control so the turnouts were not modi- fied for DCC friendly use when they were installed. When the layout was converted to DCC just prior to hosting visitors from the Seattle PSX 2004 NMRA National Convention I was quite concerned that this would create electrical continuity problems. I have been very fortunate to have not experi- enced any significant electrical power problems in the turnouts even though the points were used to conduct power and we ran for almost seven years this way before the layout was demolished. I found that when I choose “opera-
Having an operating layout was the author’s main focus. The scenery was left to follow. The layout’s aesthetics improved when crew member Ken Catlin added a crumpled paper scenery base and layout skirting (seen on the left) to the unscenicked portions of the layout.
DRAWING BY CHRIS CALVERT
finish the layout in this lifetime. He knew my skills at hand laying track weren’t great, nor was this an area of primary interest to me. Consequently, I used all commercial code 70 track and turnouts by either Shinohara or Micro Engineering.
Because of the fluid design of the lay- out shape, I employed a combination of L-girder and open frame benchwork. To maintain proper grades and levels, we ensured that the tops of the L-girders were all truly level and at the same ele- vation so we could use the top of the girders as a datum when constructing the roadbed. A friend suggested trying a spline system for the roadbed structure as an alternative to the cookie-cutter plywood method I was most familiar with. When he showed up at an early work
session with radii
clamps, risers, spacers and a box full of pre-cut spline strips, I could hardly de- cline. That turned out to be yet another great idea that came from one of the crew. This method of roadbed construc- tion is fast, accurate, strong and yields horizontal and vertical curves and ease- ments that are more natural. Since most of the turnouts on the
layout are easily accessible, I opted to use Caboose Industries ground throws. They are more cost effective than switch machines and also have the op- erations benefit of making the train crew actually throw the switches as op- posed to walking ahead of their trains while pushing buttons on a control panel. We did drill out the roadbed un- der the throw bars for all turnouts in case we wanted to add switch ma- chines in the future. Tortoise machines were used to power turnouts in diffi- cult locations and for convenience. The layout was originally construct- ed with conventional d.c. power block
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN Nelson CPR Boundary Subdivision
tions” as a prime objective, it was nec- essary to prioritize the physical layout construction over building structures and scenery, which are both areas I also enjoy. We opted to push forward with completing the entire mainline
South Slocan
Phoenix
Trail (staging) MAIN LEVEL
Coltern Jct.
templates, Lift gate 0 1′ Eholt
Mainline Branchline
Midway
Secondary lines
5′
Lower deck outline below
UPPER LEVEL Reffek
65
Cranbrook (East Staging)
Penticton (West Staging)
Castlegar
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