Scale
HO
Status
Legacy
Superintendent
Randy Doman
Control
NCE Powerhouse
Communication
Radios / Phones
Forwarding
Car Cards
The Railroad
The Burlington Northern leaves south out of La Crosse, Wisconsin; running between the Mississippi River and the bluffs, on it’s way to Savanna, Illinois. At Savanna the railroad splits and goes to Chicago (C&I sub not modeled) and Galesburg, Illinois (Barstow sub not modeled). It’s high-speed double track and varied rail traffic is why I chose this area for modeling.
The Layout
The old version of the layout has been torn down in favor of a new home. At this time I have many ideas of what I would like to model. Of course this will depend on available space. Currently I would like to enclude more of the track from Prairie du Chien and Savanna. Some towns will be combined such as Bagley and Glen Haven. The towns are about 8 miles apart so this seems a logical thing to do. Another place I want to feature is the East Dubuque to Portage Jct. area. I’d like to also include the Dubuque area with it’s street switching by the BN, IC and Milw.
I plan to use Homasote spline for the sub-roadbed and code 83 for the mains. Code 70 in the yards and sidings, and code 55 for the industries. All switches will be hand built using the FastTracks jigs. Not sure of what the min switches will be or the min radus of curves. I would like #5’s in the yards and industries, #6 for industries off the main and #8’s for and crossovers or sidings. The main line will be CTC controlled with some ABS/TWC as was the practice in the 1980’s. The era of choice will be 1985.
The Controls
I’ve switched from CVP Easy DCC to NCE Powerhouse 5 Wireless system. I plan to use plug in throttles in the yards with radio throttles on road trains. For train communations a handheld wireless is used. I also would like to have mounted phones as a back up. These type of phones will be used for communication between the Dispatcher and Yardmasters.
I will still use the tried and true car card system from Shenware. I’m happy with the options I have and the flexibility of the system.