#SouthernPacific #DonnerPass #Espee #LayoutTours
This layout models the Southern Pacific Overland Route across Donner Pass from Roseville to Sparks in the 1948 timeframe. The layout includes the towns of Roseville, Colfax, Blue Canyon, Emigrant Gap, Norden, Truckee, Boca, and Sparks. There is a 600’ dual mainline going over Donner Pass with a 1.5% ruling grade taking the trains from a 50” elevation to a 78” elevation. Auto staging is achieved by sharing double-ended hidden yards in Oakland and Ogden. Being a true mountain RR, there are no helixes or shelving. The layout is 34’ x 45’ with a “walk under” bridge entering the Roseville/Sparks Main Yard area and an elevated walkway around the back of the room to accommodate operations. Tunnels consume 27% of the mainline and there are 30 bridges on the layout.
The layout is controlled by a computer station running Railroad and Co. TrainController software. Connected to the computer are 12 touch screens that display/control the signals, turnouts, and block occupancy. The computer tracks engine numbers on the touch screen block icons as engines move around the layout. CTC signal aspects are automatically generated based on turnout states and block occupancy. Connected to the computer is an NCE DCC system that provides track power. Cellphone throttles control the engines using a router connected to the computer.
Scheduled train operations follow a 1948 SP timetable using a 6X fast clock. Unscheduled way freights use car cards to manage their operation. Turnouts/routes are controlled by the Mountain Dispatcher and the Yardmaster. Operators maintain radio communication with the Dispatcher and Yardmaster. Operations consist of both EB and WB train movements with helpers cut in for Fruit Block trains from Colfax to Norden. Scheduling accommodates First Class trains passing slow freight trains as they navigate up the mountain.
The layout has been under construction for 20 years. Almost all the scenery was completed in the last year. In 2008, Dave Frary, Bob Hayden, and Scott Mason spent a week constructing the scenery in Truckee area that taught us the basics to complete the scenery a decade later. The main scenery features of the layout are the massive 18 track wide mainyard surrounded by the Sierra Mountains, Donner Peak with snow sheds and the China Wall, and over 120’ of actual Sierra Mountain photograph backdrops surrounding the layout. The Sierra Mountain photographic backdrops were produced by TrainJunkies.
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