1 - O Scale Trains Magazine Online

The LayoutIn Figure 1, the revised track plan of the layout, you willsee that there have been some changes to the plan from theoriginal one shown in Issue #19. One of the sidings has beenremoved, and the planned industries and buildings on theright side of the layout have changed. Also, I had originallyplanned to use removable cassette units for staging, but I amnow using a two-track pivoting sector-plate. I will cover moreon this later in this article. Photos 1-6 show an overview of thelayout, starting on the left side and working clockwise aroundthe layout to the right-hand side, giving you an idea of whatthe layout looks like.Industries Served by RailThere are four industries and a team track that are servedby rail on this layout. This keeps me, as well as visitors to thelayout, quite busy during an operating session. The four industriesare as follows:• T.C. Food Products is made from DPM wall modules. Itreceives boxcars, reefers and tank cars. Also in the photo youcan see the unloading ramp of the team track that receivesboxcars and flatcars (Photo 7).7910• C. Hill and B. Lane Cold Storage is built from scratchusing styrene. It receives reefers and boxcars (Photo 8).8• J. J. Terrier is built from Pecos River Brass structure modulesand is the largest industry on the layout. It receives boxcars,tank cars and covered hoppers (Photo 9).• Maxted‘s Clavichord Factory, which is made from DPMmodules, receives boxcars (Photo 10)There are also several industries not served by rail, andsome commercial buildings on the layout, that give a nicebalance to the look of an industrial area of a city, as seen inPhotos 11-14.Adding DetailsAs you can see from the photos, I have added a lot ofdetails as well as people and cars. This helps in creating realisticscenes on the layout. There are lots of manufacturersout there that make O Scale details. Don’t be afraid to look atsome of the other scales for useful details as well. I have usedmany 1/87 (HO) and 1/35 scale details on my layout.Locomotives and Freight CarsAs I mentioned earlier, I have three GE 70-ton Diesels,made by Rich Yoder Models (Photo 15), for my motive power.On a layout of this size you could use any small Diesel, suchas Atlas’ SW-series switchers. For freight cars, I have a mixtureof 40’ cars made by Atlas, Lionel, Intermountain and RedCaboose. You could use 50’ cars as well, but probably nothinglarger. In total, you would only need one or two locos andabout twenty freight cars on a layout of this size.ControlsAs mentioned in this series, I run my layout using a DigitraxDCC system and use Soundtraxx sound decoders. Thishas enhanced the operation, as I do not have to worry aboutNov/Dec ’07- O Scale Trains • 19