connections with the Great Northern, all of which remained active into the 1970’s and 1980’s. This last feature cre- ated a good opportunity for inter- change traffic on and off the modeled portion of the layout. Spectacular and rugged mountain scenery was a given. There were eight tunnels including the 2,991 foot long Bulldog Tunnel, which was opened in 1902 to replace a series of ten switchbacks on 4 percent grades to traverse over the summit. This subdivision had 15 major bridges with a cumulative length of ap- proximately 4,700 feet, the longest of which was the Kootenay River crossing near Taghum, B.C., comprising nine spans and two islands and close to 800 feet long. During the era I model there was a diverse and substantial railroad customer base with numerous indus- trial customers, including major lum- ber operations, mining, smelting and pulp, as well as the usual industries like bulk fuel, freight sheds, and team tracks. In addition, steep 2.2 percent ruling grades over two consecutive passes required pusher service during the steam era and restricted the length of diesel-powered trains. Finally, the dominant CLC and Alco locomotives created a unique blend of power. So with this inspiration in mind, a 500 square-foot dedicated layout room was completed in the basement of our then-new 1990 home. The walls and ceilings were insulated for sound and thermal performance, and a T-bar ceil-
Eastbound freight No. 60 with C-Liner No. 4104 on the head end (above) holds in the siding at Midway. The station was scratchbuilt by the author’s cousin, Anthony Craig. Extra 8523 passes through a snowshed in the Dog Creek Valley (below) on the Phoenix Subdivision.
ing was installed with numerous fluo- rescent lights. I chose to not install car- pet or vinyl tile flooring because of con- cerns about the damage that the layout construction would create. Seeing how battered the concrete floor ended up convinces me that this was the right decision, although I think the use of carpet tiles or those rubber interlock- ing comfort mats would be a good com- promise since they can be removed during heavy construction work. Some
rubber mats may create static electrici- ty, so research is advised. While the room was being completed, a broad list of “givens and druthers” was developed for the layout. However, I also approached the layout design from a more pragmatic way by drawing several physical layout shapes that fit the space while considering my options. This ap- proach recognized that adequate aisle and operator circulation space are equal- ly important to a successful design. The
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