DAVE STANLEY
Western Pacific GP9 No. 2009 brings a train of empty hoppers up to the Grey Rocks cement plant (above). This is the beginning of the upper level reverse loop. The challenge at this corner of the layout was to create depth by blending foreground scenery with John Signor’s backdrop artistry, using foam, Celluclay, acrylics, groundcover, Woodland Scenics trees and home made trees by Mike Beard. The CCT local passes through the cut at Lake Davis on the westbound climb to the Westside Branch (right).
cal city managers to apply for a busi- ness license. Their response: “We don’t have permits for Singles Activity Groups, so you’ll have to apply for a Dating-Escort Service license.” Shirley reluctantly filled out her pa- perwork exclaiming, “Your license makes it sound like I’m running a prostitution business rather than a harmless singles group.” Frustrated with the misleading title on her city license, she soon moved her gatherings out to her brother’s ranch in the country and applied for and re- ceived a new permit from Stanislaus County. The county got it right, classify- ing her business as a single’s group. The day Pat brought the finished mod- el to the layout I invited Shirley out to view its unveiling. “Well, Honey, I hate to tell you this but you are recognized in the HO scale-world as Tequila Shiela, proprietor of a tavern and brothel that caters to railroaders and Junction City’s finest.” Pat even found a figure that re- sembles my wife, with curly red hair and cradling a cat, and placed her in front of the building. Always one with a good sense of humor, Shirley laughed when I mentioned that her escort service ap- pears to be doing a booming business.
Future operations
Being interested in most western U.S. railroads that operated during the
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
1950’s, I didn’t want to model one spe- cific prototype. On the other hand, I didn’t want the Morada Belt to operate like a club layout either, with a free- for-all of non-era-specific roads and equipment criss-crossing the railroad. Thus, I came up with the scenario of operating a trackage-rights railway used by the major western carriers of the time (SP, WP, AT&SF and UP) to detour traffic on a “pay by the ton-mile basis” when their own lines are con- gested. We will have theme operating ses- sions whereby one particular railroad is prevalent (i.e., an SP theme will have SP switch engines working the two yards and branchline, and a major- ity of the traffic will be SP) although other carriers will still run at least one train over the Belt. In addition, the staging yard will be used for railroads such as GN, NP, D&RGW, SP&S, and CMStP&P. During each session a local from one or more of these roads will op- erate from staging and run to the Junc- tion City interchange where cars will be set out or picked up. These carriers will also be free to “negotiate” traffic rates and routing with on-line cus- tomers and will stop and switch select industries before returning to staging. Several industries are currently in place on the layout, including the J.R.
Larsen quarry at Eagles Nest and four smaller customers located on street trackage in Junction City. Besides the cement plant mentioned earlier, a lum- ber mill, slaughter house and meat packing facility, oil refinery, scrap yard, produce packing sheds, livestock pens and a sugar beet processing mill will be appearing as the Morada Belt ap- proaches completion. Branch operations will be handled
by an assigned roadswitcher. Dedicat- ed sugar beet trains, destined for the mill, will also travel the branch and will need to coordinate with the roadswitcher crew.
Although unheard of during our de- picted era,
radio-transmitted track
warrants (we will call them train or- ders) will be used to dispatch train traffic. Our aisleways will be taxed with train and yard crews, so the last thing we need is an operator running back and forth with clearances and “flimsies” used with timetable and train order operations. Yard limits will be established on the main track be- tween West Junction City (JC) and East Morada Yard (our large classifica- tion yard) to allow for transfer move- ments between the two and for switch- ing duties at JC where space limitations don’t allow a substantial switching lead, forcing the yard switch-
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