SOUNDRAIL 2026

One of the major West Coast regional operating events is the biannual SoundRail event held in March in the Puget Sound region of Western Washington state.  Operating layouts from Olympia north to the Canadian border are featured during the three-day event.  This year, we mixed with operators from all over the country with a number of prominent folk in the model RR operations interest area present.  I had a chance to touch base with my former San Francisco Bay Area colleagues plus others I have met online from across the country.  That “people” aspect is an important part of these events in addition to operating on some superb model railroads.  In many ways this was a preview to the operations that will take place alongside the NMRA National Convention to be held in Tacoma in August, 2027.

 

I drew three wonderful layouts for my operations.  The first was on Chuck Lee’s Colorado Front Range railroad.  Chuck fills his basement with operations out of Denver with a major branch line west to Golden, CO.  The layout is double decked and has fairly complete scenery—all done by Chuck in eleven years while working.  His “youthful” (compared to me—wink) energy shows with a far more finished railroad than mine in a similar time-frame.  In addition to the railroad physical plant, Chuck has a working CTC (Centralized Traffic Control) system.

 

I drew the Golden Turn, a train that runs from Denver to Golden, switching along the way and delivering traffic to Golden which then forwards much of that traffic to the large Coors brewery operation.  This was a plumb assignment.  My train effectively began the session and ended it with me working continuously.  In addition to switching cars at industry spurs along the way, I needed to sort and block cars for the final run up to Golden which had limited space and appreciated the two car blocks (Golden and Coors) I delivered there.  

 

Denver North Yard below and Golden above.

 

Commerce City below and Arvada above.  My train switched Arvada on its way back to Denver from Golden.

 

As a local freight, I needed track and time from the Dispatcher while clearing up for other trains.  The Dispatcher was able to release switches to my control and then would signal me to contact him by lighting up the call light on top of the signal shelters at either end of the siding I was working at.

 

My second layout operation was on Burr Stewart’s Burrlington Northern – Seattle Region layout, marking my second time operating there.  Yes, Burr spells that first word that way as a play on his name.  My first time was almost a decade ago.  Burr’s layout features operations among the many yards in the region inherited by the BN merger of 1970.  Locomotives and rolling stock represent the “rainbow era” of early BN operations with equipment painted in all four of the original BN component railroads’ colors plus early BN paint.  Each of the yards also had local area switching to perform.

 

Burr took advantage of my height to assign me to the Burlington, WA, yard in the north part of the region, with switching there and in Anacortes.  This yard was on the upper deck of the double-decked layout.

 

Burr Stewart briefs the crew at the beginning of the session.

 

The aisle I worked in with “my” Burlington Yard on the upper left and the South Seattle Stacy Street Yard below.  The Everett Bayside Yard is on the right.  A lot of action is represented here, as with the rest of the layout.  The Dispatcher’s desk has the TV monitor in the bottom left corner.

 

Typical of this sort of model railroad operation, we crewmembers spent an hour or so getting acquainted with our yards and the operations required.  Around the time of our lunch break we all noted we were just beginning to understand what was needed and how to accomplish that.  

 

My third day was spent on Tyler Whitcomb’s Tenino Western, a magnificent N-scale layout featured in a number of articles in the national model RR press.  Although I have found difficulties with N-scale for my older, weaker eyes and untrained fingers (for rerailing), Tyler’s operation was wonderful!!!  

 

Tenino Yard, one end of the railroad.  I ran transfer runs between here and the mid-point Lake Yard.

My train departing Tenino on its way through South Union and Tumwater on its way to Lake Yard.  The railroad is effectively “finished.” In detail.  Amazing!

 

Continuing on toward Tumwater and then around on a peninsula just out of view on the right and then into Lake Yard.

 

Lake Yard.

 

Tyler Whitcomb’s operation is well thought-out and a joy to operate.  Running through finished scenes inspires me to keep working toward that same goal on my own railroad.

 

SoundRail is a major event with many superb operating model railroads.  National visitors are in for a treat at next year’s NMRA National in Tacoma!

SWAP MEET FINDS

 At the end of February, the Willamette Model Railroad Club held their annual swap meet in Portland.  Half of my regular operating crew are members of that club, so I chose to partake of the meet mostly as gesture of support.  I went with very low expectations as my purchases have become very focused on the railroad I have built.  

 I refrain from talking about purchases in this blog other than particular products that have a material impact on my railroad or its operations.  That all changed with this swap meet as I scored not one, but ultimately three significant swap meet finds that directly contribute to the “next chapter” of my railroad.  This was an extremely rare event!

 

The “next chapter” for my railroad involves a long-planned shift of operating era on the railroad from the current 1984 back into the 1950s.  That plan has been sitting in plain sight in a sidebar to this blog since its beginning.  I chose to commence operations in 2015 with “modern” (for me) SP equipment from the 1980s.  That refined to 1984 in short order based on equipment availability.  Ease of conversion to DCC (decoders into all motive power) drove that choice.  

 

I have a significant investment in DC-analog equipment that I used on the club layout I was part of in my working years in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Unfortunately, most of that equipment requires hard-wiring for decoder installation. For some well-loved equipment it might involve motor replacement as well.

 

With a developed and tested railroad (OK, lots of scenery to go plus “usual” electro-mechanical tweaks still needed), I have been longingly looking at backdating to the “rainbow era” of Southern Pacific operations—Daylight, Two-Tone Gray, Tiger Stripes, and Black Widow paint schemes.  I have been working through my motive power fleet of that earlier era, sorting out what needed to be installed and making decoder choices and purchases.

 

With that backdating goal in mind, I approached the WMRRC Swap Meet focused upon the potential of finding equipment that might fill identified holes or weak spots in my equipment roster.  I eventually made two locomotive purchases at the swap meet and then made second-hand caboose purchases at one of the two principal Portland model railroad shops—a trifecta!

 

Swap Meet finds at Cruzatte.  Two brass caboose models, an SP Black Widow F7 ABBA set, and a PrecisionCraft SP Daylight Alco PABA set will all find important places in my operating fleet as I back-date into the 1950s.

 

My first purchase was a PABA set in full Daylight paint.  The PrecisionCraft (affiliated with Broadway Limited) units are heavy and well detailed, well suiting my personal standards.  These should plug a passenger power fleet hole needing a powerful Alco PA set to pull my Shasta Daylight.  My Shasta Daylight is a brass Coach Yard set with car weights in the 11-12 ounce range and the usual blunt axle ends in coined truck frames (lots of friction).  My Overland PABA set needs a machinery repair in addition to fitting decoders, speakers and electrical wipers for DCC operation.  The PrecisionCraft set has the potential of getting me a working PA set for this train more quickly.

 

An added bonus for the PrecsionCraft PABA set purchase was from whom I got it.  Heather Clark is a custom painter here in the Willamette Valley.  She also is a former SP Brake-person.   I have known her since I arrived back in Oregon.  We have chatted at shows about topics we have in common including loco painting.  It turns out a mutual friend had been an early and long-time customer of hers—Ron Plies.  I knew “Rusty Ron” (as labelled in SP History circles) from my Bay Area days.  Ron and I shared a passion for SP passenger trains in addition to model railroad operation.  Ron passed away this past year and Heather has been handling much of his model RR estate, hence the PABA set.  I get a warm feeling knowing Ron’s PA set now sits in my basement preparing to pull my Shasta Daylight.  

 

As the swap meet ground on past noon, I finally was able to get over to Charlie LeCaine’s Whistle Stop table (one of the two major Portland model RR shops).  Sitting on that table was an Athearn Genesis F7 ABBA set at a decent swap meet price.  DCC decoder equipped and in Black Widow paint, this locomotive set will usefully augment my road freight power pool for the 1950s.  I already have the same set in my collection, but decals will take care of the loco numbers.  I now had two significant swap meet purchases.

 

Finally, while I was in Portland, I visited the other major model railroad shop—HobbySmith.  Sitting in the display case there were several Precision Scale brass SP cabooses, appropriate for the 1950s era.  Once again, these will usefully augment existing cabooses in my fleet—a fleet that needs to expand for my much larger layout.  I acquired C-30-2 and a C-40-1 models.  Yes, they need paint, but that is well within my capabilities.

 

I was very pleasantly surprised to leave Portland on WMRRC Swap Meet day with not just one, but three major additions to my operating fleet.  These purchases will move me much closer and much sooner to my planned era swap.