My first layout is a freelanced design loosely based on the Great Northern RR in Minnesota late 50s really 60s. The main yard is St. Cloud with towns of Hinkley and Elk River. I use the standard car cards and 4 position waybills along with a train order card. My operating session is laid back and consists of one eastbound turn from Minneapolis (staging) to St. Cloud and one westbound turn from Duluth (staging) to St. Cloud. Operations consist of local and yard switching. I also have a mine branch run and swap, along with manifest and reefer runs. I dispatch verbally.
Jobs on this layout are:
- Yardmaster: Local pickups and delay, sort arrival and departures and turn engines on Turntable
- Local turn: Local pickups and drops at two towns
- Road job:Mine run (empties and loads), reefers, and several through trains
Since completing my Great Northern layout I built another layout based on the Burlington Northern about 1971 in an adjacent room which is connected by interchange to the Great Northern. It has three decks, point to point staging, a yard with industry, an eight car ferry, and four towns with switching. Operation consists of two locals running in each direction along with yard switching, and arrivals and departures at the interchange from the Great Northern.
Jobs on this layout are:
- Yardmaster: Manages yard and coordination with Great Northern
- Drill Crew: Drills local industries and the yard, handles interchange trains
- Road Local: Runs a turn from staging to Superior and return
Handicap Accessibility: Not Handicapped Accessible
