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Givens and Druthers Sacramento Northern: Sacramento Belt Line Scale: HO Gauge: Standard. Code 100 Peco turnouts, minimum radius 15" mainline/12" other Prototype: Former traction line turned diesel freight line Era: 1953-1966, plans to backdate to 1945-1953 (with trolley overhead!)...

Here's some serious inspiration for fans of narrow-gauge switching layouts. The plan is from a Sanborn insurance map, dated 1915, in Sacramento, CA. The location is just north of Southern Pacific's main yard and shops area, and it is now a big junkyard so any physical evidence is gone, but these...

Here are some shots of my SN belt line in its new home, plus a few shots with planned track layout crudely tacked on. I still need to get some CAD software that can handle PECO switches properly (which means Atlas' freeware is out) before I can draw up some more official plans: most of my...

I took advantage of a recent move to photograph my shelf layout. It consists of two modules, 6 feet wide. Scale is HO, minimum radius 12", turnouts are Peco "Setrack" tight-radius turnouts roughly equivalent to a #3 turnout. Yard area: Industrial area: Operation is by wheel report. The...

got the keys yesterday...now the planning begins! Here's a shot of my future layout space, a "ground floor basement" in my new house. Unlike most basements, the floor here is only about a foot below grade: where I live, houses of its era (1910) were often built well above grade to avoid the...

http://tinyurl.com/kmqr6 http://tinyurl.com/fauc2 A new book on Sacramento's streetcar system, published by Arcadia Press and written by...well, quite frankly, by me. All profits go to the Western Railway Museum, specifically to restore Sacramento cars, such as Sacramento Northern Birney #62.

Now that I have my 25-ton critter, I figure it is about time to get started on a mini layout that will model the prototype's real-world home: the Simsmetal wrecking yard on North B Street, just north of downtown Sacramento. This wrecking yard is based right off the Southern Pacific (now UP)...

For a few years, I have been struck with the idea of building a model of a small industrial locomotive that operates here in Sacramento--a 25 ton General Electric diesel-electric, operated by Simsmetal wrecking yard. I have seen it quite a few times inside the yard, and have risked hassling by...

Continued from another thread... Speaking of cable cars and two-thirds of a California car, I realized a while back that the Bachmann "cable car" model *was* two-thirds of a California car, and decided it was time to try a kitbash. I started with two of those cheapola "cable car" models...

Recently I found a schematic map of the electric railroad track in Sacramento (where I live) and thought I would share some bits of it that I consider interesting for Layout Design Elements. The schematic below is of an area about 1 mile wide and about 400 yards deep (three city blocks.)...

Well, I haven't done a ton of work in the past year, and still need to do my backdrop, but I figured that I would record some layout progress with the digital camera I got for Christmas. A shot of the industrial/switching area: Del Monte cannery, Blue Diamond almond packing, Golden State...

Here are a few shots of my latest project--an HOn30 0-4-0 "gypsy" logging engine. The engine is freelance, based on lumber locomotives used on California's northern coast from the 1880s to the 1930s. Small rod engines like this were built by a number of manufacturers, including Baldwin and...

Here are a couple recent painting projects, slightly dressed-up Bachmann Spectrum 44 and 70 tonners. CCT 31 is modified to reflect the first 70 tonners, which featured a single headlight and no front louvers (later models had a dual headlight and front louvers.) This model also features an...

Here are some photos of my latest kitbash, based on the IHC "Painted Lady" Victorian house kit. I liked this kit because it has some nice Victorian lines with good detail but construction is fairly straightforward. The main problem is that its prototype in San Francisco is kind of the wrong...

Here are some photos from a recently-completed (well, 80% completed) section of my layout, a 1x6 foot yard module. Benchwork is 5/8" MDF on 1x2 frame, track is Atlas Code 100 with Peco turnouts, no subroadbed. Scenery is drywall plaster and Sculptamold base. Track and ground were given a base...

So I got kind of inspired reading the recent threads about kitbashing interurbans and Cannonball steeplecabs, and kind of went on a frenzy. Besides, I'm utterly busy and have a huge project I should be working on, but there's nothing like huge projects and other priorities to get me into working...

Finally finished...23x23 inches of HO goodness. It's non-functional but was definitely an education in scenery techniques... An overhead plan view, showing the general track plan from above. Three views from the corner showing most or all of the diorama. Close-up of part of the...

Well, sort of...here are a few shots of my X Street layout, at least the small part of it that is mostly ready for prime-time...I had to "fudge" a couple of shots with spare buildings to make up for things I haven't built yet, but wanted to give my digital camera a try. The layout itself is...