Page 12 - NMRA Roundhouse November-December 2018

The Guadalupe Subdivision: Modelling SP’s Coast Line in 1954
Brian Moore Part 2
The quest for distance
As our small group at Western Union (Plymouth) gradually built and began to use our modules together regular- ly, it soon became apparent that, if they were simply set up and joined together, switching work was going to be regularly compromised if more than one train ran on the railroad. We quickly grasped the need for sim- ple single-track “spacer boards” to be fitted in between each module. That physical separation of just a few feet then permitted switching moves to take place without fouling the tracks of modules on either side.
We also built some “spacer curved boards” so more modules could
be fitted into the scout hall we rent
to host the club meet each month. Although the distances are minimal in comparison to those in real life, the spacer boards invoke an apprecia- ble notion of “travelling somewhere” between switching and stopping locations. With minimal ground scenery and no back scene, these simple boards still provide train crews with a firm sense of the “distance between destinations” and of pro- gressing a train along a real railroad. The sensation of running on the
Guadalupe, California track plan 1954
12 ROUNDHOUSE - December 2018
SMVRR #100 at Santa Maria, April 1953 photo by Dallas Gilbertson
SMVRR #202 at Quisling, September 1954
main line, provided by this creation of distance between stops, was some- thing I knew I’d like to replicate on any projected future home layout. As Bill Darnaby, Joe Fugate and others have shown us, narrow, even “shelf- like” rights-of-way, ten inches wide or less, provide completely believable and successful paths that can greatly extend the visible running length of a permanent model railroad.
Moving on down the line
As I began to learn more about SP’s
Coast Line trains I was attracted to the transition-era operations that happened daily at the small city of San Luis Obispo, in the relative geo- graphic middle of the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
This was where heavy steam pow-
er was based, added, turned and serviced, as well as being exchanged on through trains. The steep grade called “Cuesta” (literally, Spanish for “slope”) directly north of SLO to San- ta Margarita also meant that most San Francisco-bound trains required