Page 33 - NMRA Roundhouse September October 2020

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With a lower than normal ceiling height, any multi-deck plan was not possible, and a width of only 12’ restricted the visible mainline to a simple loop round the basement, with a minimum radius of 5’6”, acceptable for a secondary single track mainline.The garage was ideal for a couple of return storage loops, stacked above each other, with the lower loop feeding down the left hand side of the basement, climbing round the far end wall, and returning along the right hand wall to the upper return loop. A couple of ramps connected the 2 levels in the garage to allow continuous running in either direction.
There was room for a junction station on each long wall, with a branch line off each to a shared central peninsula, each branch terminal separated from the other by a back-scene.
A relatively stiff mainline grade between the two junctions would also justify a Helper operation when necessary (which it frequently is!), while grades would also be required on the two branches as they needed to terminate at the same level to facilitate operation of ‘paired industries’ between the two branches. For example, a mine on one branch and a smelter on the other, where loads would be deliv- ered to the smelter, then later appear
as loads from the mine, while empties would circulate in the opposite direction, being sent to the mine, then later appear- ing as empties from the smelter.
It was a bonus to confirm that one of the branches could incorporate my Kettle Landing branch layout, with minor addi- tions of two off-line industries; a sawmill and a smelter. Subsequent radius checks
confirmed suitable branch locos could cope with a 3’6” curve to the proposed Kettle Landing branch, and still allow
the adjacent branch with logging/mining industries to be reached (surprisingly) with only 24” radius curves from the other side of the basement, although as with the prototype, a check rail was very helpful to improve the reliability, with most of the sharper curves hidden for better realism.Transition curves are also useful here in reducing coupler swing to a minimum.
As I wanted the orientation to be such that when facing the scenery, west was always to the left, and east to the right, as on a map, this meant that the downhill direction would be to the west.
Looking at maps of the Boundary area, there was a westbound grade descending from Eholt down past Boundary Falls, but since the modelled stations could
bear little resemblance to their full-size counterparts, it was decided to rename them respectively as Montezuma (a name picked off a map of the general area) and Boundary Springs.
Some wishes that could not be included because of lack of space included a loco depot, and also any significant scenic items beyond the railway boundary, such as garages, stores, houses, etc.This is not entirely un-prototypical of scenery in the area of course. It was also recognised that the lack of space for appropriate industrial buildings would necessitate most industries being treated as ‘off stage’, ie behind a hill or line of trees, etc. So not only does this apply to the paired industries on the peninsula, but also even the main yard itself at Boundary Springs, where most of the tracks, including the yard lead, disappear ‘off-stage’ to provide more storage (and hence operational in- terest) than the space and scenery would typically allow.
Construction started in 2000 and was operational using DC with basic scen- ery within about 5 years. No substantial changes have been made to the original plan, even after converting to DCC. While I have enormous respect for those modellers producing amazing details in the smaller scales, I’m still content with my choice of O scale, especially given the decreasing dexterity and eyesight of ad- vancing years.While for those of you not similarly affected, you would appreciate not only the extra detail that is possible in the larger scale, but also the improved sound quality from the larger speakers when using DCC.
Mike Dobson
ROUNDHOUSE - September/October 2020 - 75th Anniversary Issue