ProRail 2024 Layouts

The Durlin Branch is a free-lance mountain branch line of the narrow gauge D&RGW fourth division hauling general freight, coal, ore concentrates, livestock and passengers. The branch ties into the San Juan Extension at Chama NM, with Durango CO to the west and Alamosa CO to the east represented by staging. The Durlin branch climbs a steady 3.8% grade through Cresco and Toltec Tunnel up to Carrumba where the line splits. One line continues on to Fritz Park, then descends a 4% grade through Resin Creek to Durlin. The other branch serves a large coal mine (stolen from the D&RGW third division) at Flint. Steam locomotives rule with operations augmented by water tank, coal tower, ashpit, stock chute sounds and/or animation. Featured in Model Railroader May 2000, The Finescale Railroader 2003 Narrow Gauge Annual, and Model Railroad Hobbyist April 2011.

SP's Vasona Branch models the Santa Clara Valley in the early 1930's. The layout tries to reproduce actual scenes along the San Jose - Los Gatos - Santa Cruz branch based on photos and Sanborn fire insurance maps.

The layout is a two deck 10' by 14' HO layout in half of a two car garage. Track is complete. Most rough scenery and some finished scenery is in.

Operation focuses on switching the canneries, packing houses, and other industries in the valley; commute trains and freights heading to Santa Cruz also run to add additional traffic. A pair of two-man crews do heavy switching during the session.

Layout control is via EasyDCC wired throttles. Most locomotives are sound-equipped; all locomotives are the small steam engines seen on the actual branch. Much of the layout runs in "yard limits", but signals and informal dispatching control the track over the hill (as on the prototype); a 2:1 fast clock sets the pace of the session. Switching is done from switch lists.

Jack's layout replicates the prototype Yosemite Valley Railroad circa August 1939 via a multi-deck design. The scenery, scenes, vegetation, and details on the layout all match the prototype. All seven of the YV's prototype locomotive roster circa 1939 are modeled. The rolling stock is a combination of scratchbuilt, resin and styrene kit models and the models reflect the types and ownership of freight cars which might have been on the railroad in the time period being modeled. All 100+ buildings on the layout are scratchbuilt from plans based on photos and available information.

Jack's Yosemite Valley Railroad has been featured in numerous articles in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Model Railroad Hobbiset and Great Model Railroads, most recently in the January 2010 edition of Railroad Model Craftsman.

An HO and HOn3 club layout located in the old Agnew depot, which was built for the South Pacific Coast Railroad. The club runs steam through diesel, and dispatching is done differently according to era. The 1,000 feet of track represents California connections to the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and East. There is a small narrow gauge section. The layout has been featured in Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman.

Gus – 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in Penngrove (New Layout):The California Western Railroad in HO scale. The layout is in a 42'X25' purpose built detached three car garage. The CWR history is important, but not a focus of my research. I am modeling a fictional CWR based on the location and features of the real thing. Come and visit on Saturday night or operate on Sunday afternoon. Operations are in an early state, in this brand new layout. Lenz DCC. www.pbase.com/campgus

CMRS is a 2300 sq. ft. layout located in Crockett, CA. It depicts the route from Oakland, CA to Sparks, NV with many prototypical scenes and recognizable scratch built buildings along the route. The layout is a mushroom design using a double track main with an eight foot helix at each end. Control is NCE DCC with extensive use of wifi throttles. Operations consists of eight locals with intensive work at the local industries. Mainline trains feed three yards at Oakland, Sacramento, and Sparks which build the locals. Era is 1970’s to modern. Scenery is 85% complete with extensive mountains constructed in cooperation with Bragdon and Associates. Cars are routed using a car card / waybill system. Operating sessions are usually 4-6 hours with a lunch break. During that time each local operates once before and once after lunch with different crews each run. Mike Stewart 925 768 7818 Liam

A beautiful re-creation in HO scale of the Western Pacific RR in the Spring of 1938. The area of the WP modeled is along the Feather River including the Keddie Wye and a small logging area. The fidelity to prototype of the scenery has been praised by old WP employees, who readily recognize the scenes. An interesting touch is the many sound modules included in the many detailed scenes. The layout has been featured in Railroad Model Craftsman June 1996, July 2000, March 2011, Railmodel Journal May 2000, Model Railroader Sept. 2001 and Model Railroad Hobbyist May-June 2010

HO Scale proto-freelanced extension of the Santa Fe in the early 1970's from the San Francisco Bay Area to Portland; modeled portion runs from the Central Valley town of Chico to McCloud just south of Mt. Shasta in a purpose-built 30' x 49'room. Double deck point to point, mainline 85% complete with approx. 550 feet of track in place, permanent track is all hand laid. 30% sceniced. Dispatcher; interlocking tower; large yard with two switch crews and yardmaster/hostler; small yard with a full time switcher; heavy duty freight with some passenger; local switching; branchline. Wireless NCE DCC; FRS radios; Track Warrants; car cards and waybills. 46"duck under to enter layout during session.

Layout covers from San Francisco to Salt Lake City with Reno and Tidewater branches. Fully signal with CTC. Computer generated waybill system. 1970 era. 4 large yards. 9 passing sidings. All diesel power. Includes prototypically correct scratch built models of the Oakland and Salt Lake depots (Salt Lake was featured in MR trackside photo section).

This fully sceniced "Rocklin Subdivision" layout features a double deck design with reverse loop staging yards at both ends. Soundtraxx Tsunami sound decoders fill the room with realistic prime movers and SP light packages. The layout was designed both for operations and long passenger trains. The impressive passenger terminal is home to many western name trains. Focuses on the transition era. Dave's layout was featured in NMRA Magazine December 2010.

The State Belt ran for 100 years along piers and into warehouses of the San Francisco waterfront. Bill has taken important elements like a car float, interchange at King St. (where the Giants play today), street running, and switching areas under Telegraph Hill and built them into a 12' x 12' layout using interesting modular techniques. Operations follow the prototype State Belt with 2 crews each working their own division. The railroad is totally functional, and signature buildings like the Ferry Building and Merchants Ice and Cold Storage are being worked on. Control is Lenz DCC with wireless throttles. The State Belt was written up in the April 2007 Railroad Model Craftsman.

Lots of switching action on the terminal railroad! The prototype served over 500 industries around Chicago and saw heavy traffic. Clif has modeled key portions including Robey Yard and several towers in an around the walls design in a detached garage.

The NYC Valley Division has 300+ feet of two-tracked mainline, two staging yards, a CTC signal system enabling bi-directional operation on both tracks, wireless control panels, car cards & waybills, beautiful scenery and space for a few Kibitzers. Located in the Catskill Mountains of New York State in 1948, modern steam and first-generation diesels are fighting for supremacy without a clear winner in sight.

The R&D Railroad models the Southern Pacific Coast Division in 1954. The modeled portion includes the main classification yard at Watsonville Junction, and switching at the towns of Castroville and Gilroy, and the sidings of Sargent and Elkhorn. In addition, the Monterey branch, an abbreviated second deck connecting to the main line at Castroville, has switching jobs at Fort Ord, Monterey/Cannery Row, and Pacific Grove. It is a single deck, twice around design in a 12' x 30' room, and supports a crew of 7. Trains to and from Salinas and San Jose are sourced and sunk via a double ended staging yard. A key feature is that the layout requires little or no re-staging between sessions. As for trains, there are four Watsonville based local turns, east and west through freights, passenger trains, a surprisingly-fun-to-run sand train, and a reefer local. As envisioned by the owner, the R&D was built as a laboratory to learn about operations and layout design. To bring the layout to its present form, many ideas from post op-session discussions have been incorporated into the layout as experiments. The good ideas were refined, and the bad ideas were abandoned. As such, it has undergone many changes over the past three years and more than 65 op-sessions. These changes have been mostly in track arrangements, operating system, and rules. The R&D has now reached "maturity", in so much as the lessons learned from the R&D 2.0 are being applied to the design and construction of a new layout and an outbuilding to house it.

The layout is NCE DCC controlled with wireless throttles, and hand thrown turnouts. While scenery has not been a focus of the R&D experiments, 35% of the layout is sceniced. Dispatching is done using Track Warrants via FRS radios. Concise documentation of all train operations is provided to assist operators in stepping into a new job.

This layout is offered as bonus session on Wednesday, March 13, at 2:00 PM. It is a little over an hour from the hotel so you can make it if you arrive at the hotel by 12:30 and is ideal if you are driving in from Southern California.

Based on a route in Alaska that was proposed and surveyed, but never built. The route runs north from port facilities on the Pacific Ocean to the Yukon River. The principle traffic consists of copper, zinc, coal, and forest products. Entry to the layout requires negotiating 3 steps and a 50" high by 20" wide nod-under, so not wheelchair accessible. All aisles 36" or more once inside layout room. Track is 95% complete, scenery 25%

This double decked, mushroom style, layout is a model of SP's storied Shasta Division from Redding, CA to Klamath Falls, OR located in a purpose-built 1,200 sq ft loft in the Oakland Hills overlooking San Francisco Bay. The Shasta Division is the last large layout designed by the late and legendary John Armstrong. Operations follow the prototype using a modified 1952 prototype timetable & train orders and CTC. The layout is faithful to the prototype. Car forwarding is by car card and waybills. Trackside maps document the switching areas, and train briefs are provided.

The original John Armstrong design was modified in significant respects, largely to achieve operational goals. For example, sidings and spurs were added or modified to add to operational interest. Some track work was eliminated to create more interesting, and lengthy, runs between modeled towns. Most significantly, the capacity of the designed hidden staging yards at Redding and Klamath Falls were increased from 4 to 7 tracks. Additional staging tracks were added at Weed and lengthened from 8' to nearly 20'. And, additional tracks were installed at the visible lower Dunsmuir yard.

Track is ME rail on CVP tie strips with hand laid turnouts. All mainline track, nearly 400 feet, is installed. Train control is via wireless NCE DCC. The layout is fully signaled from Redding to Black Butte(the CTC section). Computer interface is accomplished using C/MRI hardware and JMRI software. The tone of the layout is casual but purposeful.

The Shasta Division is 70% sceniced with painted backdrops from Redding to Dorris. Many key structures are in place or mocked up, giving the modeled scenes a sense of place For example, the Dunsmuir engine facility and City structures are nearly complete and in place.

The layout accommodates 16 operators including a yard crew of 3, two dispatchers (one CTC and one TT & TO, two TO Operators, and road crews.)

The SP Shasta Division is featured in the April 2005 Model Railroader and Great Model Railroads 2011.

Layout is a depiction of the NWP running through Sonoma and Mendocino counties about 1958. It is double decked, connected by helix, with staging yards on a third level underneath. It is designed to be operated in a prototypical fashion, with trains and scheduling based on a prototype timetable. Most motive power are SD7s as per the real NWP of the time. Scenery is about half finished, with painted backdrops and blue foam covered with drywall "mud" and Sculptamold. Power is through a Lenz DCC system. A number of the locomotives are sound equipped.

The layout is set in the East Bay Area in 1999. The railroad represents the former Western Pacific San Jose and 1st Subdivisions, now the UP Niles, Oakland and Milpitas Subdivisions. The railroad is a branchline which supports an Auto plant (NUMMI) and a number of smaller industries.

Dispatching is by TCS (using CATS) which replicates a Digicon console. All signals are repeated on color lite signals above the layout. A unique feature of the layout is that there is no yardmaster, only a Clerk. This is because the prototype Milpitas Yard has no permanent switcher. The clerk is responsible for managing the yard and the neighboring NUMMI complex, writing switchlists to instruct the crews where to place cars. All crews do their own work when passing through the yard. The layout is about 95% sceniced.

Western Maryland and B&O railroads run side by side in western Maryland and northern West Virginia. Both railroads have major junctions in Cumberland and interchange traffic at several points. The B&O has Color Position Light signals controlled by five towers with touch-screen CTC panels.

Western Maryland and B&O railroads run side by side in western Maryland and northern West Virginia. Both railroads have major junctions in Cumberland and interchange traffic at several points. The B&O has Color Position Light signals controlled by five towers with touch-screen CTC panels.

Jim's Santa Cruz Northern is a point to point, double deck, walk around style layout that shares a two car garage with a compact car. The SCN is single track with about 240 feet of mainline, of which 45 feet is in a three level helix. The maximum grade is 2.25%; minimum mainline radius is 26.5". The SCN is a jointly owned Western Pacific/Santa Fe subsidiary, running from a connection with the WP in San Jose California south to Santa Cruz on the Pacific Coast. As such it shares many of the characteristics of similar lines in the area such as the Central California Traction Company or the Northwestern Pacific. Five major sidings have been extended to average 15 feet in length. All of the visible mainline and most of the switches are hand laid. Set in the early 1970's, motive power is either second hand or leased, quite often from the parent roads. Traffic has traditionally centered around industrial products in San Jose, agricultural products from the Santa Clara Valley and wood products and cement from the Santa Cruz Mountains. The layout has appeared in numerous model railroad magazines most recently in the March 2010 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman.

The Nicasio Northern is an HO-scale model railroad. It is designed for TT&TO operation with switchlists. It runs only steam, with Soundtraxx sound in the locomotives and Digitrax DCC for control. Track is complete and operational. The layout has a peninsula in the center of the 12 x 21 foot space, and the rest of the track runs around perimeter of the room. Bayside yards and the engine terminal are on the peninsula. It has 28” aisles. It is NOT disabled accessible (stairs).

Main line extends from Alleghany, Virginia to Prince, West Virginia with staging representing Clifton Forge, VA and Handley, WVA. There is a branch line off the main at Prince leading to the town of Raleigh, WVA with three coal mines to work and some industries in the town of Raleigh. Mainline industries include a large power plant, limestone quarry, produce distibuter, lumber mill, lumber yard, and coal dealer. Most online towns have a freight station to work. 5 passenger trains operate during a session as well. Operating sessions, when I have them, last 5 hours with a meal break in the middle.

Founded in 1979, Silicon Valley Lines (SVL) is a freelance HO Scale Model Railroad Club located in San Jose, California. Construction of the current layout began in late 2000 and is located in the basement of an industrial building near downtown San Jose. The railroad occupies a 23' x 72' space, and is a multi-level design built using commercial steel C-channel as a benchwork system with over 600 feet of mainline. The upper level is a single-track division, while much of the lower level is double tracked. The layout features two large operating yards, as a well as ample hidden, yet accessible staging.

We operate using NCE DCC, and utilize Direct Traffic Control (DTC) operating rules.

Freelanced C&O in West Virginia

offered as 2-fer with Bob Osborn's Chicago and Mackinac

Single Track New England Railroading in the 1950s! The CVinNC is a prototypical recreation of the Central Vermont Railroad from CV Pier in New London to Palmer, Mass. The CVinNC is built in a converted 1600 sq ft industrial building adjacent to the former Northwestern Pacific (now SMART) tracks in Novato. This is a new layout with little scenery as yet.

Multi - deck layout with over 10 scale miles of Sierra Railroad mainline trackage plus Interchanges with SP and ATSF in Oakdale, Pickering Lumber Co at Standard, WSLCo in Tuolumne and the Hetch Hetchy RR at Hetch Hetchy Jct. Prototypical operations based on 1955 prototype. Base scenery is about 90% done with some finished scenery. Most structures are in place. Layout designed for operations.