Introduction

The 1/4' scale model railroad reflects the builder's interests in mainline steam railroading, passenger operations, the Great Northern Railway, and the Pacific Northwest. The period modeled is 1920-1930, when heavyweight equipment was used on all passenger trains, all modern classes of steam locomotives were in operation, and GN took pride in its equipment, painting its steam locomotive boilers green and black. The pike has been designed to capture the action of a Class One mainline railroad at the pinnacle of the steam era and is called the Empire Division of the Great Northern Railway.

The Empire Division has been designed to be manageable and fit in the 26' X 24' space available. It is built at eye level to provide a place to watch big steam power handle mainline consists. The railroad is basically a double track loop and only one town is modeled. Since the GN switched most passengers trains at Spokane, Washington, it has been chosen as the location for the model railway, although no attempt has been made to duplicate GN's actual Spokane trackage. The layout features a depot with several setout tracks, a freight yard with reefer and stock car servicing facilities, a large engine terminal, and several local switching locations.

The layout has eight hidden holding tracks from which trains are dispatched. Leaving the holding tracks, the mainline follows the line around the outside wall where the scenery will depict the Idaho panhandle. Then it passes a switching area named Fort Wright, enters the depot area and continues to the freight yard, called Hillyard. It then passes a switching area called Cannery Row and passes Nippy Hollow before re-entering the hidden holding tracks.

The layout was started in 1987 and was open for the 1989 NMRA convention in Houston. All bench work was brought from Seattle where it had been used on an earlier layout. In 1995, a rebuilding project was begun with a longer mainline and easier grades. The revised track plan shown here has a 60" minimum radius and a maximum grade of 1-1/2%. The mainline and holding tracks feature code 148 flex track with Old Pullman and Right 'O Way switches. Yard and secondary tracks are hand-laid code 125 and some industrial sidings are laid with code 100 rail. All switches are powered with Tortoise switch machines. Scenery is Hydrocal covered with a mixture of ground foam and dirt imported from the Northwest. There are three mainline cabs and a separate local cabs for the engine terminal and switching areas. PFM sound units are used.

Photos were taken on the layout prior to the rebuild. At several locations scenery was not complete or sub-standard. For these, pictures taken at actual GN mainline locations were blended with the model pictures by using Abobe Photoshop. I hope you enjoy the tour of the Empire Division .