Visiting the NPSF R.R.
Like many others, I use modeler’s li- cense on the layout, but I try to follow common practices. The premise is that NPSF picked up where the Santa Fe left off. There are not a lot of industries outside of the Albuquerque area, and most of the towns are very small with few rail-served businesses. Using mod- eler’s license, a few more were added to justify the need for the railroad and to add to the switching fun. Some major industries were also added, including an ethanol plant and a locomotive re- builder. In addition, I added things that are different, such as an excursion railroad which uses a Shay, a local re- cycling yard, a dinner train, and com- muter service provided by Rail Runner. Planning the layout coincided with a major house renovation, and the re- sults were a better house and a better model railroad. The layout fills a 25′-0″ × 36′-0″ basement. The basement was made layout friendly not by just put- ting in a ceiling and new lighting, but also by moving the washer, dryer and electrical panel up to the first floor. This put them in a more useful location upstairs and allowed more layout space downstairs. At the same time I had the HVAC system changed and spaced 20 inches off the wall to allow part of the layout to pass behind it. Lastly, the basement staircase was moved to pro- vide a direct path to the garage, mak- ing it easier to move building materials downstairs and for visitor access. The layout is double-decked and is DCC controlled. When we have an op-
The NPSF, like many roads that took over trackage from Class Ones, purchased used loco- motives to get started. Often, new reporting marks are just stenciled on the cab until the unit can be spared time in the shop, as on this Geep (above). The scenery is varied and interesting on this route, and Amtrak’s passengers can enjoy the sweeping vista coming down Glorieta Pass (below) or the glimpse of a mountain ravine from the high bridge at Canyoncito (right).
erating session, about every six weeks, it will handle 12 to 14 people. The lay- out was designed using a CAD pro- gram to make it easier to change track configurations before construction, but, as we refined our operating sessions, some changes were made to improve traffic flow. The lower deck is 38 inches off the floor and travels around half the basement on a 1.4 percent grade to about 52 inches at the high point. There is no helix. The layout is de-
signed as a single-track mainline oper- ating in a linear fashion. Decoder Pro is used on the dispatcher’s panel to control turnouts; it will eventually op- erate a signaling system. There are around 100 turnouts, with about 85 of them operated by Tortoise switch machines. Turnouts in yard ar- eas are thrown locally by a matrix sys- tem designed by Charlie Tobin. The up- per deck uses code 83 track and the lower has code 100. Concrete tie track
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MARCH 2014
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