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Some day this page will have all sorts of interesting statistics, even more pictures, details of operations and construction techniques, a discussion of DCC and signaling, pointers to related published articles, etc. It may even contain complete plans in CADRail format. For now, we have a short overview of the layout, a rather blurry track plan, and some pictures. 

Track Plan

Here is a track plan, which is scanned from our brochure. I expect to replace this with a better graphic soon! You can click on the picture below to get a bigger (46K) version which is a little clearer. For the advanced reader, print out a copy or open a second window in your browser, so you can refer to the diagram during the following description!

Not shown on track plan: there is a work / office / storage room (approx. 350 sq. ft.) which can be reached by a door from the public viewing area at the lower right end of the diagram, and from the duck-under in the middle of the right end of the layout, down and right from the CTC panel.

It went which way?

Railroads tend to designate their tracks as east or west bound.  This makes things easier for employees, since the actual tracks often wind around enough that a given track might go in any direction at a given point!  By giving tracks an official designation, much like the highway system, everyone knows what track heads what direction.   And by tradition, railroads only use east / west!   So if you think your local interstate beltway has confusing names, consider that in our area, "west" generally means north by the compass.  So "east" means south.  A train called Extra 155 West could be heading from Portland to Seattle, almost due north. Confused?  Me too sometimes.  A mnemonic: we're based in the Pacific Northwest, so North is West.   

Deciphering the track plan

Our visible southern or "western" end begins as trains exit the Asarco Tunnel (lower left in diagram) and continues up to Auburn (just above the double-doors on the diagram).

The general plan provides point-to-point operation, with four logical end points.   (1) Portland and (2) Seattle are represented by the main staging yard, and are connected by the long double-track main that covers most of the layout's length.   "Portland" is reached by a grade down from the tunnel at Asarco, and "Seattle" by continuing up the main line from Auburn.  The wye at Auburn leads to the Stampede Pass line, which terminates in a (3) secondary staging yard representing either Martin or Yakima, which is visible in the plan at the lower left edge.   There is also a Milwaukee depot just "north" of Bayhead Yard, and tracks from here lead north and represent the (4) Milwaukee system.  These tracks actually end up down in the main / lower staging yard as well.  So, three of our four off-layout destinations end up in the lower main staging yard.

There are several major on-layout destinations for local sweepers, switching freights, locals from off-layout, or passenger traffic.  These include the yards at Auburn and Bayhead, the Milwaukee station house, Union Station, and industrial areas at Tideflats and that place south of Union Station whose name escapes me.  Local traffic can originate and terminate at either yard.

For auto-train operation (that is, unattended display operation) there are return loops that keep the mainline trains from entering staging.  Trains heading to Portland reappear from Portland without ever reaching the grade down to staging, and similar for Seattle.  We run four trains in the "auto loop" barring equipment problems.   This auto loop a top priority, and we are very careful with any work that effects the mainline.  Maintaining these locos and cars is key.  We also have engineers on call during the week in case of problems.  We're a museum exhibit, and we want to show the public working trains when possible.

The track plan above is not very good at showing the layers of track. There is a helix at the right end, and a grade down at the left end, to the main staging yard beneath the rear section (below Auburn and the area to the left of Auburn). The right downgrade is entered just about at Asarco, where the main goes "south" into the Asarco tunnel. The right / north / west (sheesh!) end is more complicated; the wye at Auburn allows trains to go north / west to Seattle staging via the helix, and the other leg of the wye goes to east / east / yes, east to Stampede Pass. The Stampede Pass track is on a higher level and after looping around the dispatch area, heads along the back wall all the way to that yard on the left end of the layout. Simple, eh?   Maybe I'll get a diagram with color coding next time.

Track & Wires status  (early 1998)

Track is mostly code 83, with code 70 in visible yards and such.  Most turnouts are commercial, with some hand-laid ones in tricky places where geometry required deviation from what you can buy off the shelf. 

The mainline tracks are laid and working.  The Stampede pass line is under construction. Main staging is done.  Most of the yards are finished, at least leads and ladders, but not engine facilities.  The Milwaukee depot is not done.  Union Station is done but not seeing much use yet.  Industrial areas are not done, so we don't have any truly local traffic yet!

A lot of the control panels are yet to be installed, but are almost done and look great.  When these are in we can stop pushing those Tortoise machines by hand (gently and slowly) under the table. 

The layout uses DCC, Digitrax equipment with a variety of decoders showing up.  We currently have seven power districts planned to ease the DCC communication load and provide amperage.  Eventually we will use block-detection for signaling and even computer control of trains.  This is a topic deserving its own page.  Any volunteers to write it?

Scenery & Operations status (early 1998)

As you can see from the photos below, scenery is in various stages of completion. Besides the scope of the layout (all those trees to make!), there is also a lot of effort needed to duplicate distinctive local features like the Milwaukee freighthouse and viaduct, the Tacoma Union Station, and the Asarco plant. The basic DCC system is working, and full signaling and computer control is coming along. The operations folks continue to refine our systems for operating nights, and as the collection of equipment grows we'll be able to keep quite a few people occupied, dispatching and running trains. At other times, four trains run automatically at a push of a button, so visitors can always see a dynamic moving model of the 1950's railroad scene.

We have had two operations sessions with the new 5-channel radio headsets.   Reaction is mixed and some had interference, but generally people seem to enjoy it.   There are a lot of learning issues with DCC and contentious discussions about changing what we're using.  Since this is group web page I will forgo the temptation to speak editorially on the matter!  I did have a great time running trains, that's for sure.

Each night we had a dispatcher, a trainmaster / supervisor, a yardmaster apiece for main staging (Seattle / Portland), and single-person crews for trains.  We are currently limited by number locos with decoders, but should be running 6+ trains on the main next session (August 28).  No schedules, all trains are extras.  Each session we plan to introduce new concepts, until we're as close to prototype operation as is reasonable and pleasurable.  Next time we're adding Seattle - Portland (and vice-versa) sweeper freights which will drop and pickup blocks of cars at Bayhead and Auburn, giving the crews, yardmasters and dispatcher another level of, um, enjoyment in their jobs.  Especially when that hotshot reefer through freight gets backed up behind the sweeper.  We do have a two-track main, after all, even if it isn't signaled yet ...

Photos

Please see our photo page.

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Copyright © 1997-1999 PSMRE. All rights reserved.

The train near the bottom of the page was created by Randal O'Toole of PRPA, used here by license.