Visiting the NPSF R.R.
In keeping with the current-day theme, NPSF freight operations now have to share the rails with Albuquerque’s Railrunner commuter trains.
spline. The spline creates natural curves and is very stable, but it is a mess to cut. In order to reduce the number of legs, my friend Al Matzelle suggested fabricating wooden I-beams for strength and to eliminate legs. Only 14 legs were needed. Not only did this cut down on the number of legs,
it
made the benchwork very strong. For sections up to about 24 inches deep, we used heavy-duty shelf brackets and bolted them to the walls. As much as possible, all of the wood
was sealed with house paint during con- struction, which adds to the stability of the benchwork by reducing swelling and shrinkage from seasonal moisture. The backdrop is tempered hardboard and is curved in most of the corners. As mentioned earlier, there are two
levels. The lower level was originally supposed to be a staging deck just used as a storage area for trains. As time went on we turned the lower level into an actively-modeled section of the lay- out with industries and stations. What was a staging area became a major yard during operating sessions. One of the smaller staging yards was torn up to make room for industries that would add more interest and operation on the layout. Another small yard was turned into the Albuquerque station tracks. Incorporating the lower section al- lowed for longer runs and increased the distance between towns. With a train running at a realistic speed, it takes over 20 minutes for it to make a trip around the basement. The one area that was slow to start
was the scenery. I knew what I wanted but just could not get it going. I was very lucky to meet John Cuocco a few
46
years ago. A professional historical model builder and self-taught artist, he was brand new to the model railroad hobby, but as soon as he entered the basement, he saw a blank canvas. He said, “Give me pictures of what you want the scene to look like” and took care of the rest. After showing him some typical scenery techniques, such as the use of chicken wire for the base of the scenery and ground foam for cov- ering the plaster, he took off. For the desert, which covers a lot of scale acreage on the NPSF, John came up with the idea of using fine sand se- cured with diluted white glue, then air- brushing it with different hues of acrylic paint to provide realistic varia- tions and opacity in the soil colors. I wanted to leave as much space as possible between the towns to give the impression of distance. We created scenes that were based on actual places along the route in New Mexico but again used modeler’s license to add things from the general area (or which could be). By spreading out the scenes, the trains seemed to be going a greater distance and people could enjoy seeing them traveling along.
When visitors come to the layout for the first time, they are not only amazed at how realistic the scenery appears, but how fast John did it. Most people take years to finish one or two sections. John, however, has been able to finish about two thirds of the layout in a few years. People are amazed by how fast he works and how he captures the look of the region so well. The structures on the layout are
mainly scratchbuilt. I try to get as close as possible to the actual building
I am modeling without going over- board, working off photos either from the Internet or from ones I have taken on trips. The good thing about model- ing a modern layout is that many of the industries are some form of corru- gated steel sheeting or concrete tip- ups, so they are quick to build. Some laser-cut wood kits have been used by the excursion railroad area to give an old western town appearance. As I look toward the future, there are many areas that are being worked on because a layout is never completely finished. The major scenery is done but there are a few areas that need atten- tion; over the next six months they should be completed. We are now going back and adding the fine details like people and telephone lines. There are still many buildings that need to be done, as well. We also want to improve the operating sessions by making them follow prototypical practices more closely, and we have been working on an automated switch list program that will save time when setting up operat- ing session. One project I would like to do is to install a signaling system, one that works with the DCC equipment. Then there is the rolling stock, which will one day get weathered.
After all the years of planning and building, it’s great to see the layout oper- ate and the fun the operators have run- ning it. I have to thank the friends that have helped make this layout what it is today. We are a “non-club” that meets regularly for work and operating ses- sions, and it is successful because we share the same interests and goals for the layout. Without them, the NPSF would not be what it is today.
MARCH 2014
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