Lakeview

Lakeview is the westernmost modeled location on the railroad.  It's at the edge of the Great Salt Lake Desert.

This is the first modeled location an eastbound train reaches once it leaves staging.  There's a loop of mainline track from another scene behind the bulge in the backdrop above the entrance to Elko (Nevada) staging.  More on that later.  Morton still needs another warehouse adjacent to the spur beyond the loader in the foreground.

Here's the yard.  There's sufficient local industry work for an assigned switcher.  Some through trains do block swaps here, and there's a roadswitcher/hauler job that runs east to Junction City and return. 

Some of the industries are awaiting structures.  Milpark ships drilling mud in 55 gallon drums.  The structures for this customer are to be based on a prototype in Argenta, Nevada. 

D.G. Logistics is a cold storage warehouse for distribution of foodstuffs to the region.  Land out in the desert is cheap, tax incentives plentiful, and the road network allows access to the population centers of Utah's Wasatch Front, as well as Idaho, western Wyoming and southern Montana.

The Graymont lime plant has been covered elsewhere on my blog.  It ships processed limestone for industrial uses.  Lakeview's yard limit is located 200 scale feet east of the Graymont switch (a temporary paper sign for it is next to the silos).

Here's the mainline leaving town on a 1% grade heading east.  Looking down this aisle you can see the entrance to Elko staging at right, along with the Morton plant.

Next stop, Cedar.

More Great Stuff

Nice tour, Rob- the layout is really coming together beautifully. You have made a tremendous amount of progress in a short period of time. I'm anxious to get to the next stop!

I noticed the phones hanging at various locations around the layout. I'd love to hear more about the system you're using and how they fit into your operations at some point.

Tom Patterson 

Beautiful layout!  Looking

Beautiful layout!  Looking forward to future updates!

Looking better every day!

Great pics... Your layout is looking better and better every day!

Just one thing, though. I am always amazed by people with layouts who can resist the temptation to store/hide stuff under the layout itself!

For myself, I'm not taking any pictures of my layout that go below the waistline (so to speak) until I hang some skirting below the fascia!

George

Phones

Tom - the phone system is the one from the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe as described in a 1982 issue of Model Railroader.  It allows crews to communicate with the dispatcher, primarily to OS trains at train order stations since we don't use dedicated "operators" at each station for that purpose.  It's a party line where any phone is live once lifted from the cradle.

Cedar

Cedar is the next station to the east.  It's the first thing visitors see when they enter the room and sits on the opposite side of a backdrop from parts of Lakeview and the grade east of that town.

Vickers land & Livestock is the lone industry here, receiving various things for use on its vast agricultural holdings in northwestern Utah, along with Idaho and Nevada.

There's a junction here with the Raft River branch, which takes off from the siding near the center of this view.  The branch enters a 1.5 turn helix, emerging just below Cedar's train order office.

Here's a better angle showing the branch emerging from the helix.  The company track at Cedar is used by the branch job to swap cars with the Roadrunner local that works out of Lakeview (the Roadrunner also switches the Vickers spur).  Westbounds from the branch are dropped at the company track for pickup by the westbound Roadrunner returning to Lakeview, while Raft River cars transiting through Lakeview are left here for the branch job to pick up and deliver to its only customer.

Note the location of the three empties, and compare to the previous photo.  When the westbound Raft River Turn arrives from Junction City, it will pull through the junction, back onto these cars, and then head down the branch.

The east switch at Cedar is located above the stone retaining wall.  Meanwhile the branch continues its descent, crossing Cedar Creek twice.  The creek will eventually receive some muddy epoxy resin water.

Continuing east, the main crosses Greasewood trestle, and the branch disappears into a tunnel, to emerge on a separate lower deck scene. 

Next stop, Milton.

Wow Rob

You really got motivated on this one.  Thanks for sharing.

Steve

Track!

One thing I have trouble getting just right is with painting the track!  Yours is dead on, have any tips you can share?have

Excellent!

Painting Track

I use a base coat of either Floquil "Railroad Tie Brown" or an equivalent acrylic craft paint like Americana "Charcoal."  I apply the former with an airbrush, the latter with a plain bristle brush.  For tracks other than the main, I drybrush some additional craft paint like Americana "Driftwood" and or other gray/brown colors, using more on industry spurs, less elsewhere.  The first weathering pass is usually done with a larger brush, then I go back and hit individual ties.  I'll make some "newer" ties with the plain Charcoal color, maybe with a little black added, but try to avoid too much contrast.

Milton

Just east of the Greasewood draw scene is the farm town of Milton.  As with everywhere in the region, farmers rely on irrigation to grow most crops.  Wheel line systems are ubiquitous; it will be a few years before center pivot units become especially common like they are now.  We've left the finished scenery and backdrops behind for the rest of the trip.  Eventually the backdrop will have fields of corn, wheat and other things.

Industries here include the Cenex feed and fertilizer complex, a fuel dealer that receives mostly propane, plus some diesel for agricultural use, a grain elevator, and a team track mostly used by a nearby lumber yard.

Just below the elevator you can see the town of Raft River.  It makes a handy workbench that I use often between operating nights.  Note how the switching area at Raft River is offset down the next aisle from the one at Milton to keep operators out of each other's way.

Leaving town we pass through a scene based heavily on the WP through Palisade canyon in Nevada.  The branch is still waiting for some lighting to be installed.  Once the track enters the tunnel, it negotiates a turnback loop to reach the opposite side of the aisle.  This loop is the one hidden by the curved backdrop at the west end of Lakeview seen earlier in the thread.  The high ridge above the tunnel obscures the view of the slot in this side of the backdrop.

Next stop, Chester.

outstanding

Now can i talk you out of using car cards.

A picture tells a thousand words Rob...

Chester

The next town east of Milton is Chester.

At the west end is Ideal Cement, which ships cement in covered hoppers and receives coal to fire the kiln.  No prototype cement plants in Utah receive coal by rail.  The unloading shed and coal silos are future projects.

There's another company track here.  Sometimes the Roadrunner local from Lakeview will pick up its westbounds from this track, turning before reaching Junction City yard.  The Milton Turn (which works both Chester and its namesake town) also uses this track.  Before heading west, the Turn leaves anything not destined for Milton on the company track, including cars for the cement plant which is worked on the return trip.  Crossovers out of this view to the right allow for efficient switching between tracks.  With all the industry spots at both towns, the Turn often exceeds 20 cars.

On the bottom deck is one end of Elko staging.  Hidden behind the fascia at the end of the aisle is the two turn helix used to reach Lakeview.  I had the staging lights off for these photos.

At the east end of town is the edge of an industrial park that's filling up what used to be farms.  Hudson Press receives paper rolls for printing, while Associated receives miscellaneous foodstuffs for distribution to its store network.

The right hand switch on the company track is located past the end of Chester's siding, and ties into the west end Junction City yard lead.  The JC yard can readily access this track for use as a secondary switching lead, and for holding blocks of cars for pickup by through trains or locals.

The final stop is up next, Junction City.

Great Stuff!

Beautiful layout and nice tour Rob. Really help piece it all together. Always admire your backdrop painting skills.

Thanks Kevin

And everybody else.  I appreciate everyone dropping in and commenting.

Junction City Yard

The final stop on the mainline before heading off to east end staging is the yard at Junction City, UT.

Behind the very unfinished engine facility is the west lead, which ties into the company track at Chester described earlier.  The west crossover provides access from the main to the ladder tracks.  Note that every track in the yard can be accessed from the main.  I still need to add a track for delivery of fuel, sand etc.

To save space, I built two separate ladders side by side.  I maximized track capacity while reducing the length of the ladders.

Homasote sheet can have tapered edges.  I used drywall tape and mud to even the surface across the joints, eliminating potential dips in the track.

This is the body of the yard.  The whole thing sits atop Ogden (east) staging on the bottom deck.  There's a helix hidden behind the distant backdrop connecting the two locations.

The thoroughfare track is kept open so movements can be expedited between the two ends of the yard, especially engine moves.  The turnout in the foreground connects to the engine facility.  That big cut of cars two tracks over from the thoroughfare is the next Milton Turn.  It will be blocked in station order before it heads out to work.  Other blocks in this yard include interchange cars for UP and D&RGW, and WP westbounds.  The Raft River Turn is built here, and Lakeview cars are blocked for the Roadrunner.  Depending on how Many Lakeviews there are, the Roadrunner also can fill with other westbounds which through jobs that don't stop at JC pick up at Lakeview.

Note how the paperwork boxes are located at the far end of the aisle, adjacent to the primary east end switching lead.

Here's the east end.  Once again, I used two parallel ladders to conserve space, and all tracks are accessible from the main.  A train is shown at the top of the helix where it emerges through the backdrop. Again note how much of the Homasote needed filling and smoothing before I laid track.

Also adjacent to the lead are the caboose track and pig ramp.  Eventually the op session paperwork will move off the layout and the pig ramp lot will be "scenicked" with trailers and such.  There's a wider flat area behind this track than is apparent from this photo.  The space somewhat resembles WP's Parr Blvd. intermodal facility in Reno, NV.  I left space between tracks to allow for access to the cabooses for servicing. 

Just out of view to the right is the 25th St. Branch to downtown Junction City.  We'll visit that next.

Track Plan?

Rob,

I have always enjoyed your posts, and the help they've provided me in building my own layout has been nothing short of monumental. I especially enjoyed this walk through tour though, as it helps with the only short coming of your railroad that I can think of...I've never had the chance to see your track plan. I may have missed it somewhere along the line, and if that's the case I apologize. But thanks for this post, and keep them coming!

Paul Krentz

N&W Pokey District, Sub 1 3/4

Re: Paul

There wasn't a plan to miss - there isn't one that matches the layout as built.  I do a rough design on paper, precisely locating key items like turnback curves and vertical clearance points, then the rest is designed in full-scale as I go.

25th Street Branch

The 25th Street branch serves industry in downtown Junction City.

The liftout section across the workshop door has two tracks - the yard lead, and switching lead for the branch.  There are crossovers between the two to facilitate runaround moves.  Track arrangements and structures on the branch are inspired by prototypes in Ogden and Salt Lake City, UT on the UP and former D&RGW, plus the abandoned Bamberger heavy interurban.

Customers here include a canning plant, appliance distributor, steel fabricator, cereal producer, commercial bakery, wholesale grocer, and others.  Tall structures on the peninsula act as a partial view block, helping isolate the branch operator from the main aisle.  Quite a bit of stuff is currently stored under the benchwork here as the basement finishing project required it to be moved out of the way.

Some of the structures here have been used on three layouts, and were built before the kits involved became as common as they are today.  The "tribute to Walthers" look is something I don't care for, so some future kitbashing, detailing and scratchbuilding will be needed to address that.  Weymouth Oil occupies the middle of the peninsula, and I'm looking forward to cluttering up this scene with piping and more tanks.

Here's the end of the branch showing the small yard the switch crew can use for sorting inbounds.  Looks like a good number of cars ready for the next shift.

Wow

Rob:

That's some layout you have there. My throttle finger is itching to come run in an op session after seeing these photos.

Linear layout design - that's the way to do a layout. Real railroads are linear, and the best model railroads operationally are also linear.

Nice job, Rob! Looking forward to seeing your byline in MRH one of these days ...

End of the Line?

Rob, you reached the end of the branch. Is that also the final image sequence you are going to post or is there more?

Excellent

This was terrific Rob.  I really enjoyed the tour.

In your very first image, you showed Morton Salt to your left.  Do those tracks just stub at that facility, or is there more behind you?

How about a Video Layout Tour From one end to the other?

Rob, great photos! Thanks for the tour.  Any chance of taking a video camera and following a train from one end of the railroad to the other, so we can get an even better idea of what the railroad looks like.  Can't get enough of seeing your work. 

Now that I have changed my priorities and focusing on my own layout (instead of the local MRR Club layout) I'm anxious to get to actual benchwork construction. I have been working on the past 6 weeks on all the other "stuff" like finishing the ceiling, getting the railroad electrical done, finishing the remodel of my workbench, and a few other things.  Your work (and the others who are posting photos of their layouts) is really pushing me to have the motivation to find the energy somehow to get more work done on the layout.  Thanks! Keep it up!

Ken L .