Train Day 2019 Supplement

Hello, here's another video of our 2019 Train Day layout.

Train Day 2019 Success

Thank you to all who supported us by attending the 2019 Train Day festivities at the Billings Depot! After about 50 combined hours of set up, we had 8 operational loops for our guests!

Here is a overhead plan of the layout:

The set up and operation crew consisted of my folks and my uncle, who traveled from Chicago, IL for the event. During the event, we were all dressed as the crew of the Northern Pacific’s Vista Dome North Coast Limited passenger train, circa mid-1950’s. We had a conductor, brakeman, stewardess, and engineer (me). The gents all kept time with antique railroad-era pocket watches.

We also developed a free EBook, available here: https://payhip.com/b/kiXu, and a new website: https://www.modelrrfun.com/ prior to the event. We orchestrated a giveaway contest, where winners would receive either a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD, or one of two O-scale delivery trucks. A few hundred people attended our layout presentation. It was a lot of hard work, and stressful at times, but overall very rewarding to share the fun of model railroading with the community!

A friend loaned us a few boxes of Lionel Fastrack, which proved very helpful on the layout surface we had available. We ended up with 3 Fastrack loops, 3 tubular O27 loops, a Gargraves O54 loop, and a tubular O-style O42 loop. We were provided with 14 identical plastic tables as the foundation for the layout. We arranged them into a 5x3 grid, with an opening in the middle for the control station. This resulted in a 24’x12.5’ surface. We covered each table with a disposable green tablecloth, and ran track power lines between the table edges. There was very little wire visible on the table top, but LOTS of it under the tables, which we managed with cable ties. Once we had the track loops powered and tested, we added buildings, structures, and a bit of scenery to the layout.

Track 1 used O36 Fastrack and proved to be pretty reliable. It was actually used to display a trainset we were selling for a friend (one of the attendees actually purchased it later.) It ran a Postwar Lionel #1467W freight set, consisting of black Erie Alco locomotives (from 1952-3) and O27 freight cars (Lionel Lines stock car, Leigh Valley hopper car, Sunoco tank car, and Lionel Lines SP-style caboose.) Our backup motive power was the yellow Union Pacific Alco locomotives from the same set in earlier years. The Erie locomotives ran well for several hours, and then we gave them a break and pulled in the UP locos for the remainder of the event. Track 1 was powered by a Lionel RW transformer via a single lock-on. The only issues we had with the loop was the Fastrack versus the unevenness of the plastic table tops (as was an issue with every loop for the most part.) The tables were “high” on the edges, and went down half an inch or more into the “bowl” of the middle part of the table top. This was enough of a height difference to cause trouble at the track joints. We occasionally had to tighten the Fastrack connections, and eventually moved the loop slightly so that it only covered two tables instead of three. In the middle of this loop was our farm structures, along with a laptop that looped a video of my previous layout back in Illinois, along with footage of the real North Coast Limited passenger trains.

Track 2 also used O36 Fastrack, and was the most reliable, and maintenance-free-est loop on the layout. It was a Postwar Lionel passenger train, consisting of three Lionel Lines silver passenger cars (Elizabeth, Clifton, and Summit). It started the day being pulled by my father’s silver Union Pacific Alcos, and at midday we changed motive power to my son’s #2046 Lionel Lines hudson steam locomotive. The loop was powered by a Lionel LW transformer, which was fun to use (the whistle button worked great with the hudson’s whistle!) This loop just had one power connection, which was plenty. In the middle of this loop were several neighborhood-ish buildings: houses and a fast food restaurant.

Track 3 was a roughly 8’x3’ O27 layout, that encircled the control station at the very center of the layout. It hosted rapid transit trains (a Bowser streetcar in the morning and an MTH single CTA L car in the afternoon.) This loop was powered by one of the dual-track MRC O27 transformers, and had two lock-ons. This track was prone to separate in various places throughout the day, but was very easy to maintain since I was standing inside the loop all day. One of the 10” straight sections was so dirty that I had to spend some time cleaning it with an Emory cloth, which proved successful. I had intended to run a 4-car L train in the afternoon, but the cars had trouble navigating the O27 curves when coupled together, so I just ran the powered unit. It was still fun, since it provides a fun whistle and station announcement sounds.

Track 4 was an O36 Fastrack dog-boned-shaped track on the north side of the layout. It was powered by Lionel diesel locomotives, and pulled a variety of modernly-produced freight rolling stock. This track did not have ANY problems whatsoever – we just developed some locomotive issues. The rolling stock on this line shifted throughout the day, based on which locomotive was pulling the train. It hosted a die-cast K-line Northern Pacific hopper, a K-line wood-sided IGA reefer, a Lionel Great Northern wood-sided box car, a Lionel Dairy Men’s League reefer, an MTH Northern Pacific steel reefer, a Lionel Copper Range ore car, a K-Line Texaco tank car, a Lionel Montana Rail Link double-door box car, and for cabeese, either a Lionel Montana Rail Link extended vision or a K-Line Chicago Burlington and Quincy offset cupola. We started the day with a Lionel Montana Rail Link SD9 and finished with a Lionel Postwar Celebration Series Chicago Burlington and Quincy GP7. The line was powered by one of the MRC O27 transformers, through a single lock-on. This was probably part of the problem. I had another lock-on prepped, but ran out of time to actually run the power line and connect it to the transformer. The effect was that after the train ran through the loop a dozen times or so, it would become sluggish at certain points, even though the power supply remained at a consistent level. On the other hand, I’ve observed this behavior with trains powered by the MRC O27’s, even when there are MANY lock-ons on a line. The main takeaway from the event was a problem with the MRL SD9. When I picked it up to trade it with the CBQ GP7, I discovered that the front powered truck was no longer attached to the frame! Over time the mounting screw had come undone. What was remarkable was that the locomotive continued running as expected, even though it was literally “sitting” on the truck! Track 4 encircled the “yard” which is where all the backup motive power and rolling stock was stored for easy access. There were also several yard structures nearby.

Ah, Track 5, my bane for much of the day… So, Track 5 and Track 6 (also a problem child) used O27 track, and were mirrors of each other: one on the north side and the other on the south side of the layout. Overall, they were horseshoe-shaped, and met each other at a few spots along the center line of the layout. On paper, this provided a neat effect, and a lot of track for the train to enjoy. The combination of O27 track, the non-flat surface of the table tops, and two S-curves resulted in troublesome operation. Track 5 was the logging train. I set aside my two MTH steam switcher locomotives, a Northern Pacific 0-6-0 and a Chicago Northwestern 0-8-0, with matching cabeese, to pull seven log cars. The cars were all Lionel-produced, with four hauling a set of three stacked-logs each, and the other three hauling one “chunk” of a gigantic tree each. These last three cars were very short overall, only 9” long each. Through many trials, we found that the four “traditional” log cars, at 11.5” each, were too long to handle the track situations mentioned above. Also, after about a dozen derailments, we took the Lionel Northern Pacific caboose out of the roster and placed the MTH Chicago Northwestern caboose there instead. The CNW steamer was unable to handle the O27 S curves at all, as it’s 4 drivers ended up being to long to traverse the S curve properly. So, the NP 0-6-0 got to run all day. It had dozens of derailments in that time, including a spectacular wreak that sent it off the track onto its side. At one point the tender was smoking due to electrical issues. Just a bad day overall for the #1163! In the afternoon, we added some cork padding underneath the curves on the west side of this loop, which appeared to fix the majority of issues. This train, with the final roster being the NP 0-6-0, the three skeleton log cars, and the CNW caboose, ran without any problems for the last 2 hours of the event. It just took a while to figure out the right formula. The line was powered by a Lionel Z transformer via 3 lock-ons. Inside of Track 5 was Track 4, several yard structures on the west side, and a forest and logging buildings on the east side. We created the forest with two pieces of Styrofoam, covered with disposable table cloth, and then poked trees through the cloth into the Styrofoam. The end result was very good!

And onto Track 6, the southern twin of Track 5. This loop started with moderate goals but we had to chip away at them throughout the day. This line was supposed to feature some of the larger Postwar Lionel freight cars, and be pulled by either the (modern) Lionel Chicago Northwestern 4-6-2 pacific steamer, or the Postwar Lionel #2037 2-6-4 adriatic steamer. The rolling stock would have consisted of four 6464-series box cars, a gondola, a flat car carrying trucks, a searchlight car, and a bay window caboose. After much consternation, the roster for the event ended up being the CNW loco, two Great Northern 6464 box cars, and the Lionel Lines bay window caboose. The S curves, track separations, and frequent derailments proved very annoying. At point, a derailment and electrical short went unnoticed for an unknown period of time, resulting in a section of track becoming ALMOST white-hot. The line was powered by a Lionel ZW transformer. Here’s the main problem I have with Postwar transformers, in this situation: if an electrical short occurs, these transformers just keep sending power to feed it. Yes, that is the nature of things, but the MRC O27 transformers actually stop sending power when an electrical problem occurs, saving equipment and preventing several dangers. This happened frequently prior to and during the event. Locomotive 2037 did not perform well, even after lubricating it, so the CNW pacific had to run the line for all 6 hours of the event. We added cork padding to this loop as well, but it was not as effective as the cork on track 5. By the end of the day, I wasn’t dealing with the curves any more – I just manually ran the train backwards and forwards along the 16-foot straight section near the front of our display. Inside of the Track 6 loop was Track 1 and Track 2, along with the “downtown” section of the layout, which included the large MTH station as the focal point.

Track 7 carried the heavyweight passenger steam train on O54 Gargraves track. Everything mentioned thus far was “inside” of the Track 7 loop. Morning power was supplied by a Lionel Frisco 2-8-2 mikado, and afternoon power was supplied by an MTH Chicago Northwestern 4-6-4 covered Hudson. This train, with its large steam locomotives, and its overall 60’ track-length, proved to be a crowd favorite. After various troubleshooting efforts, to ensure that this train wouldn’t impact the train on Track 8, it pulled all six of my Lionel 19” heavyweight Pullman cars and a K-Line Santa Fe heavyweight car at the end. Initially there was a Weaver Railway Express Agency headend car behind the locomotive, but it developed some coupler problems later in the day. All-in-all it was an impressive looking train with either locomotive. It was powered by one of the O27 MRC transformers, through five lock-ons. This track provided the biggest mystery of the day. During the testing phase, the locomotive would lose power within a length of track section, very close to a lock-on. We worked on it for a long time to ascertain what was going on. We replaced the offending piece of track with several smaller pieces, and that resolved the issue. The mystery continues: how do you lose power in the middle of a 3-foot piece of track, with wooden ties, and a lock-on on the adjoining track to the west and a couple tracks to the east? Despite our track alignment efforts, this train did bump into the VDNCL on Track 8 along the eastern side of the layout, so I began running them separately from each other.

Track 8 featured our flagship passenger train: the 11-car Northern Pacific Vista Dome North Coast Limited. The cars were produced by MTH, and were pulled in the morning by a Lionel Northern Pacific F3 ABA set, and in the afternoon by a K-Line Chicago Burlington and Quincy E8 AA set. With just a couple inches difference in the two motive power sets, the train was nearly 21 feet long. And due to the size of Track 8, the entire train could be on straight sections without any curves along the northern and southern edges of the layout. That alone was fantastic! I’ve run this train on my home layout on Track 4, and it chases its tail and is nearly all curves. It was so neat to see this train really stretch out! The track used brand-new O-gauge track from Menards with O42 curves (which is the minimum allowed radius for this set.) The track was prone to disconnecting at a few spots, so we wired them together. Track 8 encompassed Track 7, and thus the entire layout was ringed by Track 8. This train was admired by all our guests. An impressive feat discovered during testing: I ran the entire train with a single lock-on connected to a MRC O27 transformer! I added several more after the initial test, but wow that Lionel F3 has power! As mentioned earlier, this train did bump into the heavyweight train at a few spots, so I had to either make sure they only passed on straight sections, or alternated between the two trains. After attempting to drive 8 trains simultaneously for many hours, I found that alternating Track 7 and 8 was easier and much less stressful. Especially while continuing to deal with the antics of Track 5 and 6.

The train crew greeted visitors and encouraged them to sign up for our giveaway contest. They answered questions and explained the train layout and the real trains that the layout represented. The crew also had to help with any layout problems, as I couldn’t physically reach most issues without shutting the layout down, crawling under the table and addressing them myself. We opened a window, which allowed those outside to see the layout as well, and provided some refreshing spring air to the room.

It was a great event, and I believe it was a success. This was most likely the largest temporary O-gauge layout constructed in this state this century. The engineer would like to thank the following people for making this display and presentation possible:

Bill Monteleone, our Conductor

Merrill Poynter, our Brakeman

Joyce Poynter, our Stewardess

Julie Poynter, our Right-Of-Way Liaison

Charlie Pratt, provider of historic artifacts

Gary Aasheim, provider of track

Toni Calton, provider of historic artifacts

The Billings Depot staff: Marci, Caleb, Michelle and company

My beautiful bride and kids for helping me and putting up with me all the time, even more so this past week!

The Depot did another great job for their second annual Train Day event. The Rimrock modelers had wonderful HO and N scale layouts, in addition to a slew of railroad artifacts and railroad footage playing in their section. We had our O gauge layout and a section of Northern Pacific artifacts and information. The Depot hosted two different gift shops and several activities for kids - a miniature train ride, giant coloring pages, a carnival game, face painting, food, and the return of the "Race the Train" exhibit. It was a beautiful day, and we were so happy to welcome so many folks to the event!

2019 Train Day Layout Assembly

The 2019 Train Day layout is being assembled. Table cloths are down and tables are arranged. We've completed the 8 planned loops of track. Wiring and train placement is in process right now!

See you at the Billings Depot this Saturday, May 4th, from 11AM - 5PM!