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!
