must be scrubbed
from power plant emissions.
The need to reduce sulfur
emissions likely means that those
UP unit coal trains rolling toward
Joliet were loaded in Wyomings
Powder River Basin (PRB). In fact,
Wyoming mines shipped 41 million
tons of coal to Illinois in 2004.
The worlds largest coal mines
are found in the PRB, and Wyo-
ming leads the nation in annual
coal production.
Wyoming coal is also fairly
cheap, averaging $7.88 a ton in
2005. For many power plants,
transportation costs exceed the
actual cost of the coal.
You might say Wyoming digs up a
lot of business for UP and BNSF,
the two giant western railroads
that serve the states coalelds.
During September 2006, UP
loaded an average of 34.3 trains
per day in just the southern part of
the basin. Union Pacic and BNSF
also jointly operate a line serving
other mines in the basin, and Joint
Line loadings that same month
averaged 64.5 trains per day.
The basins biggest producer is
Arch Coals Black Thunder mine,
which recently became the rst in
the country to mine more than a
billion tons of coal. Like many
western surface mines, Black
Thunder has surprisingly few
permanent structures just a
handful of maintenance and repair
buildings, conveyors, and loading
silos. The coal seam is so thick that
theres no need to clean stray rocks
from the coal. The coal is simply
scooped up, crushed to uniform
size, and loaded straight into the
waiting trains.
The mine has two unit-train
loadouts served by loop tracks.
Each of the silo-type batch loaders
can deliver coal at a rate of 6,000
tons per hour. The two loop tracks
can hold four 135-car unit trains.

The Wyoming coal line is as close
as a railroad can get to a license to
print money, but its amazing how
expensive those prots can be.
A 135-car unit train can weigh
19,305 tons when equipped with
standard 286,000-pound gross
weight hoppers. To run a thousand
or so of these trains a month, a
railroad needs to spend vast sums
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This book is more
than mastering
Digitrax's Zephyr
step-by-step, it's
also about helping
you understand
DCC technology
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learning curve,
turning the
lights on for you,
so to speak...
A Step-by-Step Guide!
Madison Mountain Publication
a division of Loy's Toys, inc.
fast
A
on track and locomotive mainte-
nance and expanding sidings and
yards across its system.
In spring 2006, UP and BNSF
announced they would spend $200
million in the latest effort to boost
the capacity of the joint line. The
projects include $100 million for
preliminary work on adding more
than 40 miles of third and fourth
mainline tracks. This is in addition
to 14 miles of a third mainline
track completed in 2005 and 19
miles of additional third main line
that entered service in fall 2006.
But how do you go about model-
ing coal transportation?
Depending on the region youre
modeling, a steam- or early diesel-
era layout can often include a
small mine or two. In the 1940s
and 50s underground mines were
more plentiful and could be small
enough to be served by layout-
friendly short cuts of cars.
If youre interested in running
unit coal trains, recite this mantra:
Selective compression is my
friend. Even on Kalmbachs
employee club layout, the 1,500-
square-foot HO scale Milwaukee,
Racine & Troy, we run unit coal
trains with just 30 cars, which is
still impressively long.
If youre in the design phase of
your railroad, consider adding a
loads-in, empties-out operating
scheme. By placing a power plant
on the opposite side of a hill or
backdrop from a coal mine on
your layout, you can connect the
spur tracks for both industries.
This way when a train delivers
loaded coal gons to the power
plant, the string of cars is pushed
through the backdrop or under the
scenery and appears at the coal
mine, ready to be picked up. And
you can do the same thing with
empties, keeping you from having
to physically move coal-load
inserts between cars.
Additional information can be
found in Tony Koesters new book,
Model Railroaders Guide to Coal
Railroading (Kalmbach 2007). MR
Send your questions about prototype
railroading to Information Desk, Model
Railroader magazine, P.O. Box 1612,
Waukesha, WI 53187, or e-mail proto@
mrmag.com. We regret we cant answer
all the questions we receive.
GREAT MODEL RAILROADS
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FOR ORDERS CALL
800-859-9271
See Complete Listing
www.allenkeller.com
See your dealer or order direct from:
Allen Keller Productions
7410 Lebanon Church Rd. Talbott, TN 37877 (423) 586-7928
FAX (423) 581-6582 www.allenkeller.com
Checks, VISA, MC, DISC VHS or DVD. To Order Call 800-859-9271
TN. residents add 9.5% sales tax. Shipping & Handling, U.S. and Canada
$6.00 (1-2 tapes). For each additional tape please add $1 shipping.
Other countries 10% of total order ($8.00 minimum).
Great Model Railroads Volume 1 thru 54. $39.95 each plus S&H.
DEALERS WELCOME
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Shows run approximately 1 hour.
VOL. 54
DVD
$45
Gary Hoover has built another masterpiece. With his new
Santa Fe hes gone back to Aug. 29, 1951 and is modeling
spectacular western scenery. This new HO railroad replaces the
old Missouri, Kansas and Quincy and runs from Chicago to San
Bernardino.
The scenery and structures are based on photos so they
capture the look and feel of the Santa Fe. Since the line covers
Raton and Cajon youll see Union Pacific trains. Some more
foreign roads appear in Chicagos Dearborn station. The layout
is an operation oriented railfan experience based on exact
Santa Fe practices including signals, train consists and
schedules.
Gary will SHOW you how to make a custom backdrop, add a
switch panel, make Joshua trees, and build resistance
wheelsets. The layout was featured in the Oct. 2005 MR.
Amherst Railway Society
sponsoring
Mark These Dates
Jan. 27 & 28 West Springfield, Mass.
Special Hotel/Motel Rates - SASE (3 stamps) to Amherst Railway Show P.O. Box 718 Warren, MA 01083-0718
Visit us at: www.AmherstRail.org
More than 35 operating layouts.
G, O, S, HO, N & Z Scale.
Manufacturers, displays, dealers,
flea market and Live Steam Feature.
Nearly 5
1
/2 acres of Railroading.
Quaboag Valley Layout at
Reception Center
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Eastern States Exposition Grounds
Better Living Center, Young Building, Stroh Building
1305 Memorial Avenue, West Springfield, MA 01089
BIG 2007
DAILY ADMISSION: $8.00 Adults
Children 12 and under FREE
Saturday, January 27, 2007
9 AM to 5 PM
Sunday, January 28, 2007
10 AM to 5 PM
Eastern States Exposition
Parking $5.00
Our Big Railroad Hobby Show Features:
Tickets on Sale 8 AM Both Days
A commuter station for
Mukwonago
Weve decided it would be fun to
add commuter operations to the
Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. Though
the greater Milwaukee area doesnt
currently offer that type of public
transportation, we gured it
should. With that in mind, we
purchased some Walthers and Kato
bi-level cars, and our MRail
(Milwaukee Regional Rail) service
was born.
Though we had downtown
covered 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 with
passenger platforms to speak of.
After some quick survey work, the
town of Mukwonago, with its
complete lack of nished scenery,
seemed the ideal choice for our rst
commuter stop.
I contacted my friend Andy
Roth, who builds commuter
stations for Metra, Chicagos
Step 1 Cork ller
Passenger platforms were once a common feature of most any railroad station. Today, however, passenger
platforms are primarily found on lines that serve commuters. David Popp photos
My rst task was to build up the surrounding scenery
to the level needed for the commuter platform and
parking lot. I started by attaching a plywood shelf
along the front side of the right-of-way, matching the
height of the subroadbed. This formed a level surface
from which to build up the rest of the station scene.
Next, as shown in the photo, I cut up various pieces
of scrap HO scale cork sheets we had laying around
and ft them together to form a foundation for the
parking lot, platform, and station. I cemented the cork
to the plywood with latex caulk, my favorite scenery
construction adhesive.
To raise the station platform to something close to
the proper level, I used uncut strips of HO cork
roadbed. According to my friend Andy, the front face of
a standard Metra platform is 5'-6" from the center line
of the nearest railroad track. Using a scale rule, I
positioned the cork accordingly. While I was at it, I also
built a foundation for the station. I pinned the cork in
place and let the adhesive dry before starting the next
step. In my case, that was 14 months later (weve been
pretty busy), but under normal circumstances, over-
night would suffce for a drying time.
More on our Web site
For more information on how David
built the commuter station scene in
Mukwonago, visit our Web site at
www.ModelRailroader.com.
metropolitan commuter railroad
system. Andy sent me some helpful
tips and details on how modern
platforms are built. So, armed with
this information, I set to work
constructing our rst MRail station
on the MR&T. MR
Step 2 Wrapped in styrene
I wanted a concrete platform and an
asphalt parking lot for this station, so
I completely clad the cork in .030"
styrene sheet to get a smooth
surface. I started by cutting styrene
pieces for all the fat areas, including
the platform, depot foor, and parking
lot. I cemented these to the cork with
latex caulk.
For the depot foundation and edges
of the platform, I used .030" x .188"
styrene strip, which is approximately
the thickness of HO scale cork. I used
liquid plastic cement to glue the
styrene strips to the sheet styrene
already in place.
Next I built two pedestrian ramps
and cemented them on either side of
the depot. I used .030" sheet styrene
for these as well.
To help give the styrene the look of
poured concrete, I scribed expansion
joints in the platform every
1
2" using a
hobby knife and a metal straightedge.
I then sanded the surface to smooth
out the small ridges formed by
scribing the grooves.
Once the styrene work was
fnished, I added Faller no. 180527
fencing along the back of the plat-
form, as shown in the second photo.
After cutting the fencing sections to
ft, I glued them to the platform edge
with liquid plastic cement.
Make sure you brace the fence
vertically until the cement sets. I
didnt, so some of my fence leans.
(See the fnished photo on the
previous page for an example.) Since
I didnt notice this until after Id
painted everything, I left it alone.
I used Model Power no. 1254
streetlights for the platform lights.
Though I didnt cement the lights in
place until after Id painted every-
thing, I did drill holes for them. To
make it easier to feed the wires
through the scenery, I inserted small
lengths of coffee straws into the
holes. I left the straw standing about
1
8" above the surface to act as a
centering peg for the streetlight.
The last thing I did to the scene
before painting the platform was build
up the surrounding scenery with
Sculptamold. Andy pointed out that
Metra platforms have a ramp at each
end so snow removal equipment can
clear the platform easily. I used Sculpta-
mold to add that detail.
Faller 180527
iron fence
Coffee straws
David Popp
Straw
ts inside
lamp base
Styrene ramp

Step 3 Painting the platform
I masked the fence with 1" masking tape and
airbrushed the platform with several coats of
Polly Scale Aged Concrete. Metra platforms
have a yellow stripe about 2 feet back from
the edge; however, in my travels around the
country, Ive seen other commuter platforms
that have the entire front edge painted yellow.
Since that approach was easier, I masked off
the front
1
4" of the platform and painted it Polly Scale CSX Yellow.
Even though you may have taken every precaution, sometimes the
tape will pull up small patches of paint, like those shown in the photo.
To fx this, fow more paint into the holes with a small paintbrush. Once
you do a bit of weathering, you shouldnt be able to tell where the paint
was repaired.
Next I made a wash of black paint thinned with rubbing alcohol
(approximately 1 drop of paint per 50 drops of alcohol). I fowed the
wash over the platform, letting it settle into the expansion cracks. In
places where it was too dark, I blotted the wash with a paper towel.
As a fnal painting step, I airbrushed the platform and railings with a
weathering coat of Polly Scale L&N Gray, thinned 70 percent with
rubbing 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 get
the seams to blend well between sections. Any type of pulling or prod-
ding will cause the sheets to stretch, distorting the printed parking
lines. I destroyed one of the sheets that way and had to replace it, so
patience is the name of the game here. I also used the material to pave
the snow-removal ramps on the ends of the platform.
Where there were gaps between the sections, I painted the seams
Polly Scale UP Dark Gray, using a fne-tipped paintbrush. I then lightly
airbrushed the parking lot with the same color to tone down the parking
stripes and weather the foam a bit. Once the paint had dried, I used
Woodland Scenics Accent Cement to tack Pikestuff no. 1016 concrete
parking bumpers at the end of each stall.
Tape protects fence
Step 5 Cars, people, and other details
With the parking lot paved, I turned my attention to
adding the details. I purchased an assortment of
vehicles 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 vehicles
with a light dusting of diluted L&N Gray. I left a few as
is, however, to give the appearance of clean cars. One
extra detail Ill add when I have some time will be
license plates. The few cars that came with them look
much more realistic than those without.
To install the streetlights I slipped the wires into
the coffee straws and then tacked the lamp post
to the platform with Accent Cement. I prefer this type
of adhesive for these detail parts because it makes it
easy to remove them if needed.
The depot itself is a long-out-of-production Clouser
model that wed had knocking around the MR&T for
years. I spruced it up by adding window glazing,
station signs, and shades, and then weathered it a
bit to make it look like it was an old station that had
been renovated for commuter service. With the depot
in place, I installed benches, garbage cans, and a
mailbox on the platform. Many of these details came
from Model Power set no. 5710. I painted the benches
and garbage cans Polly Scale Pullman Green.
The last details to go into the scene were the
people. I used a variety of Woodland Scenics,
Preiser, and Model Power fgures for the platform.
Commuters typically ride the same trains everyday,
and they know where those trains stop on the
platform. As a result, they tend to gather right where
the car doors will be. Before cementing the people in
place, I parked a three-car train at the station and
then placed the majority of the passengers near the
train doors.
With the Mukwonago station complete, I can
move on to adding MRail commuter service to the
towns of Big Bend, Lake Beulah, and Williams Bay.
Straw acts as
mounting post
Parking bumpers
Snow ramp
Preiser gures
Model Power
benches and
garbage bin
People grouped
by train doors
License plate
Tall trees, clear streams, and
rugged rocks are all part of the
excitement of mountain scenery.
Follow along as expert modeler
Pelle Seborg explains how he
constructed this impressive scene
on his HO scale layout.
Build a
realistic
mountain scene
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othing says mountain railroading quite like a train
winding its way through deep tunnels or along the
banks 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. And
some of the most memorable railroading scenes captured in
photographs and on lm feature breathtaking mountain
topography. I can think of few settings for a model railroad
that are more impressive, and with that in mind, I included
some mountain scenery on my own layout.
In the November 2006 Model Railroader I explained how
I designed the Donner River portion of my HO scale layout,
as well as how I built the benchwork, laid the track, and
constructed the main bridge over the river. This month Ill
show you how I made my mountain scenery.
Modeling mountain scenery can be very rewarding. Each
of the projects shown here is easy to accomplish thanks to
readily available materials and tools. With a little effort, you
too can enjoy watching your trains work their way along a
tortuous route through rugged terrain. [For an in-depth
look 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 Subdivision
By Pelle K. Seborg Photos by the author
I used tunnels to hide where the trains enter and exit the
Donner River section of the layout, so before jumping into
construction of the basic terrain, I installed the tunnel linings.
I used a Woodland Scenics tunnel lining form to make
Hydrocal castings for the wall pieces. The process is very
easy, and since you can remove the casting from the mold
30 minutes after pouring the Hydrocal, you can make a
number of sections in one evening. Another nice feature of
the wall sections is that the castings match the openings for
Woodland Scenics tunnel portals.
I let the castings dry overnight and then stained them
using gray and black paint diluted with water. As shown in
the photo at right, I cemented the tunnel sections together
using Woodland Scenics Flex Paste. This product has a long
drying time, making it easy to adjust the sections. Once I had
the tunnel walls in place (and before the paste had set), I
checked the clearance using my largest rolling stock,
including auto racks and
double-stack cars, and
then cemented the tunnels
to the layout using more
Flex Paste.
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The next step was to add the basic terrain. I used extruded
foam insulation board for my scenery because it has many
advantages its lightweight, easy to work with, and provides
a good, stable foundation for the rest of the scenery.
I started by cutting the rough shape of the basic terrain
contours using a hot wire foam cutter. I glued these together
using 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 of
layering them in the common wedding-cake style, I cut out
profles and glued them together vertically, as shown in the
left photograph. The advantage of doing it this way is that its
easier to make rugged mountain shapes.
While working with the foam, its important to vary the
contours of the profles to create more dramatic scenery.
Having a lot of dips and bulges instead of one solid rock wall
adds depth to the landscape, making it more realistic.
Once I was satisfed with how the foam scenery looked, I
sanded the seams smooth. Though rock outcroppings can
have sharp edges, erosion wears down the landscape, so the
majority of topography is curved and soft looking. You can
see this effect clearly in the photo of the fnished foam
terrain, shown above.
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With the basic foam terrain in place, I installed the various
man-made engineering features, including bridge abutments,
retaining walls, and tunnel portals.
Bridge abutments. I used several different types of
bridge abutments on the layout, including a pair of Walthers
abutments and some I scratchbuilt from styrene sheet.
I painted and weathered the abutments and then installed
them under the bridges (built when I laid the track).
I supported the abutments on foam blocks to get a good
ft under the bridge, and then I built up the river bank around
them with more foam. Youll notice in the upper left photo
that 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, I
made the wall itself from styrene sheet, supporting it with
strips of foam insulation board. I cemented an .080" x .125"
styrene strip to the top and then painted the wall a concrete
color. I mix equal parts of Testors Model Master White, Gull
Gray, and Sand to make my concrete paint. After the paint
dries, I weather the parts with a wash of diluted black paint.
Tunnel Portals. At this point, I test ft the tunnel portals
and wing walls. Because I still needed to add the rock
castings and paint the scenery, I didnt install the portals just
yet. I wanted to keep them from being damaged by other
scenery work, so I put them aside until the basic scenery
layer was in place. Later, I cemented them to the foam with
Woodland Scenics Foam Putty.
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13 Model Railroader sample issue Subscribe now to Model Railroader >
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In this rugged terrain theres no service road following the
right-of-way. However, with todays railroads, where there are
signals, there needs to be some sort of access road for the
signal maintainer to get to them. As in the real world I had to
fnd the best location for my roads with as gentle a grade as
possible. As shown in the photo, I cut the road out of the
foam and then beveled the slopes and sanded the surfaces
smooth so they looked natural.
Little things like service roads are important details when
it comes to creating realistic scenery.
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My next step was to add rock outcroppings to the foam.
I made a large number of Hydrocal rock castings in various
shapes and sizes. After test-ftting the castings on the foam
scenery, I cemented the rocks to the layout using Foam
Putty. Where two or more castings were needed close
together, I cemented them to the layout with more Hydrocal.
If you use this method, be sure to wet the castings before
placing them in the wet Hydrocal, otherwise the dry rocks will
draw 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 ooze
out between the castings, which is great for flling the seams.
To make the castings look like they fow together, I press
crumpled aluminum foil into the seam to shape the surface,
as shown in the inset photo. The foil leaves the seam looking
very similar to the casting itself.
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The next step was to give the foam terrain a coat of fat
earth-colored latex house paint. I painted the scenery in foot-
square sections, being careful not to get any paint on the
rock castings. While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled some
fne sand into it. This creates an excellent base for the next
layers of scenery products and helps prevent those materials
from sliding downhill.
Once the base coat of sand and paint was dry, I stained
the 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 make
stains. Before staining the castings, I sprayed them with
water so the casting wouldnt absorb too much pigment all
at once. I then dabbed the rocks randomly with Stone Gray,
Slate Gray, Raw Umber, and Burnt Umber. I fnished the
processes by applying a light wash of diluted black and let
the castings dry.
The desert portion of Pelles HO scale layout, the town of Daneville,
was originally featured in the March 2005 issue of MR. To read the
article, visit our Web site at www.ModelRailroader.com.
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backdrop. Mike Danneman described his backdrop painting
techniques in the October 2004 MR in great detail, and I use
a similar method. The important thing is to paint the back-
drop before youve added any of the tall scenic elements that
will stand in front of it.
After painting the sky blue (something Id done before
starting the scenery project), I began by painting the distant
mountains. As shown in the upper photo, I used oil paints
(acrylics would also work), choosing light blue/green shades
for the background mountains. I blended darker tones into
the wet paint to make shadows.
Next, I painted the closer hills with greener colors but also
included some beige and brown shades. Even though it
doesnt look like it, Ive added some blue and white to the
colors to tone them down. Otherwise, the greens and browns
would be unrealistically bright. I used a couple of photos of
the Feather River region as a guide for my color selections.
Its easier to make the backdrop look realistic if you paint
from photos of actual locations.
With the hills in place, it was time to paint a zillion pine
trees. 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 bushes
when the scenery is com-
pleted, so the backdrop trees
just need to give the impres-
sion that there are more
beyond the modeled ones.
Painting my backdrop took
just a couple hours, and while
you could paint a more-
detailed scene if you prefer,
as shown in the photo at left,
it doesnt take that much
detail to make an effective
mountain backdrop.
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The second scenery layer adds much of the ground cover
for the mountain scene. As shown above, I used a variety of
materials to produce well-textured and detailed ground
cover. To begin I poured four soil colors (all from Arizona
Rock and Mineral) in plastic cups, including Earth, Orange
Soil, Cajon Sandstone, and High Desert Soil. I also worked
with several sizes and colors of talus, from Woodland
Scenics, as well as some of the frms static grass.
To apply the ground cover, I brushed thinned white glue
on a foot-square section of scenery. With the glue in place, I
poured small amounts of each of the four soil colors onto a
small square of cardboard. I then gently blew the soil blend
into the wet area, repeating this process until the entire
section was covered.
Next, I soaked the soil with wet water (water diluted with
rubbing alcohol), being careful not to wash the scenery mate-
rials down the slopes. I then applied small talus boulders
here and there, sprinkling them on the surface of the wet
scenery with a spoon, as shown in the photo at right. To fx
the materials in place, I covered everything with thinned
white glue (1 part glue diluted with 3 parts water), again being
careful not to wash away the soil and talus.
Once the glue was applied, I added more soil as needed
and some static grass.
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The next step was to ballast the track. As shown in the
photo, I spread the ballast with a wide soft brush, working
down the center of the track frst and then shaping the sides
of the right-of-way.
To fx the ballast in place, I soaked it with wet water and
then applied diluted white glue. Dips and low areas in the
landscape create small ponds of glue. I made drain holes for
these by pushing a screwdriver through the foam and then
placing a cup below the hole to catch the glue.
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Once the entire area around the river was covered with
soil, grass, and ballast, I could then concentrate on Donner
River itself. Before applying any scenery materials in the
riverbed I drilled a couple of drain holes for the glue in the
plywood base. (Be sure to plug those holes before pouring
the water or youll have a mess!)
I started by applying a layer of Arizona Rock & Mineral
River Bottom to the riverbed. This is a mix of sand and gravel
materials that look like a real mountain stream bed. To the
river-bottom mix I added a selection of various size boulders
(more Woodland Scenics talus), as well as some of the frms
deadfall tree branches to the banks. I then soaked all these
materials with wet water, applied diluted white glue, and let
the riverbed dry thoroughly.
Riverbanks tend to have more vegetation than the higher
areas, so I planted a lot of Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf
Foliage along the rivers edge.
I used an industrial polyester for my water, but most any
resin water product, such as Magic Water or Enviro-Tex Lite,
will work. I dyed the polyester with a little tan paint and then
added the hardener, stirring the material carefully to avoid
introducing air bubbles. Resin fumes arent good for you, so
be sure you work in a well-ventilated room. On my layout, its
summer, so the water level in the river is low. I cast the river
in two layers, approximately
1
4" each, which was suffcient.
For pine trees I chose Woodland Scenics older pine tree
kits with metal armatures because they hold their shape well
and can be customized easily so no two trees look exactly
alike. As I was going to make a substantial number of pine
trees, I built them 10 at a time in assembly-line fashion. While
building the trees, I drilled small holes in the bottom of the
armature and cemented a mounting wire to each trunk with
cyanoacrylate adhesive. The wires make the trees easy to
plant on the layout just stick the wire into the foam and they
stay put. I didnt glue the trees to my layout because I wanted
them to be easy to reposition if needed.
I used Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage for making
smaller bushes. I added drops of white glue to the scenery
and placed the clump foliage on the wet glue. For larger
bushes and smaller trees I used the frms Fine Leaf Foliage.
I planted clumps of this material along the river and the
railroad right-of-way. As shown in the photo below, I also
planted various-size bushes around the rock outcroppings.
This is an important detail to remember because even in
areas where you dont think anything can grow, theres often
a surprising amount of vegetation.
With the foliage in place, all that was left to do was clean
the track, and then I could enjoy running trains through the
canyon on my Donner Subdivision.
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A unit coal train makes its way through Donner River Canyon, battling 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.
m
By John Elwood Photos by Lou Sassi
I
remember reading the editorial writ-
ten by Andy Sperandeo in the May
1994 Model Railroader. It was titled
Searching for smaller model rail-
roads. You see, MR had conducted
a survey of its readers and found that
the average-size model railroad was
approximately 215 square feet. Though
it was nearly 10 years later that I sub-
mitted an article on my layout, at ap-
proximately 250 square feet, it appears
that my HO scale Olympic & Puget
Sound Railway ts into that average-
size category nicely.
When designing the O&PS, I started
by making a list of features I wanted it
to include. I knew I wanted the nished
layout to create the feeling of mountain
railroading, with its bridges and tres-
tles; however, I also wanted it to display
my passion for maritime modeling.
And, I wanted the layout to have a large
sawmill as well.
With those things in mind, I set my
model railroad in the Pacic Northwest
in the early 1950s. My Olympic & Puget
Sound Ry. is a ctitious branch line of
the Northern Pacic that starts at the
NPs yard in Tacoma, Wash., and heads
west onto the Olympic Peninsula. This
region gave me the scenic features I
was looking for in a realistic setting.
With my theme decided, I moved on to
designing a track plan.
Like most model railroads, the size
of my layout was dictated by the avail-
able space. My layout resides in a
roughly 14 x 16-foot alcove in my base-
ment, and once Id started working out
the track plan, I quickly understood
that Id get the best use out of my area
by working with a single-track main
line. Also, one of the things I wanted in
whatever railroad I ended up building
was that it would give me the option for
continuous running. This way I could
easily display the railroad for visitors.
After struggling with several of my
own track plan ideas, I happened upon
Terry Walshs West Agony & Inchoate
RR in the August 1960 issue of MR.
The layouts track plan was compact,
yet designed for operation, and it t in
a room smaller than mine. In the end, I
adapted much of Terrys plan, but in
expanding the design to t my space, I
rearranged the yard and the industries
to 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. 2345
switches the town of Puget Mills on
John Elwoods HO scale layout. Johns
small model railroad is packed with
dozens of detailed craftsmen kit and
scratchbuilt structures.
An HO scale Pacic Northwest-theme layout
thats big on detail
Sawmill
Access
hatch
American
Boathouse
Wyman
Lumber Co.
Depot
Lighthouse
Puget Mills
Texaco
gas station
Duckunder
Georgetown
Puyallup River
Canning Co.
Rock
bunker
Coal tower
Icing
platform
Enginehouse
Lift bridge
TACOMA
Sewall's Foundry
and Abramson
Construction
Chester
Rawlings Co.
Less-than-
carload-lot
Ambassador Hotel
Tower
Collett Tractor
& Equipment
Yakima
Fruit Growers
Depot
Kent Coal Co.
Lake
Quinault
Olympic & Puget Sound Ry.
HO scale (1:87.1)
Layout size: 15'-0" x 16'-4"
Scale of plan:
3
8" = 1'-0", 12" grid
Numbered arrows indicate photo locations
50"
46"
46"
46"
46"
46"
46"
50"
50"
9
8
2
5
7
Cover
6
3
1
4
Duckunder
Name: Olympic & Puget Sound Ry.
Scale: HO (1:87)
Size: 12 x 16 feet
Prototype: Northern Pacifc and
Great Northern
Theme: freelanced Tacoma, Wash.,
and Puget Sound area
Era: early 1950s
Style: around the room shelf
Mainline run: 100 feet
Minimum radius: 24"
Turnout minimum: no. 4
Maximum grade: 2
1
2 percent
Layout height: 46" to 50"
Benchwork: 1 x 4 open grid
Roadbed: cork on 1 x 3 boards
Track: Shinohara code 100 fextrack
Scenery: hardshell
Backdrop: painted drywall
Control: cab control with one
Aristo-Craft 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 the
bridge after one on the Valley RR in Essex, Conn.
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 a
prototypical fashion.
Following the main line
Lets 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 a
list of the cars in the train and where
they need to be set out, using this
simple switch list form.
4. The American Boathouse is one of
the main structures on the waterfront
at Puget Mills. John built the model of
the shing boat and the marine railway
using one at the Mystic Seaport
Museum, in Connecticut, as a guide.
trains heading west onto the Olympic
Peninsula. The O&PS shares trackage
rights with the Northern Pacic and
the Great Northern, so much of the
rolling stock and motive power on the
line comes from these two railroads.
After leaving the yard heading west,
the line crosses the Puyallup River on a
Scherzer rolling lift bridge. The main
line then climbs into the mountains on
a 2.5 percent grade. Along the way the
tracks push through a rock tunnel and
cross two curved wood trestles.
After passing a small water tank,
the line enters the town of Lake
Quinault. 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 for
passenger service on the branch, and
Lake Quinault is a regular stop.
Continuing west, the main line heads
downgrade to the waterfront town of
Puget Mills. On the outskirts of town is
a busy sawmill. I scratchbuilt the com-
plex in 1976, and the Narrow Gauge
Gazette featured my mill in the May/
June 1979 issue. There is no log dump
as 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 that
includes a gas dock for small pleasure
craft. I put a lot of detail into this scene,
and it includes speedboats, a shing
boat, and the steam tug Lorraine J.
Theres also a lighthouse. This area is
equipped with sound effects, so visi-
tors can hear seagulls and other water-
front noises, as well as the occasional
blast of the lighthouses fog horn.
From Puget Mills, the tracks pass
through another tunnel that leads back
to 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 we
dont use the connecting loop track.
Building the layout
Im a rm believer in solid bench-
work. With the advantage of having
concrete walls around most of the rail-
road, I bolted the benchwork to the
walls every 24". I also bolted each 2 x 2
support leg into the concrete oor. The
framework is made from 1 x 4s built in
sections. Those sections are then bolt-
ed together to form a solid base.
I covered the at areas, including
Tacoma Yard, Lake Quinault, and
Puget Mills with
1
2" plywood and then
cemented
1
2" Homasote on top of it.
The rest of the main line is supported
on risers. I built the subroadbed using
1 x 3 pine boards laid at. My curved
roadbed is made using a quadrant tech-
nique. Each 90 degree arc consists of
three straight sections, each covering
30 degrees. I cut 15-degree angles on
the ends of each segment and splice the
sections with a small piece of
1
4" ply-
wood glued underneath.
I used cork roadbed for the entire
railroad. On top of that I laid Shino-
hara code 100 extrack and turnouts
for the main line. I also used some code
70 extrack on the sidings and spurs.
All my trestles and bridges feature
handlaid rail. I painted and weathered
5. John is a rm believer that details
equal realism, and even a simple
scene 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 delicate
Sheepscot boom.
7. Northern Pacic 2-6-2 no. 2345
passes the depot at Lake Quinault
with a local freight. The crew will work
several of the industries in town
before proceeding to Puget Mills.
the track with a combination of Floquil
Rust and Roof Brown.
The Olympic & Puget Sound is wired
for DC cab control. Power is supplied
to the railroad using MRC power packs,
but the main line can be run off the
yard throttle or from a wireless Aristo-
Craft cab. Since my layout has duck-
unders, the wireless throttle is really
helpful, and I enjoy running trains
from either inside or outside the lay-
out. Ive used my current system for
about 30 years and have enjoyed nearly
awless operation. As a result, I have
no plans to convert the layout to Digital
Command Control.
Details equal realism
Ever since I started in the hobby, Ive
been fascinated with realistic struc-
tures and scenery. After building my
rst two Fine Scale Miniatures kits in
the mid-1970s, I discovered that real-
ism is in the details. Soon after that I
got to visit George Sellioss Franklin &
South Manchester, and it pushed me
into a modeling direction that contin-
ues to this day building realistic,
highly detailed models and scenery.
My O&PS currently features ten Fine
Scale Miniatures structures, including
the rst craftsman kit I ever built, FSM
depot kit no. 110. Ive augmented these
with several craftsman kits from other
manufacturers, including Builders-in-
Scale and Campbell Scale Models. I
also have a few brick buildings from
various companies.
I particularly enjoy scratchbuilding
wood structures. Visitors to my layout
may recognize many small structures
that I scratchbuilt from photographs of
6. Puget Mills wharf is the perfect
place to spend the day watching trains
and taking in the sights and sounds of
the bay. The throttle and control panel
are mounted in a retractable drawer.
John Elwood has been modeling in
HO scale since 1972, and he now
calls the hobby his mild obses-
sion. Since retiring from the
construction industry, John now
helps others build their layouts as
well. He is a charter member of the
Valley HO Trak modular club in
Connecticut and is also a member
of the Friday Knights of the Road, a
round-robin modeling club.
John has been married to his
wife, Lorraine, for 42 years. They
have three grown daughters and
fve grandchildren.
Meet John Elwood
Pine trees are in abundance on the
O&PS. Many of the trees on the layout
are Heki ready-made models, but I did
make some of the taller ones by carv-
ing balsa trunks and adding branches
made from caspia ferns. I also planted
hundreds of dyed jute twine weeds.
Among the weeds and trees Ive placed
many mini scenes and details, which
have a way of tying the layout together.
For modeling water, I used Enviro-
Tex resin. Rather than struggle with
teasing the resin into waves, I chose to
let the material dry at. For the ponds
and even the waterfront, which I mod-
eled at low tide, the smooth surface
looks quite natural. However, for the
stream, I coated the surface with Liq-
uitex Gloss Medium and Varnish to
suggest running water.
Operation
We operate the O&PS along ideas
similar to those presented in the No-
vember 1992 MR article, How to oper-
ate a small layout realistically. Each
mainline industry is listed on a tabbed
index card and placed in a small le
box. Behind each tabbed industry card
we place four additional cards, each
with a different daily car requirement
for that business.
For example, a card for the Yakima
Fruit Growers may state that today the
buildings on Georges F&SM layout. I
detail my structures to what I call a
plausible level, being careful not to
overdo it. Having too much detail can
detract from realism as much as not
having enough.
Although I model the Pacic North-
west, Ive never been there. Instead,
my maritime knowledge comes from
the coasts of Maine and Connecticut. I
tend to model what I like, as opposed to
geographical prototype. For example,
the American Boathouse building is
almost identical to a structure of the
same name in Camden, Maine. This
started as a Builders-in-Scale kit, but I
opened up the large doors and added a
typical marine railway into the build-
ing. The interior walls are nished with
1 x 6 sheathing and 2 x 4 framing. I then
added the appropriate workbenches and
machinery, as well as lighting.
My 36-foot shing boat, the Hailey,
is a western-rigged dragger. For the
hull, I used a kit from Sierra West. I
then scratchbuilt the rest from the deck
up using photos of the real boat, which
is still aoat at the Mystic Seaport Mu-
seum in Connecticut.

Scenery made easy
Though my buildings and boats may
be complex, my scenery techniques are
straightforward. For the base scenery
layer I used the hardshell technique,
working with Hydrocal-soaked paper
towels and plaster gauze.
After painting the scenery, I covered
all of the land features with real dirt,
sifted through a tea strainer and a
piece of nylon stocking. I then applied
various shades and sizes of Woodland
Scenics ground foam.
8. The O&PSs gas-electric car
crosses a plate girder bridge and
trestle on its way from Puget Mills to
Tacoma. The doodlebug is the main
passenger service on the line.
9. Following slow orders, NP 2-6-2 no.
2345 creeps across the branch lines
tall trestle on its way to Lake Quinault,
just west of the bridge.
company needs two iced reefers for
fruit loading. Other days it may need
only one or perhaps an occasional
boxcar loaded with wood for making
crates. There may also be exceptions
where nothing is delivered to that spe-
cic industry. All the industries on the
layout have similar scenario cards.
When the Tacoma yardmaster goes
on duty, he pulls the rst scenario card
for each industry in the box. Using the
yards 0-8-0 switch engine, the yard-
master then pulls the required cars
from the yard to make up the local
train. Once he has the train together,
he lls out a switch list, like the one
shown on page 47, detailing which cars
are to be dropped off for the industries
on the line. He then places the car re-
quirement cards back in the box, be-
hind the remaining cards for each of
those industries.
Next, the yardmaster selects an ap-
propriate engine and caboose for the
train, and the local is now ready to de-
part. The crew for that train receives
the switch list and heads out down the
line to switch the industries at Lake
Quinault and Puget Mills. Following
the procedure in the 1992 MR article,
if there is a car at an industry, it must
be replaced with the new one. This way
the train picks up empties and loads to
take back to the yard as the crew works
their way along the railroad.
Once the crew has nished switch-
ing the line, they must turn the train at
Puget Mills (the loop track back to the
yard is off limits) for its return trip to
Tacoma. My operators and I have been
using this system for seven years, and
it continues to challenge us. We can
keep the crew busy switching for as
long as two hours.
Reections on the layout
The late Jim Findley of Tioga Pass
RR fame once remarked that, Each
model railroad reects its builder. Lay-
outs have only one thing in common
they all exemplify the enjoyment real-
ized as each individual re-creates his
miniature world as he sees it.
My Olympic & Puget Sound Ry. has
certainly done that for me. The layout
has allowed me to create and display
my artistic interests that followed me
from my childhood.
More importantly, however, I have
developed numerous friendships over
the past 30 years that could have come
only through our common interest in
this hobby. My friends have provided
me with constant inspiration to do
quality work, and that inspiration is
also reected through their talents and
enjoyment of model railroading. To
this end, I believe that model railroad-
ing is truly a great hobby. MR
Subscribe now to Model Railroader > 26 Model Railroader sample issue
T
heres nothing like the thought of
moving to get the layout-design
ideas owing. Though I was well
on the way to completing my N scale
Montana Rail Link (MRL) layout, the
plan for which was featured in the Au-
gust 2003 Model Railroader, Id always
known that my layout was temporary.
Due to the limited space in our tiny
condominium, the railroad was much
smaller than I really wanted (though at
least I had a layout). And, because we
were starting a family, I knew that my
wife and I probably wouldnt be living
there long. So the discussions of need-
ing more living space brought along
with them the dream of building a big-
ger layout.
When we started house hunting, one
of the things I kept in the back of my
mind was the layout potential of the
basement. I wanted to nd a house with
a basement that was nished and had
plenty of open space. In the end, the
house 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 build
the empire Id always wanted. But later
I realized that I didnt really want a
railroad that was so large it would take
me several decades to build.
What I did want was something that
was bigger than my condominium lay-
out I wanted a longer main line that
would allow me to run more trains and
have 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 of
which was a door. This way I could
keep the layout a manageable size in a
room isolated from what has now be-
come our family room.
Time to design
I 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 last
layout, 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 oor
plan to friend and former Kalmbach
corporate art director Bill Edgar to see
what he could come up with for the
space. I gave both him and Mike a list
of my layout criteria. Some items on
the list included having as much main-
line running as possible and a large
yard to store and switch trains. Just
like my rst layout, I also wanted this
railroad to be based on the Montana
Rail Link and to include scenes from
around Helena, Mullan Pass, and Lom-
bard Canyon, Mont.
When I got the plans back, Mike had
drawn three versions and Bill another.
The evening I got the plans, I stared
at the drawings for hours thinking
about all the possibilities. They were
all good designs, and in some respects,
I could have used any of them.
However, after looking closer at the
plans I noticed some undesirable fea-
tures. Some designs didnt t the sce-
nic characteristics I wanted, and other
plans had narrow aisles and duck-
unders. At rst, I wanted nothing to do
with a design that required me to get
on my hands and knees or to build
complicated drop-down sections to get
in and out of the layout room. But, as
youll see from the nal plan, I con-
cluded compromises were necessary.
All the plans gave me a great learn-
ing experience in layout design. Follow
along as I explain my thoughts on the
advantages and disadvantages of each
track plan, and why with some ne-
tuning, certain features of each plan
won out in the end. MR
DESIGNING A MID-SIZE
N SCALE LAYOUT
The evolution of a track
plan for an unusually
shaped room
By Tom Danneman
Track plans by Mike Danneman
and Bill Edgar
A westbound BNSF Ry. freight
works upgrade across Austin
Creek trestle near Skyline, Mont.
Tom Danneman photo
Illustrations by Theo Cobb
Numerous spurs
and industries
Prototype scenery would require
hiding much of the main line
Main line crosses
itself unprototypically
Entrance to the
room is diffcult
Main level
Plenty of staging and
good 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 operating
potential
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 plan
since 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 to
stage and switch trains. With the numerous spurs and industries, this track plan
also offers a lot of switching. Its twice-around main line also provides some good
operating potential.
However, one of the frst things I did when I saw each of the plans was visualize
how the track arrangements would ft with the regions of the Montana Rail Link I
wanted to model. This proved to be Plan 1s main sticking point.
Since the MRL doesnt physically cross over itself or another railroad (either via
an overhead bridge or at grade), I just couldnt visualize my favorite MRL scenes
without having to hide a lot of the main line. It would also have to be modifed to
include a duckunder or lift-out section at the door. I was afraid that this addition
would change the entire track arrangement of the layout.
However, if I wanted to freelance a little more than I did, or if I were modeling
another railroad, this plan might work well.
Illustrations by Theo Cobb
No doorway
obstructions
Nice scenic
opportunities
No sidings
Main line
crosses
itself
unprototypically
2
Missouri River
Optional branch line
but limited branch
operation
Lombard siding
Austin Creek Trestle
Optional tunnel
Lift-out girder bridge
Future extension
Helena industries
28"
Depot
Helper pocket
HELENA
Curvy main line
with siding
Numerous
industries
Good-size
yard
Scenery
mismatch
Scenes not
in order
Entrance still
requires lift-out
section
TRACK PLAN 2 Curvy main line
In some ways, this is the type of plan Id envisioned in my head before any
drawing started. I wanted a layout with no obstructions in the doorway, one or two
peninsulas, 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 track
arrangement that would be necessary if I didnt have a duckunder. As I mentioned
with Plan 1, I wanted to model at least a few prototypical MRL locations. Having
the main line loop over itself twice didnt ft.
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, it
didnt allow for the long trains that I wanted. Also, the plan doesnt include any
passing 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 be
inaccessible. Though I could put in access hatches, both of these things were
problems 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 has
prototype scenic
potential
Long main
line with
siding
Good-size yard
Straight trackwork
doesnt represent
prototype
No room for
scenery here
Narrow aisles
Entrance requires
duckunder 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 greatly
extends the main line and offers some nice scenery options. This plan also keeps
the 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 confguration (coming from the short wall and running the
length of the room, which is already narrow), however, the peninsula also has its
drawbacks. The peninsula intrudes into the aisle space, making the walkways
tight. Also, the space taken up by the peninsula and the remaining aisles leaves
very little room for scenery along the wall opposite the yard. The passing siding
sits on a long, narrow shelf. The other problem with this plan is that it has a lot of
straight track. While that will work well for some railroads, the design lacks the
curvy quality of the prototype Montana Rail Links main line.
However, despite its straight track, I really could start to visualize MRL scenes
with this design. The yard could easily be a miniature version of the prototype yard
in Helena. And I could see a curved steel bridge, like Austin Creek trestle on the
prototype, at the peak of the peninsula. We were defnitely 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 was
also much better than Plan 3 it was really coming together.
As a special note, there is a pair of tracks at the left end of the yard that head
for the wall for future expansion. Okay, so maybe I can still have that empire if I just
tunnel through the wall and extend the railroad out into the fnished part of the
basement. 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 issues
with this plan. I wondered if I could get more out of that optional branch line that
stub ends off of the main. I also wondered how I could transition from Lombard
siding to the Austin Creek trestle. The scenery around the real Lombard siding is
dry and arid looking with brightly colored rock formations, whereas the area
around 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 west
towards the trestle, it would pass through Lombard siding and then cross Austin
Creek trestle. Lombard siding on the prototype is east of Helena, so if youre going
west 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
59
1
4"
60
1
4"
56
1
2"
58
1
4"
58
1
2"
28"
Truss bridge on
lift-out section
Helena
Roundhouse
Cement Plant
Wall
Mullan Tunnel Austin Road Austin Siding
Greenhorn Creek
Mountain ridge
Austin Creek
Trestle
Gravel road
Grain elevator
BNSF Great Falls Line
Elevator
Helper pocket
Loading platform
Montana Avenue
National Avenue
Golf course
Roberts Street
Northern Pacic steam
locomotive in park
Radio tower Parking lot
Combination girder/wood
trestle over road/creek
Future extension
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
Engine service
Tunnel ventilation structures
Depot Good-size
yard
Long, curvy main line
Numerous spurs
and industries
Operating branch line
Good prototype
scenery options
Space to run
long trains
Duckunder/lift-out
section required
To make the nal plan, I tweaked
version 4, starting with the track
arrangements around Helena Yard. I did
this by placing paper overlays on the
existing plan on a light table and
drawing in the new track layouts.
I made the changes after looking at
the prototype Helena Yard on Google
Earth (www.googleearth.com). The Web
site provides detailed high-resolution
satellite imagery. This is a wonderful
tool to use for planning especially
when youre 1,400 miles away from the
subject. With Google Earth I could see
the exact track arrangement of parts of
Helena Yard and the surrounding area.
This also let me see the relation of
nearby structures to the track.
By no means did I make the plan an
exact replica, but I was able to get a
fairly realistic version of the track
arrangements around the turntable and
diesel servicing area, as well as the
area west of the yard.
As I mentioned in plan 4, I was
hung up on Lombard siding. Eventually
I just skipped trying to model Lombard
and concentrated on the east side of
Mullan Pass instead. It was simple to
replace the Missouri River with a
meandering creek (Greenhorn Creek)
which runs along the MRL as you climb
out of Helena toward the Continental
Divide. This also meant changing the
siding name to Austin, the frst passing
track west of Helena. Finally, it made
sense to me.
While I was at it, I moved the tunnel
beyond Austin Creek trestle back
around the curve a little. Ill model the
portal after the one at the east end
of Mullan Tunnel, which includes a
ventilation system.
The last part of the plan I worked on
was the branch line. Again, I wanted to
tie it in with a prototype, so I chose the
Burlington Northern (now BNSF) Helena-
Great Falls branch that splits off the
MRL at East Helena. I added a wye to
the plan, following the prototype.
Track plan 5
Pros
Long, curvy main line with sidings
Good-size yard
Space to run long trains
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 of
terminating the branch like it was on
Plan 4, I sent the track into a tunnel that
had a hidden reverse loop. This way I
could run a train down the branch and
have it come back later. The Helena-
Great Falls line has some interesting
tunnels, so it wasnt much of a stretch.
Then an even bigger lightbulb turned
on. What if I expanded on that idea and
made a whole new lower level with a
staging yard, similar to the frst plan?
Now we were talking! After sharing
these ideas with Mike, he went back to
his drawing board and came up with
the plan you see here. I was sold!
I now had a two-level layout. The main
level is plenty in itself, but now I have an
eight-track staging yard with a runaround
track. The shortest staging track is a
whopping 12 feet in length, so my trains
can be relatively long. Since this plan has
copious amounts of staging, Helena Yard
can be used primarily for switching
instead of train storage, making the
layouts operation more realistic.
TRACK PLAN 5 - The nal plan (2 levels)
59
1
4"
60
1
4"
56
1
2"
58
1
4"
58
1
2"
28"
Truss bridge on
lift-out section
Helena
Roundhouse
Cement Plant
Wall
Mullan Tunnel Austin Road Austin Siding
Greenhorn Creek
Mountain ridge
Austin Creek
Trestle
Gravel road
Grain elevator
BNSF Great Falls Line
Elevator
Helper pocket
Loading platform
Montana Avenue
National Avenue
Golf course
Roberts Street
Northern Pacic steam
locomotive in park
Radio tower Parking lot
Combination girder/wood
trestle over road/creek
Future extension
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
Engine service
Tunnel ventilation structures
Depot Good-size
yard
Long, curvy main line
Numerous spurs
and industries
Good prototype
scenery options
Space to run
long trains
Duckunder/lift-out
section required
8-track staging yard
2 percent grade
Helix to
separate
decks
To Helena
(upper deck)
Runaround track
20" leads (long enough
for four SD-type diesels)
Lower-level staging
Lower-level staging keeps
yard clear of staged trains
Some hidden track
51
1
2"
56
1
2"
48"
Name: Montana Rail Link Third
Subdivision
Scale: N (1:160)
Size: 9'-1" x 16'-5"
Prototype: Montana Rail Link
Era: 1990s
Style: around the walls
Mainline run: 40 feet
Minimum radius: 18", except
where marked
Minimum turnout: Peco large radius
Maximum grade: 2 percent
Height: 48" to 60
1
4"
Track plan at a glance
Mike also designed an ingenious
way of getting the trains to switch
directions in staging. Instead of having
a space-consuming return loop, the
plan has two 20" leads at the end of the
yard. I can pull a train into staging,
uncouple as many as four locomotives,
pull onto one of the lead tracks, and
then run around the train on the
runaround track. The train is then ready
to go back to the main level.
In my view I now have the perfect
track plan for my space.
Mail and express cars were an important part of passenger-train consists
By Paul J. Dolkos Photos by the author except where noted
Part 1
Head-end equipment
and operations
A
s ubiquitous as coaches may seem
in railroad passenger car rosters,
baggage, express, and mail cars
outnumbered them. And even as travel-
ers deserted the rails after World War
II, the non-passenger-carrying equip-
ment up front, commonly known as
head-end cars, remained chock-full of
parcels, mail, money, perishables, live
animals, newspapers, and magazines.
Head-end trafc was heavy and the
revenues signicant: about 35 percent
of mid-1950s passenger service reve-
nues. It was often the rationale for run-
ning many trains. Baggage car is
usually a misnomer because there was
relatively little checked passenger bag-
gage on board most trains. The term
baggage-express car, used by several
railroads, is a better indication of how
such equipment was used.
There was a hierarchy of passenger
services. On top were the railroads ag-
ship name trains. During the rst half of
the 20th century they carried little head-
end equipment, often only a single bag-
gage-express or combination baggage-
passenger car for checked baggage, and
perhaps a Railway Post Ofce car (an
RPO) along for a fast trip.
Next were lesser named trains or
those secondary trains simply identi-
ed by numbers. On these the head-
end cars were more numerous and of-
ten included an RPO, one or more
express refrigerator cars, and multiple
baggage-express cars. On the rear were
coaches and sleepers. By the 1950s and
60s the head-end cars on many trains
outnumbered the passenger-carrying
cars. As more and more secondary pas-
senger trains were discontinued, addi-
tional head-end cars started appearing
in the consists of agship trains.
Then there were the mail and ex-
press trains not listed in public time-
tables, with a single passenger coach or
a caboose equipped for passenger ser-
vice for the crew on the rear. Their mis-
sion was to expedite mail and express
shipments between major cities. Sev-
eral carried the evocative name of
Fast Mail in some form. Similarly,
dedicated trains and some local pas-
senger schedules hauled milk cars on
railroads serving major milk produc-
ing areas near Boston, New York, Chi-
cago, and other large cities.
Head-end rolling stock
As shown by the car classications
established by the Association of Amer-
ican Railroads (AAR, see The BCMs
of head-end cars, page 53), there are
numerous types of head-end equipment
beyond the familiar baggage, mail, and
combination cars. And within any given
railroads eet there might be many re-
built cars, even some converted from
passenger-carrying equipment, creat-
ing a multitude of variations.
Head-end cars tend to be shorter
than passenger-carrying cars. Most
baggage-express cars, such as the car
in g. 1 above, are 60 to 70 feet long,
with some later lightweights reaching
80 feet. Generally they have two sets of
doors per side, but these often varied
in width, sometimes with one double
door opening 8 feet wide and a nar-
rower 5- or 6-foot door.
Many baggage-express cars carried
side markings for the Railway Express
Agency (REA) as well as the railroad
name on the letter board. These were
available on a per-trip lease basis to the
A passenger train heavy with head-
end cars arrives at Woodsriver on Paul
Dolkoss HO scale Boston & Maine
layout. Mail, express, and milk were
transported to and from hundreds of
small towns and cities on short-haul
passenger trains like this one.
Fig. 1 Lightweight baggage-express. Atlantic Coast Line 150 is a stream-
lined, lightweight class BE baggage-express car. Its shown when brand new
here at the American Car & Foundry Berwick, Pa., plant in February 1950. Many
railroads ordered lightweight head-end cars to match their streamliners in the
1930s, 40s, and 50s. A few, like the Pennsylvania and Norfolk & Western, made
do with their older heavyweight equipment. Bobs Photos
Fig. 2 Baggage-express-messenger. Seaboard Air Line 385 is a class BEM
car, as indicated by the ve-pointed star. That means it had a desk, toilet, and
other facilities for an onboard expressman who received and discharged
shipments en route and safeguarded valuables. The 60-foot car was photo-
graphed at Hamlet, N.C., in April 1958. Bobs Photos
express company. Others carried mail,
were sealed, and listed in the consist as
storage mail cars. Some roads lettered
cars for storage mail service, but more
often there was no exterior sign of this
function except for a small tag in a
route card holder.
Another variation was the express
messenger car, a baggage-express car
equipped to carry an onboard express-
man who would handle packages load-
ed and unloaded along the way, as well
as secure valuable shipments. While
such service existed earlier, beginning
in 1948 the AAR required railroads to
mark baggage-express cars equipped
with messenger facilities, using a ve-
pointed star six inches in diameter, as
on the car in g. 2 on page 51.
There were also baggage-like cars
outtted for special services. These in-
cluded horse express cars, used to haul
racehorses and private automobiles.
Most had collapsible or movable stalls
so they could also serve as conventional
baggage-express cars. The Pennsylva-
nia RR had theater scenery cars with
end doors to facilitate loading large
pieces of stage settings.
Express boxes and reefers
A box express car (or express box-
car), class BX, is essentially a freight
boxcar equipped for passenger service
with high-speed trucks, steam and air
signal lines, marker light brackets, and
often additional grab irons and steps.
Like baggage-express cars, BX cars
carried mail and express but were gen-
erally sealed and not opened during a
trip. Some rode on distinctive Allied
Full Cushion trucks before those were
banned from interchange service in
1955. Some were painted in colorful
passenger schemes.
The most common examples were
the PRRs X29 boxcars equipped for ex-
press service in passenger trains. Their
numbers varied from year to year, but
in 1955, for example, there were 862
X29s listed as BX cars in the Ofcial
Register of Passenger Train Equipment.
The X29 express boxes were painted
PRR Freight Car Red, not the Tuscan
Red passenger-car color, but did carry
RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY lettering.
Figure 3 above shows a model of an
X29 box express car.
Another notable if smaller BX eet
was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fes
group of 300 of its class FE24 50-foot
double-door automobile cars equipped
for service in passenger trains. When
built in 1941 they were painted Pull-
man Green but with system maps and
passenger train slogans as on Santa Fe
freight cars. The fancy advertisements
didnt stand up well in mechanical car
washers, so beginning in 1943 the maps
and slogans were replaced with simple
EXPRESS markings.
Other head-end cars that might look
more like freight than passenger-train
equipment included type BR refrigera-
tor express cars, express reefers. They
were cooled by ice bunkers that were
loaded through roof hatches. In 1956
Railway Express Agency owned just
under 1,000 express reefers, including
500 similar to the car shown in g. 4
above left. A number of railroads and
car-leasing concerns owned their own
examples, making up a pool of almost
3,000 refrigerator express cars.
Fig. 3 Box express. This Red Caboose HO model repre-
sents a Pennsylvania RR X29 boxcar equipped as a class
BX car for service in passenger trains. The kit comes with
the correct express-car detailing, including extra steps and
grab irons, marker light brackets, and RAILWAY EXPRESS
AGENCY lettering. Andy Sperandeo photo
Fig. 4 Express refrigerator. Car 7781 is a member of the last group of
express refrigerator cars built for the Railway Express Agency. General Ameri-
can Transportation Corp. turned out REX 7400-7899 in 1957. Often used for
early-harvest fruit and produce, and for cut owers, express reefers also
carried unrefrigerated dry express shipments when they werent needed for
perishable trafc. David P. Morgan Library collection.
The BCMs of head-end cars
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) passenger
car classifcations of head-end equipment reveal a host of
confgurations beyond the basic designations of baggage-
express, RPO, and express reefers. When the AAR
designations are included in rosters or consist sheets, they
can provide clues for details to look for and the operations
of various trains. While some cars may look like freight
equipment, all rolling stock with these classifcations is
ftted with passenger-compatible brake gear, high-speed
trucks (at least having steel wheels for safety in high-speed
braking), steam and air signal lines, and marker light
brackets. This list is taken from the AARs 1955 revision.
Earlier lists contained other designations that were later
dropped, probably because of disuse. P.J.D.
Class B
BE Baggage Express: typical passenger-train baggage
car having side doors suitable for baggage or express, with
or without windows or end doors
BEM Baggage Express Messenger: as above but
equipped with desk, lights, safe, closet, drinking water, and
lavatory for expressman to protect valuables and handle
parcels en route. Marked externally with a fve-pointed star
six inches in diameter above designation (this classifcation
added about 1948)
BH Horse or Horse and Carriage Express: equipped
for the transportation of fne stock, with or without stalls
(movable or stationary), and with or without space left for
carriage or horse equipment
BLF Flat Car: equipped to carry containers of liquid
(example: National Car Co. cars that carried removable
milk tanks for Bordens)
BM Milk Car: insulated, without refrigeration, used
primarily for milk in cans and bottles; usually these cars are
railroad owned
BMR Milk Car: insulated car with ice bunkers, for
carrying milk in cans or bottles
BMT House Car: enclosed car with insulated tanks,
usually shipper owned or leased (examples of these cars
include General American Pfaudler milk cars and Borden
butterdish milk cars)
BP Refrigerator Express: insulated, with or without
means of ventilation, having refrigeration apparatus
BR Refrigerator Express: insulated, with ice bunkers or
ice boxes, usually has roof hatches for icing
BS Refrigerator Express: insulated, with brine tanks for
holding crushed ice and salt, primarily for shipping meat
and packinghouse products
BX Box Express: boxcar equipped (steam and signal
lines, steel wheels) for service in passenger trains, with
side doors, with or without windows or end doors
Class C
CA Combined Car, Baggage and Passenger: two
compartments, baggage and passenger
CAD Combined Car, Baggage and Passenger: as
above, but passenger section equipped for food service
CO Combined Car: three separate compartments; mail,
baggage, and passenger (often used on mixed trains)
CS Combined Smoking and Baggage: two compart-
ments, baggage and passenger smoking, sometimes
equipped with bar or buffet
CSA Combined Baggage, Dormitory and Kitchen:
three compartments, baggage, crew sleeping quarters,
and galley
CSB Baggage-Dormitory: two compartments, baggage
and crew quarters
CSP Combined Mail Storage or Baggage, Dormitory,
and Passenger: three compartments; mail or baggage,
crew quarters and passenger, often used as smoker
Class M
MA Postal Car: for use by the U.S. Railway Mail Service,
with side doors with or without mail-bag hook, equipped
for sorting and classifying mail in transit, with or without
end doors or windows (lettered UNITED STATES MAIL,
RAILWAY POST OFFICE)
MB Baggage and Mail: two compartments, one for
baggage, the other a Railway Post Offce (RPO)
MBD Combination Mail, Baggage, and Dormitory:
three compartments, RPO, baggage, and crew quarters
MBE Combination Baggage, Mail and Express: three
separate compartments, one for each class of business
MD Combination Mail and Dormitory: two compart-
ments; RPO and crew quarters
MP Postal Car: for transporting newspapers and large
packages, having side doors and stanchions, with or
without end doors or windows
MR Postal Storage Car: suitable for carrying mail in
bulk, without appliances for sorting or, with side doors and
stanchions, with or without end doors or windows (this or a
standard baggage-express car often placed next to
working RPO to store sorted mail)
MS Mail and Smoker: Two compartments, RPO and
smoking section for passengers
Paul scratchbuilt this wood-sheathed type CO combine for service on his Barre & Chelsea mixed train, a typical
assignment for this type of car. (He described how he modeled it in the May 2001 Model Railroader, pages 82-84.)
Spotting features
Model manufacturers havent focused on head-end equipment as much they
have on coaches, sleepers, and other people-carrying passenger equipment.
To build a full consist you may have to settle for a stand-in or modifcation of a
similar model. Below are some prototype spotting features to look for in
models. If a model isnt exactly right, sometimes changing the roof or trucks
can make it reasonably close to your selected prototype. The spotting features
will also help you to identify the makeup of head-end consists in distant
views of prototype passenger trains.
Roof: clerestory, arch, peaked freight car, various vent arrangements
Body: wood, heavyweight steel, lightweight (streamlined), various side sill or
skirt confgurations
Markings: often lettered for designated service
Doors: baggage doors vary in width; head-end cars usually dont have
vestibule doors and steps except for the passenger end of a combine
Window count: even baggage cars may have a couple of windows (particu-
larly on the former Harriman roads such as Southern Pacifc, Union Pacifc,
and Illinois Central and in Canada)
Length: 40 feet (express box) to 80 feet (the longest included some lightweight
baggage or baggage-mail cars)
RPO apartments: standardized at 15, 30, and 60 feet, with the shorter lengths
usually combined with baggage sections
Trucks: 4 or 6 wheels. Trucks suitable for passenger service differed from
freight trucks in equalization, springing, dampers, wheels, and brakes. Some
look like freight trucks, and the passenger service features (such as steel
rather than wrought iron wheels) arent readily apparent. Commonwealth is the
trademark of a manufacturer, the General Steel Castings Corp., not a particu-
lar truck type or style.
[For more on trucks used with lightweight passenger-train cars, see
Modelers guide to lightweight passenger trucks, by Kevin J. Holland, in the
February 2005 Model Railroader, page 66; also in The Model Railroaders
Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operations (Kalmbach Books). Ed.]
This ACL heavyweight class MB car has a distinctive arched roof and rides
on top-equalized six-wheel trucks. By the time of this October 1967 photo
made in Jacksonville, Fla., the trucks have been equipped with roller
bearings. This 70-foot car had a 30-foot RPO apartment and a 40-foot
compartment for baggage and express. Bobs Photos
Express reefers were intended for
high-value perishable shipments, such
as early-harvest berries and melons as
well as fresh owers. They were also
used for dry, nonperishable express
in off seasons or when backhauled to
growing areas.
Carrying the mail
Railway Post Ofce cars, g. 5,
right, were staffed mobile post ofces
that sorted mail and also dropped it off
and picked it up en route. Where trains
didnt stop, mail could be picked up on
the y using a mail-bag hook (catcher
arm) installed in stanchions at an
RPO door. At the same time, sacked
mail could be thrown off the car for a
postal employee to collect.
The railway mail service specied
three standard interior layouts: 15, 30,
and 60 feet long. The shorter two lengths,
called RPO apartments, were usually
combined with a baggage-express sec-
tion in the same car. The cars carried
the lettering UNITED STATES MAIL and
RAILWAY POST OFFICE at the RPO end
on combination cars.
Often RPOs were coupled in train
consists next to or between one or more
storage mail cars. These would be open
to postal workers for holding sacked
mail both before and after sorting, as
there was little room for storage in the
RPO apartments. These open cars were
in addition to any sealed mail storage
cars that the train might carry, as men-
tioned earlier. The mail contracts were
very specic on the placement of RPOs
in a train and how they were to be han-
dled at terminals.
[For more on RPOs and the railway
mail service, see Mail on the rails, by
Vic Roseman, in the July 2004 Model
Railroader, page 72. Ed.]
The combine
A combination car is one divided
into separate compartments serving
virtually any variety of diverse func-
tions. Typically we think of these cars
as having a baggage and a passenger
section, which is often the case. In this
conguration AAR type CA the
combine is normally the transition
car between the head-end and the pas-
senger cars. But there are also combi-
nation baggage-RPOs or combinations
of purely passenger-service functions
such as a buffet-coach.
Combines with multiple head-end
functions are especially appropriate on
local services, as shown in g. 6 on the
facing page. A type CO combine, with
mail, baggage, and coach sections,
could be a complete local train consist
in one car. Many mixed (freight and
Youll nd some train consists in
books and on the Internet, along with
interesting head-end lore. Granted, you
may not nd models or kits for every-
thing you want, although PRR model-
ers are pretty well off. (Since Pennsy
head-end cars were frequently seen far
from the Northeast, we can all be PRR
modelers to some extent.) You may
have to settle for some stand-in cars at
rst. However, you may be surprised at
how far you can get in developing a
roster of representative head-end roll-
ing stock, which you can always rene
as new models become available.
While passenger train consists dont
display the diversity of road names that
freights do, they often have an interest-
ing mixture of head-end cars. Railway
Expresss own eet was mostly express
reefers, so much of its trafc was car-
ried in leased baggage-express and
box-express cars. That resulted in
many trains carrying foreign (other
than home road) head-end cars. In
photos Ive found a Florida East Coast
baggage car in Portland, Maine, Great
Northern cars in a Baltimore & Ohio
train in Cumberland, Md., and Atlantic
Coast Line cars in Colton, Calif.
Generally you dont nd a compet-
ing railroads head-end cars on a par-
allel route, but passenger trains will
often include cars from a friendly con-
nection. Thats why once you identify
equipment spotting features, analyz-
ing a consist becomes very interesting.
You can begin to surmise car routings
and trafc ows. If youre freelancing,
such interchange trafc expands your
modeling possibilities. MR
Next month Paul will tell how you
can model head-end operations.
Paul Dolkos is a frequent Model Rail-
roader contributor who runs passenger
and mixed trains with a variety of head-
end equipment on his HO scale Boston &
Maine New Hampshire Division.
Fig. 5 Railway Post Ofce. Seaboard Air Line 153 is a
60-foot full RPO, class MA. The mail hook for catching
sacks on the y is positioned in the left door along with a
cinder shield (above the left end of the hook) to protect the
RPO clerk. Built by Pressed Steel Car Co. in 1925, the car
is shown at Washington, D.C., in May 1949. Bobs Photos
Fig. 6 Combine. New York Central 348 is a class CO
combination car with coach, baggage-express, and mail
compartments (an example of the 15-foot RPO apartment).
At Brewster, N.Y., in August 1951, it brings up the rear of a
local passenger train, probably indicating that the consist
wasnt turned at its outlying terminal. Bobs Photos
For a list of references showing
where you can learn more about
railroad head-end equipment and
operations, visit our Web site at
www.ModelRailroader.com.
passenger) trains carried combines in
lieu of a caboose, sometimes with a
pair of facing seats reserved for the
conductors ofce.
Assembling a head-end roster
To create a model head-end eet,
start with roster photos of head-end
equipment of your railroad of interest.
Study them to learn how to identify
them even in distant views. Spotting
features on page 54 will help. Youll
nd, for example, that you can often
pick out distinctive PRR head-end cars
several places back in three-quarter ac-
tion photos of trains on other railroads.
This can help you make a list of the
cars you want to model.
By Paul J. Dolkos Photos by the author
A
t your last operating session did a locomotive stall or
a car derail even though your layout has been n-
ished and running reliably for years? If so, its time
to tune up your layout. The steps outlined in this two-part
article are easy to follow and designed to help you nd, x,
and prevent problems before you invite your friends over to
run trains.
Dirty track and locomotive wheels are common causes of
ickering headlights and stalled locomotives, so I begin a
layout tune-up by thoroughly cleaning both. Clean track and
wheels provide consistent electrical contact.
After Ive made sure that my right-of-way and rolling
stock wheels are clean, Ill measure all my cars and
locomotives against National Model Railroad Association
standards, especially their wheel gauge and coupler height.
These measurements are easy to check. Properly adjusted
cars are less likely to derail or accidently uncouple.
Next month Ill describe how to nd and x electrical and
mechanical problems with track and turnouts. MR
Paul J. Dolkos is a frequent contributor to Model Railroader.
He lives in Alexandria, Va.
In this two-part article youll learn how to keep your layout running smoothly. This month Paul Dolkos describes how to
clean track and wheels. Then he shows how to maintain rolling stock to National Model Railroad Association standards.
Part One: Cleaning track and adjusting rolling stock
Tune up your layout
Abrasive blocks
Model railroad track is dirtiest after major construction
projects, such as ballasting or installing scenery material.
Even the most careful modeler will fnd stray spots of glue,
plaster, or paint on the railheads. These items not only
detract from the appearance of the rails, they diminish the
performance of your layout by reducing the electrical
conductivity of the rails at those locations.
These tough spots can be removed with fne (600-grit)
sandpaper, emery cloth, or an abrasive block. Many
modelers use the Bright Boy cleaning block. These blocks
are made of hard rubber with abrasive particles embedded
in them.
I reserve abrasive materials for only occasional heavy-
duty cleaning. And whether you use sandpaper or a Bright
Boy, avoid those that are extra coarse. These will scratch
the rails instead of polishing them. Dirt and dust tend to
collect in these scratches, making it more diffcult to keep
the rails clean. Cratex, the company that makes the Bright
Boy, also makes an extra-fne rubberized abrasive block
that I prefer. [See www.cratex.com for more on Cratex
products Ed.]. A strip of basswood also works well to
scrape away grime without scratching the rails.
When I clean track I dont focus only on the railheads. I
also make sure to clean the inside of the rails and any other
surfaces where locomotive wheels make contact with the
rail, such as turnout frogs. I want to make sure that every
section of my layout provides good electrical contact.
The author prefers the extra-ne Cratex block (above) to
the Bright Boy (below). Coarse abrasive blocks can scratch
railheads, making future track cleaning more difcult.
A strip of basswood is another useful track-cleaning tool.
The wood is abrasive enough to scrape away grime, yet
soft enough not to scratch the railheads.
Over time rail oxidizes, causing arcing as metal wheels
pick up electrical current. This is visible as the black streak
on a cloth after wiping it along dirty rail. The resulting
carbon builds up on rails and wheel treads, reducing
electrical conductivity. Carbon on the rails is heaviest at
turnout frogs and other places where metal rolling stock
wheels bounce slightly.
Light oxidation and carbon build up can usually be
wiped off with a cloth or wood block. For heavier cleaning
you can use solvents such as mineral spirits applied with a
clean lint-free cloth. The key to using any cleaning solvent
is to apply it sparingly and wipe up any excess.
Brake parts cleaner, electrical contact cleaner, and STP
fuel injector and carburetor cleaner are other good choices
for cleaning track. Since overexposure to their fumes can
be harmful, use these products only if your layout room is
well ventilated.
Many modelers use the citrus-based cleaner Goo Gone
to clean track. This solvent works well, but as specifed in
the instructions on the back of the bottle, any excess must
be completely wiped off the rails. Residue left on the rails
will harden, making them nonconductive.
I dont use isopropyl alcohol as a track cleaner because
it leaves the rails too dry without any protective flm be-
tween the rails and wheels. The result is severe arcing and
carbon buildup that causes locomotives to hesitate or stall
after only a few minutes.
To dampen arcing, you can apply a drop of light oil,
such as Wahls clipper oil or Labelle 101, to the railheads at
a couple locations around your layout. Then run a train to
spread the oil into a thin protective flm.
The oil flm should be imperceptible. If the rails feel oily,
then youve applied too much. Excess oil attracts dust and
causes locomotive wheels to slip, especially on grades. You
should also avoid oil containing paraffn wax, which leaves a
nonconductive residue on the rails that can cause locomo-
tives to stall.
After thoroughly cleaning your track, the best way to keep
it clean is to regularly run trains across your layout.
Rails may look clean but still leave a black streak of carbon
on a clean white cloth. An effect of arcing, this carbon
buildup on rails and metal rolling stock wheels can reduce
electrical conductivity and cause locomotives to stall.
Cleaning solvents and light oil
Tune up your layout
Masonite cleaner pad, slightly
wider than track, edges beveled,
rough side down
Nails glued to pad t loosely into
holes drilled in car oor, so pad
can follow irregularities in track
Any house car
Slider track cleaning car
Like the real railroads, model railroaders can use special-
ized rolling stock to maintain their rights-of-way. Track
cleaning cars do the work for you. Different types of these
cars are available in every scale and gauge from compa-
nies such as Centerline, Aztec, and JAM Solutions.
The Centerline car uses a weighted roller wrapped with
a paper towel that spreads track cleaning solvent along the
Track cleaning cars
rails. The Aztec car conceals either Cratex rollers or canvas
rollers inside a covered hopper or boxcar. JAM Solutions
track cleaners consist of four abrasive or felt pads mounted
under a freight car or the fuel tank of a diesel.
You can also build your own track cleaning cars. Well-
known modeler John Allen made his own slider track
cleaning cars by mounting Masonite pads rough side down
to two nails that ft into holes drilled in the bottom of a
boxcar, as shown in the illustration. Using a similar method,
Model Railroader contributor Doug Tagsold uses a wood
block wrapped with corduroy fabric so that the corrugations
run perpendicular to the rails. He uses his cars to evenly
spread a thin, imperceptible flm of oil on the railheads.
Avoid using so much solvent that you leave a nonconduc-
tive residue on the rails. Many modelers use two track
cleaning cars in the same train. One car (in the front of the
train) has a wet roller or pad that spreads the cleaning
solvent. Another car (at the rear of the train) has a dry roller
or pad to soak up the excess.
Cleaning wheels
As with dirty track, dirty wheels can cause derailments and
can inhibit electrical pickup on locomotives. As with clean
track, the best way to keep rolling stock wheels clean is to
regularly run trains.
When I do need to clean my freight and passenger car
wheels, I use a solvent such as mineral spirits applied with
a cloth, paper towel, or cotton swab. Replacing any plastic
wheels with metal wheelsets also helps, since plastic retains
a static charge that attracts dirt.
To clean diesel locomotive wheels, I wet a cloth with
mineral spirits or electrical contact cleaner and lay it across
the track. Then I place one of the diesels trucks on the cloth
and the other on the rails to receive power. While holding the
locomotive so that it doesnt run off the cloth, I apply track
power, and the wheels on the cloth are cleaned as they turn.
Then I repeat the process with the other truck.
Steam locomotives require different techniques. I place
my steamers upside down in a cushioned cradle and hook up
alligator clips from a transformer to the locomotives power
leads. Then when I apply power the wheels turn while I hold a
cotton swab soaked with cleaner against the wheel treads.
Narrow gauge modeler and author Bill Miller uses an
alternative method that avoids having to remove steam
locomotives from the rails. He wets a paper towel and places
it across the rails and runs the engine so that one driver set is
on the towel and another driver set can pick up power. As
with a diesel, he holds the engine while he applies power so
that the drivers rotate against the paper towel. He then
repositions the engine to clean the remaining driver sets. To
clean the tenders wheels, he manually rolls the tender back
and forth over the paper towel.
For locomotives youll also need to clean any additional
electrical pickup wipers, using a cotton swab and solvent.
Wheels can become so pitted or have so much plating
worn off that cleaning wont help. Sierra Scale Models (www.
sierrascalemodels.com) offers a replating service. NorthWest
Short Line makes replacement wheelsets for some diesels,
but steam locomotive driver replacements are harder to fnd.
Ive had to retire some old engines to the display shelf.
Paul cleans his diesels on the track. The front trucks
wheels rotate against the cloth, while the rear truck
picks up power from the rails.
A cushioned cradle protects the detail parts of this steam
locomotive during cleaning. Alligator clips from a trans-
former connect to the power leads so that the wheels can
be turned against a cotton swab, cleaning the treads.
Illustration Rick Johnson
s
Excessive dust can collect on your scenery and struc-
tures and make your layout look unrealistic and unused. A
few preemptive measures can minimize the effects of dust.
The best way to combat dust is to fnish your layout
room. I installed wallboard, carpeting, and a drop ceiling in
my basement. The drop ceiling catches dust drifting down
from the foorboards above.
Even though the room is fnished, dust is still present
and I occasionally use a handheld vacuum on my layout.
Dust is most obvious on green summer scenery. A mist of
water will freshen it. Dust is less noticeable on fall colors,
such as the orange and brown foliage of my layout.
If your layout is in an especially dusty environment, you
can use an air cleaner in your layout room. In fact, Model
Railroader contributor Jack Burgess built his Yosemite
Valley RR in a fnished garage equipped with three desktop
Conair cleaners, which he runs continuously except when
running trains. He has to brush dust off his structures only
every couple of years.
Some modelers cover their layouts with plastic sheeting
when not in use. This sheeting can be an effective dust
cover, but putting it on and taking it off the layout without
damaging structures or other scenic details can also be a
time-consuming task.
Dealing with dust
Occasionally, the author uses a handheld vacuum to clean
the dust from his layouts scenery. The best way to mini-
mize dust is to nish your layout room rst.
Adjusting wheels and couplers
Maintaining consistent standards, especially wheel
gauge and coupler height, is key for reliably operating
rolling stock. The National Model Railroad Association pub-
lishes standards for track and rolling stock of all scales on
their Web site at www.nmra.org.
The easiest way to check wheel gauge is with an NMRA
standards gauge. For out-of-gauge wheels, slide the wheel
into the correct position on the axle, or replace the wheel-
set or truck.
If the car wobbles, make sure that the wheels are
straight on the axles and that the axles arent bent. If the
car tends to lean to one side, check to make sure that there
isnt too much side play between the wheelsets and the
truck sideframes. You can fx this problem with a longer
axle. Reboxx makes HO scale wheelsets in a variety of axle
lengths. [See www.reboxx.com for more information. Ed.]
In addition, trucks should swivel freely with enough play
for the car to rock side to side slightly. This will help avoid
derailments by keeping the wheels in contact with the rails,
especially through curves. For trucks that are too tight,
simply loosen the mounting screw.
After adjusting trucks and wheelsets, check each cars
coupler height. Both Kadee and Micro-Mark make height
gauges for couplers of all scales. Coupler height should be
exact. Even a slight mismatch can cause cars to uncouple
through a curve or at the beginning of a grade.
If a coupler is too low, add a .010" or .015" washer over
the truck bolster between the car body and the truck. If a
coupler is too high, remove the coupler box and add a
.010" or .015" styrene shim inside the box to lower the
coupler. If the height cant be corrected with a washer or
shim, then use a coupler with an offset high or low head.
Some couplers are too low because the coupler box is
too deep, causing the coupler head to droop. I correct this
An NMRA standards gauge is a quick way to see if you
need to adjust or replace a cars wheelsets.
Both Kadee and Micro-Mark sell coupler height gauges.
You should check both coupler head and trip pin height.
by gluing a styrene shim to the front of the coupler box. Then
I apply graphite so that the coupler swivels smoothly.
Aside from coupler head height, you should also check
the trip pin height. Ive found that most trip pins are lower
than the NMRA-specifed height. On a coupler height gauge,
this measurement is designated by a clearance plate. To fx
a low trip pin, simply bend it up using pliers.
Coupler knuckle springs can also wear out or be lost.
Coupler manufacturers, such as Kadee, sell replacements.
Product Reviews

Reviewed in this issue
42
46
48
50
HO scale Union Pacic
Big Boys from Athearn and
Precision Craft Models
Walthers HO scale 60-seat
Empire Builder ACF coach
N scale MRC and Aztec
sound and DCC system
MR Quick looks
KingMill Enterprises
HO scale ofce building
Walthers HO freight station
Two impressive new HO scale
models of the Union Pacic Big Boy
4-8-8-4 are vying for our attention.
Made by Athearn and Precision
Craft Models, the models are
excellent replicas of the worlds
biggest steam locomotive, a
behemoth that most modelers
consider to be the epitome of
steam. The two models include
automatic dual-mode Digital
Command Control (DCC) and
realistic sound systems that also
operate on DC layouts.
Prototype. The rst 20 UP 4-8-8-4s
(4000-4019) were built in 1941 to
speed trafc across the railroads
most difcult terrain between
Ogden and Wasatch, Utah. Over-
coming the grades in this area
demanded plenty of tractive effort,
but speed was also important on
this busy main line. Alcos Big Boy
achieved these goals by delivering
its maximum 6,290 drawbar
horsepower at 41.4 mph.
Dieselization shortened the Big
Boys service, and they ran their
nal miles on Wyomings Sherman
Hill in the 1950s. Their last regular
runs occurred in July 1959. Eight
Big Boys have been preserved.
Scale drawings of the 1941 order
of Big Boys are included in the
Model Railroader Cyclopedia: Vol. 1,
Steam Locomotives (Kalmbach).
Common characteristics. Al-
though they come from different
makers, the Athearn and Precision
Craft Big Boys share a number of
characteristics, starting with the
chassis. Like most of todays mass-
produced HO articulateds, each
locomotive has a pair of engines
that swivel beneath the boiler and
rebox. This compromise leaves a
gap in the steam pipes above the
rear cylinders, but it allows the
locomotives to negotiate model
curves as sharp as 18" radius.
However, the Big Boys look much
better on wider curves.
On prototype articulateds the
rear engine was rigidly attached,
and only the front engine moved
from side to side on a hinge
between the rear cylinders.
On both models, the wheels and
driver tires are nickel silver and
have RP-25 contours. All the wheel-
sets match the National Model
Railroad Association standards.
Both models capture their proto-
types massive appearance and
HO Big Boys deliver power and sound
HO PCM 4-8-8-4
0
3 6 12 9
Volts (DC)
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0
3 6 9 12
Volts (DC)
S
c
a
l
e

m
p
h
A
m
p
s
HO PCM 4-8-8-4
HO Athearn
4-8-8-4
Average HO steam
HO PCM 4-8-8-4
HO Athearn 4-8-8-4
Average HO steam
Current draw (running free)
Scale speed
Drawbar pull (ounces)
0 1 3 5 4 2 6 8 9 10 11 12 7
HO Athearn 4-8-8-4
Average HO steam
Minimum
sustained speed
HO PCM 4-8-8-4 2.9 mph
HO Athearn 4-8-8-4 5.6 mph
Average HO steam 3.7 mph
Precision Craft sound starts at 4.5 volts
Athearn sound starts at 3.0 volts
Draw when Draw when
slipping stalled
HO PCM 4-8-8-4 .68A .74A
HO Athearn 4-8-8-4 .66A .75A
Average HO steam .38A .78A
Average data based on comparable locomotives reviewed recently
Jim Hediger
deliver excellent performance with
realistic sound effects that function
on conventional DC or DCC. How-
ever, these dual-mode models in-
clude many user-adjustable cong-
uration variables (CVs) that affect
their operation and sound. This
means the user may have to do
some ne-tuning to obtain opti-
mum performance.
Athearns Big Boy
The Big Boy is Athearns largest
Genesis-series steam locomotive.
The model has a crisply detailed
plastic boiler shell and cab, which
enclose a heavy, die-cast metal
chassis and mechanism. Detail on
the model is excellent, with nely
molded rivets, safety tread on the
front platform, and a see-through
tread pattern in the running
boards. Many individual details are
factory-applied. There are even tiny
sanding nozzles just above the rails.
The cab is detailed with a
working ventilator hatch, beading
around its roof edges, and the
The model includes after-cooler
brake piping on the pilot deck
railings that was used only on the
rst 20 locomotives. Engines 4020
to 4024 had Wilson radiators
behind their pump shields, and
some if not all of the earlier engines
were changed to match them. The
model also includes simulated
retracted smoke hood details inside
the smokestack casing.
The centipede tender has a steel
deck, but the instructions also show
a body shell with a wood deck and
another with the oil bunker that
was used only with engine no. 4005.
These alternates are evidently
planned for future production of
different specic prototypes.
The tender has a McHenry scale
magnetic knuckle coupler. A swing-
gate dummy coupler is built into
the pilot, but parts are provided so
it can be replaced with an operat-
ing McHenry scale coupler.
The model of no. 4006 has a
smooth matte black nish with a
bright silver smokebox and rebox.
All of the colors are cleanly applied
without overspray. The silver letter-
ing is clear and opaque. However,
many modelers will want to tone
down the bright paint job with
some weathering thats more in
keeping with the hard-working
prototypes dusty appearance.
rounded rear corners typical of
Alco construction. The high gen-
erator location ahead of the cab is
a railroad modication.
Athearns model has a highly-detailed plastic superstructure thats nearly
lled with a two-piece weight that supports and encloses the mechanism.
Precision Crafts locomotive is made of die-cast metal with excellent
detail throughout. This model includes a smoke unit and engine crew.
Product Reviews
The mechanism is concealed inside
the boiler. It has a powerful can
motor and ywheels mounted in a
heavy, two-piece, die-cast metal
weight. The engine gearboxes t
into the underside of the boiler
where theyre connected to the
motor by internal universals and
drive shafts.
The side rods and valve gear are
metal with a realistic steel color,
and the eccentric cranks are
correctly angled toward the front
on both sides. However, the detailed
crossheads and piston rods are
molded in black acetal plastic.
Athearns model closely follows
the prototype dimensions starting
with properly spaced drivers which
have the correct 68" diameter. The
tender and trailing truck wheels are
the correct 42" diameter. However,
the pilot wheels are 33" instead of
36" diameter, and a scale 12" has
been added between the lead truck
and the drivers for more clearance.
Electrical pickup is from all 16
drivers and eight wheels on the
tender, so 12 wheels pick up current
from each rail.
Performance. Athearns Big Boy
runs smoothly and quietly. The
third set of drivers in the second
engine has traction tires, so the
4-8-8-4 delivers enough drawbar
pull to haul 127 free-rolling freight
cars on straight and level track.
Using the models default speed
range (5.6 to 39.6 mph), the locomo-
tive started suddenly, so most
owners will want to reprogram it to
lower and expand the speed range.
On DCC, the default speeds were
a bit higher (15.2 to 74.2 mph), but
here again some ne-tuning of its
CVs should help. However, obtain-
ing a smooth starting speed below
5 mph will require programming a
custom speed table.
Sound decoder. The model comes
with a dual-mode Vibranta sound
decoder thats made for Athearn by
Model Rectier Corp. A push-
button radio control is supplied for
use on DC, and it can be used to
reset some CVs with your power
pack. On DC, this unit controls the
speed, direction, bell, and whistle.
In DCC operation, the function
buttons on the cab control the
sound effects. In addition, numer-
ous sound choices and many more
adjustable options are available.
A pair of downward facing
speakers are hidden in the tender,
and the sound systems volume can
be adjusted manually or through a
CV. The sound effects are realistic.
Precision Crafts Big Boy
The Precision Craft Big Boy is
made mostly of die-cast metal. The
majority of the models 55 ounces
are in the boiler, which consists of
two well-detailed zinc alloy cast-
ings that join at the running boards.
The lower half includes the rebox,
cab oor, and brackets to mount
the various mechanical parts. The
top casting includes the upper
boiler, sand box, steam dome,
stacks, and boiler jacketing details.
The cab is a separate casting tted
with wire handrails.
The models running boards
have a raised edge and safety tread
pattern on the walkways. Many
details are factory-applied to match
specic prototype modications
Automatic dual-mode (DC/DCC)
control and sound system
Cab interior with backhead and
sliding side windows
Constant directional headlight
and backup light
Coupled wheelbase: 124'-0"
(requires an 18" turntable)
Drawbar pull: 9.1 ounces
Can motor with dual, turned-
brass fywheels
Engine and tender weight: 41
ounces (engine alone weighs
33 ounces)
Illuminated train indicators
(number boards)
Magnetic knuckle couplers,
mounted at the correct height
Minimum radius: 22"
Opening cab ventilator
Plastic and metal construction
Athearn Big Boy features
Automatic dual-mode (DC/DCC)
control and sound system
Cab interior with backhead
and crew
Constant directional headlight
and backup light
Coupled wheelbase: 125'-3"
(requires an 18" turntable)
Die-cast metal construction
Drawbar pull: 8.8 ounces
Engine and tender weight: 55
ounces (engine alone weighs
43 ounces)
Fan-driven smoke unit
Five-pole can motor with
skew-wound armature and
dual turned-brass fywheels
Illuminated train indicators
Magnetic knuckle couplers
Minimum radius: 18"
Opening cab ventilator
Sliding cab windows

PCM Big Boy features
Both models have mechanisms concealed in the boiler with vertical
gearboxes to drive the engines. The electronics are inside the tender.
Precision Craft model
made during the lifetime of the
full-size locomotives. Brake shoes
are tted for each driver, and six
tiny sanding nozzles are included
on each engine.
The cab details include a good-
looking roof with beaded edges and
Alcos rounded rear corners. This
engines generator is mounted in its
as-delivered location (on engines
4000-4019) below the rebox on the
right side between the last driver
and the trailing truck.
The locomotives pilot deck
railings include the as-delivered
aftercooler piping for the air brake
system on 1941 engines 4000-4019.
The 1944 models (4020-4024) have
the Wilson aftercoolers instead.
The Big Boys were tted with
folding smoke hoods; these details
are simulated inside the casing
surrounding the twin stacks.
A can motor and pair of y-
wheels are mounted in the middle
of the boiler to drive the gearboxes
on both engines through concealed
drive shafts and universal joints.
The side rods and valve gear are
metal with a realistic steel color,
and the eccentric cranks are
correctly angled toward the front
on both sides. The crossheads and
piston rods are metal castings that
match the side rods.
The Precision Craft Big Boy
includes a smoke unit that can be
turned on or off. During operation it
delivers a realistic plume of smoke.
Precision Crafts matte black
paint was smoothly applied on no.
4019. The smokebox and rebox are
painted with a realistic dark gun-
metal color. The models aluminum
lettering and numbers are sharp
and opaque.
The Precision Craft model
matches the prototype dimensions,
except for its overall length. A scale
6" has been added at the engines
pivot point and 9" between the lead
truck and the drivers to provide
clearance on tight curves.
All 16 drivers, two wheels on the
lead truck, and four tender wheels
pick up current from the rails.
Performance. The Precision Craft
Big Boy is a smooth and quiet
runner. While it doesnt use traction
tires, its 43 ounces provide suf-
cient tractive effort to pull 123 free-
rolling freight cars on straight and
level track. The models default
speed range on DC is a little slow,
but on DCC its very close to the
prototype locomotives speed range.
With a little ne-tuning of the CVs,
the DC maximum speed can be
raised as desired.
Sound and control system. Our
sample Big Boy included an
automatic dual-mode Electronic
Solutions Ulm (ESU) Digital
Command Control (DCC) and
LokSound sound system concealed
within the tender. Dual 1" speakers
are mounted face down on the
tender oor. A DC Master control
unit, which Precision Craft sells
separately, allows the user to
control numerous sound effects in
DC operation.
In DCC operation the sound
effects are controlled by the
function buttons on the cab. The
sound quality is good, and the
system offers a wide range of ne-
tuning adjustments. A reset is
available in CV8 to restore the
factory default settings.
As is the case with many sound-
equipped models, the Big Boys
default volume setting was too loud,
but a reduced volume produced
more-realistic sounds.
The tender has a Kadee scale
magnetic knuckle coupler. A swing-
gate dummy coupler is provided on
the pilot. However, the dummy
coupler can be replaced with a
Kadee no. 27 coupler in a special
mounting box thats included.
A difcult choice. These two manu-
facturers have taken different
routes to the same destination.
Both models reect top quality
design and construction tech-
niques. Athearn has a reputation
for locomotives with excellent
plastic bodies and metal chassis,
while Precision Craft Models is
building its reputation with high
quality die-cast metal models.
Performance-wise, theres only
1
3-ounce difference in drawbar pull
between them, so both locomotives
can haul 100-plus car consists
thatll be impressive on any layout.
Minor wheelbase changes allow
these Big Boys to negotiate tight
model curves. Both models will
operate on curves down to 18"
radius, while the real locomotives
needed a minimum 20-degree
curve thats equivalent to an HO
40"-radius curve.
In short, the choice here depends
upon the buyers preference for an
all-metal or a plastic-and-metal
locomotive model with or without
traction tires. Both locomotives are
handsome, well-built machines that
capture the impressive size, power,
and sound of their prototypes. Jim
Hediger, senior editor
Manufacturers
Athearn Inc.
1550 Glenn Curtiss St.
Carson, CA 90746
www.athearn.com
Precision Craft Models Inc.
4 Signal Ave.
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
www.precisioncraft models.
com
Description
Ready-to-run steam locomotives
Model list: (all Union Pacifc)
Athearn engines with sound and
DCC: 4005, 4006, and
unnumbered, $449.98 each
Precision Craft Models engine
numbers with sound and DCC:
1941 versions: 4002, 4019, and
unlettered, $749.99 each;
1944 versions: 4023, 4024,
and unlettered, $749.99 each.
DC only (with NMRA DCC
socket): 1941 versions: 4003,
4014, and unlettered, $649.99
each; 1944 versions: 4021,
4022, and unlettered, $649.99
each; sound decoder and
DCC upgrade kit, $129.99
HO Big Boy 4-8-8-4s
Each model uses a modication of articulated locomotive design that
allows both engines to swivel to negotiate tight model curves.
Athearn model
Product Reviews
A model of an American Car &
Foundry (ACF) smooth-side 60-seat
coach, built for the Great North-
erns famous Empire Builder
passenger train, is now available
from Walthers. Its the rst of a 10-
car series, based on the 1955 trains
consist, that will be released in the
coming months.
Prototype history. Great Northern
60-seat coaches nos. 1209 through
1214 were built by ACF between
October 1950 and March 1951. Five
of the six cars were assigned to the
Empire Builder and had the train
name on their letterboards. The
sixth, car no. 1214, was used on the
Western Star, so it was also painted
Omaha Orange and Pullman
Green but had Great Northern
on its letterboards instead of the
Empire Builder name
One 60-seat coach was assigned
to each of the ve Empire Builder
trains that provided daily service
between Chicago and the West
Coast (four trainsets were owned by
GN, while the Chicago, Burlington
& Quincy owned the fth, including
one of these cars). These coaches
were intended for passengers
traveling only short distances on the
Empire Builders 2,200-plus-mile
route, so the seats were spaced
closer together.
Model features. Walthers is
producing these cars in three paint
schemes, including the original GN
orange and green, GNs later Big
Sky Blue and white, and Burlington
Northerns green and white colors.
The paint is smooth and evenly
applied, and the colors are opaque
HO 60-seat coach introduces Walthers
Empire Builder series
The injection-molded plastic interior includes the mens lounge at the
vestibule end, conductors room (next to the mens lounge), and the
womens lounge at the opposite end of the car.
Mens lounge
Conductors room
Womens lounge
The 60-seat coach has an array of underbody details, including a 250-
gallon water tank, air conditioner equipment, and battery boxes.
with clean separation lines. A
small decal set with car numbers
and Great Northern and Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy sub-lettering
is included with each car.
The 60-seat coach features
appliqu sides that press t on a
core body, similar to other recent
Walthers HO scale passenger cars.
Its movable diaphragms touch only
when the slack is pushed in.
The car has a tan injection-
molded-plastic interior and vesti-
bule bulkhead. Modelers may want
to paint the bulkheads vestibule
side to match the exterior. Accord-
ing to a GN press release on the
Empire Builder in our les, the
prototype interiors had pastel green
walls and seats and a cream ceiling.
The cars dimensions and oor-
plan match drawings in Charles A.
Rudisels book Burlington Northern
Passenger Cars (C.A.R. Publica-
tions, 1974, out of print).
I was pleased to nd that the
Omaha Orange and Pullman
Green coach had the original
skirting, while the Big Sky Blue
car didnt. I was unable to nd the
exact date the skirting was removed,
but a photo in David Hickcoxs book
GN Color Guide to Freight and
Passenger Equipment (Morning Sun
Books, 1995) shows a skirtless coach
no. 1213 in July 1964.
A number of factory-applied
underbody details are included on
the model (see photo above), such
as a Trane air conditioner con-
denser, Waukesha fuel tank,
battery boxes, and junction boxes,
to name just a few. The model has
no brake piping or rigging.
The 60-seat coach has die-cast
metal General Steel Casting
41-N-11 trucks with 36"-diameter
RP-25 metal wheelsets mounted
on plastic axles. Two of the four
wheelsets were slightly out of
gauge, but this was easily adjusted
by twisting them with nger
pressure. A dab of cyanoacrylate
Price: $44.98
Manufacturer
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc.
P.O. Box 3039
Milwaukee, WI 53201
www.walthers.com
Description: Plastic ready-to-
run passenger car
Road names: GN Omaha
Orange and Pullman Green,
GN Big Sky Blue and white,
and Burlington Northern
Cascade Green and black
Features
McHenry magnetic knuckle
couplers
Minimum radius, 24"
Modeler-applied wire grab
irons and stirrup steps
Movable diaphragms
Removable roof
Weight: 7 ounces
(
1
2 ounce too heavy)
HO ACF 60-seat coach
adhesive at the wheel-axle joint
held the wheelsets in gauge.
Though not glaringly obvious,
the truck wheelbase is too long. The
models axles are on 9'-0" centers,
while the prototype trucks had
8'-6" centers.
A great start. Walthers is off to a
great start with its Empire Builder
series. The 60-seat coach has a
high level of detail, and the interior
can be illuminated with a lighting
kit (not included).
Great Northern modelers have
been waiting a long time for
accurate mass-produced Empire
Builder equipment, and these new
passenger cars will begin to ll the
need. With the orange and green
and Big Sky Blue schemes offered,
you can model the Builder as it
appeared in the 1950s or late 1960s.
Cody Grivno, assistant editor
Battery boxes 250-gallon water tank
Air conditioner compressor
Product Reviews
Aztec mills space in the fuel tank for the speaker, as well as a channel in
the frame for the speakers wires. Photos by Bill Zuback
The wait is over for N scale
modelers whove been dreaming of
miniature sound decoders for
Digital Command Control (DCC)
operation. Model Rectier Corp.
(MRC) has teamed up with Aztec
Manufacturing to offer a one-two
punch for easy installation of a
DCC sound decoder in most Atlas
N scale road diesels.
Model Rectiers new plug-and-
play decoder is designed to replace
the printed-circuit board (PC) in
many Atlas diesel models, including
the GP38 we used for our test. In
conjunction, Aztec provides milling
services to prepare Atlas locomotive
frames to accommodate the MRC
decoder and its 13mm x 18mm
speaker. Though you must purchase
the decoder and the milled frame
separately, the installation can be
completed in less than an hour.
The new N scale sound decoder
from MRC is similar to its HO scale
cousins, offering a variety of
features, including advanced
consisting, operation-mode pro-
gramming, and 19 functions. The
decoder also offers an assortment
of sounds and 15 different horn and
eight bell selections to choose from.
You can even adjust the bells ring
rate. All sounds, including the
incidental noises, have individual
volume controls, accessible by
programming the decoders
conguration variables (CVs).
You begin the decoder installation
by disassembling your locomotive
and sending the frame to Aztec
(www.aztectrains.com). The rm
mills the frame so theres space for
the speaker, wires, and decoder.
Because Aztec machines the
MRC + Aztec = DCC sound for N scale
manufacturers original frame, you
can rest assured that all of the
locomotives drive components will
t properly in the nished model.
Once you have the decoder and
milled frame, installation is basic-
ally a matter of reassembling the
locomotive. Though this is called a
plug-and-play decoder, installing
one is a bit more complex than that,
so its important to pay close
attention to the instructions and
double check your work during
reassembly. On our sample, I
assembled the pieces on top of the
engineers side of the frame. This
seemed to be the best approach.
To begin, I laid the frame half
at on the workbench and added
the motor and worm gear pieces.
The decoder replaces the locomo-
tives PC board, slipping into four
tabs (two on each half) in the
MRC decoder
Aztec milled frame
Speaker faces upward
Tape speaker
wires in groove
Price: $84.98 (decoder only)
Manufacturer
Model Rectifer Corp.
80 Newfeld Ave.
Edison, NJ 08837
www.modelrectifer.com
Features
Advanced consisting
Diesel engine sounds
15 air horn selections
8 bell choices
19 accessory functions
Drop-in installation in most
Atlas road diesel locomotives
13mm x 18mm speaker
Diesel sound decoder
Atlas GP38 chassis
When installing the decoder, make sure the motors contact strips
make good connections with the decoders contact pads.
Motor contact tabs
frame. With the motor in place, I
carefully slipped the decoder into
the tabs on the frame half. Youll
need to apply a little pressure to
get the board to fully seat.
Perhaps the trickiest part of the
installation was to get the motor
contacts to line up with the contact
pads on the bottom of the decoder.
It took a bit of ddling, but I nally
managed to get what I thought was
a good t. I then added the second
half of the frame and the trucks,
and installed the chassis screws.
I tested the engine and found
that the motor worked sporadi-
cally, but its sounds and lights
were functioning normally. This
meant I was having motor-to-
decoder contact trouble. After
taking the frame apart again, I
cleaned the contacts with a little
70-percent isopropyl alcohol,
repositioned them, and then
reassembled the engine and tested
it. This time it operated very well
cleaning the contacts did the trick.
Performance. I put the locomotive
through its paces on the MR test
track, trying all the various sound
les for horns and bells before
making my selections. As deliv-
ered, MRCs sounds are all set to
maximum volume, which was
much too loud for the little engine
or its speaker. Within 10 minutes,
however, I had adjusted all the
individual volume CV values to
either 1 or 2 (out of 0 to 4) and
achieved more-realistic results.
The programming-on-the-main
feature made these CV adjust-
ments easy, and once the volumes
are set, you should never need to
change them again.
Price: custom milling of Atlas N
scale diesel locomotive
frames, $20 each; (modeler
must supply original Atlas
frame to Aztec)
Manufacturer
Aztec Manufacturing
2701 Conestoga Dr., no. 113
Carson City, NV 07205
www.aztectrains.com
Frame styles available
TM3100S for Atlas GP38,
GP40, and GP40-2; TM3101S
for Atlas SD35; TM3102S for
Atlas SD7, SD9, SD24, and
SD26; TM3103S for Atlas
B23-7, B30-7, and B36-7; and
TM3104S for Atlas Dash
8-32BW, Dash 8-32BWH,
Dash 8-40B, and Dash
8-40BW locomotives.
Milling is also available for Kato
SD40 and SD45 models, but
decoder installation requires
some soldering
Frame milling service
I must admit that I was skepti-
cal about seeing an easy-to-install
sound decoder for N scale locomo-
tives anytime soon, but MRC and
Aztec have done it. This project
required little more effort than
most drop-in decoder projects Ive
done, and it was much easier than
any installation requiring solder-
ing. Model Rectier Corp.s sound
decoder and Aztecs milled frames
provide a nice option for N scale
modelers who want to add sound
to their diesels. David Popp,
senior editor
Product Reviews
MR quick look: HO scale American Wood Co. ofce
Price: $39.98
Manufacturer
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc.
P.O. Box 3039
Milwaukee, WI 53201
www.walthers.com
Description: Injection-molded
plastic kit
Comments: Walthers has added
an easy-to-build freight station to
its Cornerstone Series. Its based
on a 1949 Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe prototype in San
Bernardino, Calif., and has a
footprint of 5
1
4" x 25".
The structure went together
easily, with minimal sanding and
filing. I liked the kits simulated
stucco finish but was surprised
to find visible ejector-pin dimples
above the roof line on the end
walls. The dimples can easily be
filled with putty.
I attached the ramps to the
base, but I would advise against
this because the 25" length is
hard to handle during painting.
Despite the minor imperfec-
tions, Walthers new freight
station is a quality kit. The
structure will look right at home
on a transition-era layout and will
make an ideal hub for less-than-
carload-lot traffic. C.G.
MR quick look: HO scale AT&SF freight station
Price: $41.95
Manufacturer
KingMill Enterprises
203 Camellia Dr.
Charlottesville, VA 22903
www.kingmill.com
Description: Laser-cut wood
craftsman kit with cardstock
base
Comments: Though this kit has
laser-cut wood parts, it has many
characteristics of a craftsman kit
including trimming the
1
8" bass-
wood interior framing and
1
16"
stripwood corners to length. The
windows and doors must be
glued in place since they dont
have peel-and-stick backing.
The structure has a three-
piece cardstock base, which
serves as the foundation, steps,
and sidewalk. The peel-and-stick
shingles are easy to install, but
the signs are time consuming.
Each sign needs to be assembled
and attached to the roof sepa-
rately. I used medium-viscosity
cyanoacrylate adhesive (CA) for
this because it dries quickly. The
kit also includes a two-stall out-
house, a lumber rack for a Classic
Metal Works International fatbed
truck, and white-metal details.
I was impressed with this new
structure from KingMill. It took
paint and stain well, and the parts
ft together cleanly with a mini-
mum amount of sanding. Inter-
mediate and advanced modelers
will fnd this easy kit an enjoyable
one to assemble. Cody Grivno,
assistant editor
FREE! Steam servicing booklet
Proto 2000 F7s reviewed
ABCs of engine shops
How diesel facilities work
and how to build one
on your layout
2 ways to
improve
steel
hoppers
Install
software
for DCC
signals
N scale Great Northern in 21 x 42 inches
Realistic HO scale shelf layout in Moms garage
Scratchbuilders delight: 1950s Finland
October 2007 modelrailroader.com
PROJECTS
LAYOUTS
Diesels from Model
Railroaders club
layout at Walthers
engine house.
See page 38
SPECIAL: Guide to HO knuckle couplers
New Atlas HO Alco diesel
Tips on detailing
rails, ties, ballast,
and more, page 48.
How to make your
track look real
Part 1: Roadbed, ballast, rails, and ties
Build a swamp
step by step
Weather a freight
car from photos
Clever techniques to model
rundown structures
6 tips for a fun
operating session
N scale prairie
track plan
Colorful
New England
in a basement
November 2007 modelrailroader.com
PROJECTS
PLUS
DCC SPECIAL: Guide to wireless throttles
NH streamliner reviewed
December 2007 modelrailroader.com
EXCLUSIVE!
Learn how rock n roller
ROD STEWART builds this city
The curtain rises on his towering
HO scale railroad
Model realistic
signals and
signs
How to make your own turnouts
Add commuter service to your railroad
Breathtaking mountains on a Z scale layout
P
L
U
S
Tall buildings dominate the
skyline on Rod Stewarts
Three Rivers City layout.
Page 74
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