# The Layout Forty Years in the Making



## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

Literally 40 years -- I have been planning this layout since the mid-Seventies.

And I have been actively working on it the last few months putting down and taking up track as I tried multiple permutations of Kato Unitrack.

And I am here to tell you now that I am finally running trains.

Multiple trains (albeit not at the same time).

There are still a few wires exposed, and there is still a bit of scenery to be done and some buildings to be built, but I am by god running trains. 

The layout itself is based on an old Atlas N scale track plan -- N-9 Multiple Track Arrangement from the Atlas book Introduction to N Scale Railroading. This thing has been around forever; the original edition dates back to the late Sixties. It is almost as old as most of us. I know I had an early edition of this book back in the 70s.

Anyway, I tried other plans, including freelancing my own, but I kept being drawn back to N-9. I had a big ol' bin of Kato Unitrack, so I just started laying it out.

I modified some things along the way. For one thing, it was designed for a space 27 inches by 60 inches, and I had a 36 by 80 inch door. So whereas N-9 has 9 3/4 and 11 inch curves, I have 13 3/4 and 15 1/8, with just a little bit of 12 3/8.

And I widened the spaces between the tracks on the yard section to accommodate passenger platforms.

And here's what I ended up with -- Ladies and gentlemen, I give you . . . the Prairie City Union Station.

(Stay tuned. There's more to come.)


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

It's nice you were able to adapt it to your door. It looks good! :appl:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

*Prairie City Union Station*

Prairie City was growing. It was no longer a collection of small municipalities. Through growth and consolidation, it had grown into a major Midwest city with a population pushing 200,000.

But its transportation system had not kept up. Though served by half a dozen Class I railroads, each of these had their own separate station, and connecting across rail lines was like undertaking an expedition.

Five of the six railroads serving Prairie City -- MoPac, Santa Fe, CB&Q, C&NW, and CMSP&P (Milwaukee Road) -- went together to form the Prairie City Terminal Railway Corporation (PCTRC) with the purpose of constructing a Union Station to be used by all six railroads providing passenger service to Prairie City. The Prairie City Terminal Railway would administer the construction and subsequent maintenance of both the station and associated trackage. 

The sixth railroad -- Union Pacific -- declined to buy into the PCTRC, but did commit to becoming a tenant if and when Prairie City Union Station was completed.

The PCTRC was able to acquire land and some existing trackage adjacent to the old MoPac Sunnyvale station. Track upgrades and new platforms went in quickly, and pending the construction of a new Union Station building, the five railroads would share the existing Sunnyvale station. Needless to say, quarters were cramped in a building that was hardly the size of a Harvey House.

But in a spirit of uncharacteristic cooperation, the six railroads persevered through those difficult times as they, and Prairie City, awaited completion of the new station.


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

1. Mopac Prairie Eagle stands by awaiting a free platform while the Santa Fe Prairie City Chief, the C&NW Prairie City 400, the CB&Q Prairie Zephyr and the Milwaukee Road Prairie Hiawatha load and unload passengers.

2. A view of the platforms -- Left to right -- Prairie Hiawatha, Prairie Zephyr, Prairie City 400 and Prairie City Chief, with Mopac Prairie Eagle in the background.


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

Lookin’ Good. Love the war bonnets.  :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

Fire21 said:


> It's nice you were able to adapt it to your door. It looks good! :appl:


Thank you. It took some selective compression. I had to accept that although I could run a 9-car Super Chief with A-B-A F units on either of the two ovals, there was no way I could back even half of it into the station platform tracks. 

So a couple of the longer trains had a few cars removed, but I think their essence is still there. 

And when I want to, I can still get the full Super Chief out and let it chase its tail.



SantaFeJim said:


> Lookin’ Good. Love the war bonnets.  :thumbsup::thumbsup:


Thank you. The Santa Fe warbonnets and the Mopac Eagles are special to me because I was actually able to ride those as a kid. Father worked for Mopac, and we had passes.


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

Nice layout! I love that Hiawatha observation car at the end of the Milwaukee road train!


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

I have the same situation.  I seem to always have 1\3 of the layout . Lol


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

You've got some nice looking trains there. :thumbsup:


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Entertaining post. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Keep us appraised as the scenery progresses.

Magic


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

Clovis -

I promise that before too long you will place your entire Super Chief on one of the main lines of your layout just to watch it run.

That train is just too pretty to hide. Till then, feel free to watch my El Capitan run whenever the mood strikes.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

[Quote Clovissangrail01; "It took some selective compression. I had to accept that although I could run a 9-car Super Chief with A-B-A F units on either of the two ovals, there was no way I could back even half of it into the station platform tracks."]



Clovissangrail01;

The need to cut a long passenger train to fit the available platform length existed in the real world too. Only a few really big terminals had platforms long enough to serve a 9-15 car train. So you can quite legitimately cut your Super Chief, and spot part on one side of a platform and the rest split between the other side of the platform, and other tracks. If the train was going to stay in Prairie City for long, the locomotives might be uncoupled and run over to service tracks? You might consider adding a double-sided backdrop down the middle of your layout before you get into scenery. It can be simple blue sky with a few sponged on clouds. It would divide your layout into two separate scenes, and help conceal the "round-and-round the oval" look. Your choice, of course. 

I really like your "legend" or "scenario", about Prairie City's decision to build a Union Station. :thumbsup:
Walthers "cornerstone" sells a generic "Union Station" model in N-scale. Perhaps the good citizens of Prairie City will scrape together enough financing to be able to acquire their Union Station. It's on sale for "only" $48.90!  Then again, you already have a station in Prairie City. hwell:

My own N-scale layout is based around the very real Seattle Union Station. It had only two resident railroad companies, rather than your six, or seven. Like Prairie City's, Seattle's Union Station was a simple stub-end terminal. It had only six main station tracks, four of which were arranged around two long, narrow, wooden platforms, protected from Seattle's notorious rains by "umbrella" or "butterfly" roofs.
The station was built by the Oregon & Washington Railway, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific. The Milwaukee Road was a tenant. Many name trains of both railroads called at Union Station. They included the Olympian Hiawatha you show in your photo. I have the Kato FP7s, and I just ordered the cars. $$$$  !

Seattle was unusual in that it had another major, shared station right across the street. King St. Station was home to the Northern Pacific, and Great Northern, passenger trains. So I get to run trains from four transcontinentals on one layout!
My "legend' concerns another Seattle area railroad, the Pacific Coast Railway. It served as the gateway trackage into Seattle for the U.P. and the C.M.St.P & P. In my imaginary scenario, the Pacific Coast Rwy. had also granted trackage rights to the N.P. & the G.N.
This never happened in real life. Each railroad actually had its own track into Seattle and the tracks ran next to each other in many places. I didn't have room on my mostly 16" deep shelf layout to model all this parallel trackage, I barely had room for one 16" radius curve under Allentown covered bridge, not the five that were actually there. Likewise I couldn't fit two major city stations into my 3'x4' "downtown Seattle." section. I settled for one, a 10% reduced version of Seattle Union Station. (see photos)
"King St. Station" will consist only of a structure flat, and a hidden staging yard. 

Congratulations on getting trains running on your layout. Keep having fun! 


Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

traction fan said:


> [Quote Clovissangrail01; "It took some selective compression. I had to accept that although I could run a 9-car Super Chief with A-B-A F units on either of the two ovals, there was no way I could back even half of it into the station platform tracks."]
> 
> 
> 
> ...


would the GN's empire builder have ever been there?


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

SantaFeJim said:


> Clovis -
> 
> I promise that before too long you will place your entire Super Chief on one of the main lines of your layout just to watch it run.


Oh, you know that has already happened. 






The Prairie City Chief originates in Prairie City, then runs south to Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. It carries both Pullman and coach passengers.

The Super Chief is an all-Pullman train; it stops in Prairie City on its way from Chicago to Los Angeles and back.

The Super Chief sets out southbound Pullmans from Chicago that are bound for Texas destinations; and it picks up northbound Prairie City Chief Pullmans that are en route Chicago.

The Prairie Chicagoan is an all-coach train connecting Prairie City and Chicago. 

The dining is excellent on all three routes.

(And I loved the El Capitan clips.)


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Empire Builder*



QueenoftheGN said:


> would the GN's empire builder have ever been there?


QueenoftheGN;

Yes, if by "there" you mean King St. Station in Seattle. It was the western terminus of the Empire Builder's run. 
No, if you mean Union Station, also in Seattle, but hosting the Union Pacific, and Milwaukee Road.
The Great Northern, and Northern Pacific, operated out of King St. Station, not Union Station, which is the one I modeled which is shown in the photos. By the way, both real stations are still standing, and each has been beautifully restored. If you ever get to Seattle, you might want to visit these grand old stations. You can actually ride Amtrak's version of the Empire Builder right into King St. Station. Union Station is a very short walk, right across King St.

The Empire Builder ran from Chicago to Seattle. There were actually two Empire Builder complete trains. One set left east from Seattle, and the other headed west from Chicago. I have both the 1947 streamlined, diesel powered, version of the Empire Builder and an earlier heavyweight cars & steam locomotive version.

Have fun!

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

clovissangrail01 said:


> Oh, you know that has already happened.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7euLJR-w1UA
> 
> ...


Now... wasn’t that FUN! 

Your Super Chief was very cool. I will post a video of mine in a couple of weeks.


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

traction fan said:


> QueenoftheGN said:
> 
> 
> > would the GN's empire builder have ever been there?
> ...


Cool! I think riding the Amtrak empire builder might be pretty fun! ( and yes by there I did mean the king st. Station sorry about my wording!)


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

traction_fan --

The Prairie City Terminal Railway Corporation (PCTRC) has already contracted with the architectural firm of Wm. K. Walther and Son to design the new Prairie City Union Station. Architectural plans have been delivered and construction will begin soon. In the meantime, Prairie City will have to make do with the old Mopac Sunnyvale station. 

Artist's concept of Prairie City Union Station design --










According to representative from Walther and Son, the design of the Prairie City station was heavily influenced by the old CB&Q station in Omaha. (Omaha is another town with multiple stations.The UP had a station right cross the tracks from the CB&Q station. )

The CMSP&P (Milwaukee Road) runs the Prairie Hiawatha from Prairie City to St. Louis via Kansas City, and the Midwest Hiawatha from Wichita to Chicago, via Topeka, Prairie City, Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, Des Moines and the Quad Cities. When the Olympian Hiawatha was discontinued just a few years after CMSP&P took over operation of the Union Pacific's _City_ trains, the Prairie Hiawatha and Midwest Hiawatha inherited some of the Olympian Hiawatha equipment. And thus, riders of the these trains enjoy some first class equipment, including those iconic Milwaukee Road Skytop lounge cars. (When the UP finally moves to the Prairie City Union Station, the City of Prairie City, which runs from Prairie City to Oakland, may be pulled by CMSP&P motive power.)

As for running longer trains, such as when the Super Chief comes through, I have already wired the outer loop to allow me to park a long train there. Now trying to figure out how to tie it to another Kato power pack using Kato wiring (i.e., figuring out the Kato equivalent of Atlas Selector).

In other news, in response to requests from the owner railroads, the PCTRC is looking into the possibility of adding locomotive/car service facilities to the south in between the station tracks and the Acme Spaghetti grain elevator and factory siding.

Future site of Acme Spaghetti grain elevator and pasta factory --


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## AbuelOgauge (Feb 3, 2015)

Would love to see some videos of the trains running.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*More good "creative writing!"*



clovissangrail01 said:


> traction_fan --
> 
> The Prairie City Terminal Railway Corporation (PCTRC) has already contracted with the architectural firm of Wm. K. Walther and Son to design the new Prairie City Union Station. Architectural plans have been delivered and construction will begin soon. In the meantime, Prairie City will have to make do with the old Mopac Sunnyvale station.
> 
> ...


clovis;


Very good! :appl: I really like hearing "news bulletins" from Prairie City. You have quite a good imagination! Shades of "The news from Lake Wobegon".  Now, if the good people there could look into the advantages of underground "electrical utilities." :laugh:
BTW Don't tell my wife, but I just ordered the Olympian Hiawatha cars. Seeing your Prairie City Hiawatha made me do it! That's my story, and I'm stickin to it!:smilie_auslachen: 

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

*Midwest Hiawatha Leaving Prairie City*



clovissangrail01 said:


> The CMSP&P (Milwaukee Road) runs the Prairie Hiawatha from Prairie City to St. Louis via Kansas City, and the Midwest Hiawatha from Wichita to Chicago, via Topeka, Prairie City, Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, Des Moines and the Quad Cities.


Westbound Midwest Hiawatha picks up speed as it pulls out of Prairie City en route Topeka and Wichita.

This full-service train inherited equipment from the Olympian Hiawatha when that service was discontinued in 1961. CMSP&P's long range plan was to extend the route to Los Angeles via El Paso in partnership with the Southern Pacific, but this never came to fruition. The Midwest Hiawatha was discontinued when Amtrak took over passenger rail service in 1971.


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## nChapelHeel (Mar 8, 2020)

Serendipity. I have almost the same layout. I got the plan from the Kato website. I had
problems with the crossover turnout. I had too many track spikes holding everything down
and that caused the turnout to bind. Still having fun. Making dwarf signals now. (small LEDs)


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

The CMSP&P Prairie Hiawatha backs into the stub terminal tracks at Prairie City.






The Prairie City Union Station will be build in the space to the left of the old Mopac station.

Note the newly completed Prairie City viaduct in the background. This brought special problems because whereas a single Kato E unit can drag five passenger cars up it, a single Kato F unit cannot and needs a second F unit.

Finally, since we're still talking about the Milwaukee Road, here's an interesting picture I found for traction_fan -- A Milwaukee Road electric backs The Olympian Hiawatha out of Seattle Union Station's stub-end terminal.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Thanks for the photo!*



clovissangrail01 said:


> The CMSP&P Prairie Hiawatha backs into the stub terminal tracks at Prairie City.
> 
> https://youtu.be/nIzEcDtkzpM
> 
> ...


clovissangrail01;

Thanks for the photo. It's a rare view showing what was on the other side of the station tracks. I have visited modern Seattle including the preserved stations, and I have a lot of books with historic photos of the station and its surroundings. Much that was there then, is gone now. Also just about every photo I have was from a different angle than this one. I most cases the photographer would have been standing in front of the brick building in your photo (the Bush hotel??) and facing toward the locomotive's other side.Looking out the front of your photo, if that makes any sense.

Prairie City seems to be making progress. Keep up the good work!

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

*Prairie City 400 and Prairie Zephyr*

The C&NW Prairie City 400 pulls out of Prairie City Union Station en route Chicago. 

The Prairie City 400 ran the Missouri River route from Prairie City to St. Louis, then swung north to Chicago to connect with the other C&NW 400 trains.

The locomotive is an EMD E8A pulling bi-level coaches and a diner car.

(Please excuse the jackrabbit start. I was trying to work the throttle and the camera. My apologies to any passengers whose drinks were spilled.)






Meanwhile, the CB&Q Prairie Zephyr pulls off the main line onto the main siding at the Prairie City Union Station.

The Prairie Zephyr was a luxury day train that operated between Prairie City and Omaha, Nebraska, with stops in Kansas City, St. Joseph and Lincoln.

Motive power is an EMD E5A.

In the background, we see the newly completed Prairie City Viaduct.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

clovissangrail01 said:


> The C&NW Prairie City 400 pulls out of Prairie City Union Station en route Chicago.
> 
> The Prairie City 400 ran the Missouri River route from Prairie City to St. Louis, then swung north to Chicago to connect with the other C&NW 400 trains.
> 
> ...


clovis;

I remember riding those C&NW two level cars when I went from great lakes naval base to Evanston Il. It wasn't the 400, just a commuter local. That 400 model is a really nice train!



Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

*Been playing with SCARM*

I've been playing with SCARM. I'm trying to document what I have put together so I can take it back apart and put some pink foam under it, then put it back together.

Here's the track plan and a 3-D view.

It doesn't seem to want me to upload the SCARM File.

I'm still trying to figure out how to elevate the Prairie City viaduct in the track plan.

Buildings at this point exist only in their kit boxes, with the exception of the platforms.

Baseboard is 36 by 80 hollow core door.

All track is Kato Unitrack.


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

nice!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Don't raise the bridge, lower the river?*



clovissangrail01 said:


> I've been playing with SCARM. I'm trying to document what I have put together so I can take it back apart and put some pink foam under it, then put it back together.
> 
> Here's the track plan and a 3-D view.
> 
> ...


clovissangrail01;

If the "Prairie City viaduct" is those two truss bridges in the back of the photo, then (virtually) "raising"them shouldn't be a problem after you get your foam installed. Just cut the foam down in the area under the bridges. An N-scale foot is 1/16". If you use 2" thick foam, then thats 36 N-scale feet you have at your disposal. That should be plenty high enough to justify the bridges, and make a nice scene. On on door layout I built long ago, I cut into the actual door to make a river george. I don't recommend ding that as it substantially weakens the door. That layout was built before foam was used for scenery. 

If the viaduct is something different from the truss bridges, I don't see it in your plan photo. If it needs to run some distance above the city, then you might use Kato's elevated track setup.

Good luck, Have fun!

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## clovissangrail01 (Oct 8, 2019)

*Prairie City Viaduct*

The Prairie City Viaduct is already in place. It consists of a Kato V2 Single Track Viaduct set, plus a Kato 23015 pier set and an additional bridge that was my courtesy purchase from a local train shop. I also replaced the 12 3/8 inch curved viaduct track in the V2 set with 15 1/8 inch viaduct track.

The additional set of piers was so I could spread out the slope on the approach to the bridge and make it easier on the locomotives. I also have a second pier set coming because I will probably drop the height under the bridge from a #5 pier (2 inches/approx. 27 feet) to a #4 pier (1 3/4 inches/approx. 23 feet). I might even drop to a #3 pier (1 1/2 inches, 20 feet). 

So the viaduct is built, even if it is subject to a change of design. I just don't know how to show it elevated in SCARM.

Also still trying to figure out if I can upload a SCARM file. Does anyone know how to do that? I get an invalid file message when I try to attach it.

Finally, here's a picture of the Prairie City 400 taking the high road over the viaduct while the Prairie Hiawatha pulls off the mainline into Prairie City station.


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