PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
Downsizing a layout without losing character
A move means less space for the trains/Robert Smaus I 42
f you think you’ve seen this layout before, you might have since it has appeared at various times in sever- al hobby magazines including this one. Only then, this model of the Southern Pacific in Los Angeles was in Los Ange- les. It is now located 1,155 miles north in the state of Washington. It is much smaller than it was (even model railroaders sometimes must downsize) but it preserves most of the builder’s favorite structures with just enough room for
his favorite tiger-
striped Baldwin and EMD switchers to shuffle a few cars around. I suppose it is
now a switching layout, since it is a mite too big to be called a shelf layout, being almost four feet wide at one end by 14¹⁄₂ feet long. And, yes, I ignored the wise advice to never make layouts wider than three feet but the widest part is on the end that is not against a wall so I can also reach things from that side (it’s still a bit of a stretch in spots). The length gives the switchers a de- cent run and there is a little run-around inside the abbreviated yard so cars can be pushed or pulled from either end. When I used to watch the SP switch in downtown Los Angeles, they seemed to
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