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The Stone Canyon Railroad is a fully operational freelanced single deck layout based in the western U.S. Timeframe is 1950s in the steam/diesel transition era. UP and ATSF are the predominant roads.
Overall layout size is 26' x 39' including staging. The mainline is 200' double track closed loop plus 120' of hidden staging that can accommodate up to 10 pre-staged trains. Scenery is 100% complete and ranges from rugged mountains to a completely lighted city scene.
Control is via DCC using Digitrax Super Chief as the base system. While Digitrax throttles are available, WiFi throttles are preferred.
Motive power includes a variety of steam engines, including 4-8-8-4 Big Boys. Diesels include switcher and road units along with E and F units for passenger operation.
Operations include passengers, local freights, coal shifters, and through freights. Switching opportunities include a coal mine, six towns, a large freight yard, and a lumber branchline for a total of more than 30 industries.
An interesting industry is the full service steam/diesel engine facility that includes a 130 ft. turntable, 12 stall roundhouse, and diesel shop.
A typical three hour operating session involves the movement of about 200 cars, 18 locomotives and up to 12 trains. Operator positions include Dispatcher (often the layout owner), Yardmaster, Motive Power Hostler, Engineers and Conductors. Communications between dispatcher and operators are via radio/headsets (provided). Car forwarding is done with car cards and waybills. In addition to the dispatcher, a minimum of 5 and maximum of 9 operators are required.
The layout has hosted over 100 operating sessions since 2013 and has participated in every IslandOps weekend. It's a proven railroad and has been enjoyable for everyone who's visited.
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