Nimrod, Montana - Northern Pacific Railway

[np1969]

I really can't say this is a current ongoing layout, but I thought my HO-scale track plan was worth discussing. Nimrod, Montana, was a town between Drummond and Missoula. It ceased to exist in the early 1960s when the bulldozers of progress plopped Interstate 90 on its head. I grew up in Missoula so my model railroading interests have always been with the Northern Pacific or Burlington Northern. When my mother was a young child in the 1930s, her family briefly lived in Nimrod. In my alternate reality, Nimrod grew into a small city. I have named most of the businesses based on my memories of growing up in western Montana. I invented others, and I'm still trying to come up with other names that will stick.
I started with the basic 4-foot-by-8-foot sheet of plywood, but it was a one-man operation. Later, I added a 2-foot-by-4-foot extension to add more yard trackage and some of the town. After that, I added a 12-inch-by-30-inch "wart" for a passenger station.
So, here is the semi-fictitious Nimrod, Montana.

[nkalanaga]

Nimrod remained a station on the NP/BN, even after the town was gone.

Nimrod is also the first station east of Essex on the ex-GN Marias Pass line.  As far as I know, nobody ever lived there.

[packers#1]

Neat! I’m not a fan of the one industry off the switch back, that’s a really short lead and you’d always have to remove anything spotted at the back of V1 gas. If I were building that plan I’d get rid of that and add some smaller non rail served industries in place instead, along with the roads to serve everything.

Also a fun fact about your Highlander Brewing, we’ve got Highlands Brewing up in Asheville, NC, as well! https://highlandbrewing.com/

[wm3798]

I like the simplicity of it, yet with the ops opportunity.  Given the 4x8, I'm assuming you're doing HO, which I think will be great for both scenic detail and operations on those snug turns.

Looks to be a concept that could be easily translated to an N scale hollow core door. I'll look forward to seeing this unfold.

I also like hearing about the personal connection to the region modeled.

Lee

[np1969]

Neat! I’m not a fan of the one industry off the switch back, that’s a really short lead and you’d always have to remove anything spotted at the back of V1 gas. If I were building that plan I’d get rid of that and add some smaller non rail served industries in place instead, along with the roads to serve everything.

Also a fun fact about your Highlander Brewing, we’ve got Highlands Brewing up in Asheville, NC, as well! https://highlandbrewing.com/

Actually, I agree with you about that switchback. I've been thinking about pulling it out for a long time. It would give me more room to do a better job with V1 Gas.

[np1969]

I like the simplicity of it, yet with the ops opportunity.  Given the 4x8, I'm assuming you're doing HO, which I think will be great for both scenic detail and operations on those snug turns.

Looks to be a concept that could be easily translated to an N scale hollow core door. I'll look forward to seeing this unfold.

I also like hearing about the personal connection to the region modeled.

Lee

I forgot to add the scale to my original post, but you are correct that it is HO. I've edited the post to identify the scale.

[np1969]

After further review, I may have given the false impression in my initial post that I had only a track plan. Actually, I started this layout about 20 years ago. It is difficult to estimate how much is "complete," but I will estimate about 30-35 percent.
Way back in the steam days, the Northern Pacific was a double track main line from Garrison Junction to Missoula. I don't know when they scooped up one track (chime in history guys, it will be nice to know), but in my alternate reality, the double track still existed in the late 1960s.
I designed the original 4x8 so that it could be extended to either side should I win a lottery, or leave it to someone else. I also intended that anyone would be able to build this layout with Atlas code 100 sectional track from a local hobby shop. Little did I know at the time that local hobby shops were an endangered species, not to mention code 100 track as well. And so it goes.
Anyway, here is a photo of the east side of Nimrod where I put in a locomotive/caboose facility. It is mostly unfinished as you can see.



Normally, I would have a GP9 parked next to the caboose. The SW9 works the yard, and the GP9/caboose takes care of the "road switching."
Someday, I will add a narrow access road to the facility and more trees to separate the scenes.

Oh... other details... this is a single block DCC project. I gave up on DC before I started this layout. A Digitrax Zephyr could handle this easily.

[np1969]

Nimrod remained a station on the NP/BN, even after the town was gone.

Yes! I remember seeing the Nimrod sign along the tracks well into the 2000s while driving eastward from Missoula. It was just before the tracks went through a short tunnel. Then, one year on a visit to Montana, I noticed the sign was gone. I lamented its loss.

[nkalanaga]

"Classic" code 100 sectional track may be gone, but don't various companies make roadbed-style track in HO, just as we have in N?

[np1969]

Moving left (west), we see the #4 crossover on the double-track main line and a portion of the two-track "yard." The spur next to the buildings is laid directly on the plywood so it is a bit lower than the other trackage. My loose idea is that one yard track is for cars dropped off by the east bound local, and the other track is for cars coming from the west-bound local. I have a mix of NP, GN, SPS, and SP cars plus a single New York Central and Santa Fe boxcar in the four-set rotation. The propane tank cars are a mix of brand names. The yard switcher assembles the 10 cars into two trains: one train is six cars for the industries on the other side of the layout, and the other is four cars for the background industries.
The background buildings are Walthers kits representing the Highlander Brewery and a building I originally named the Whett Paint Company (in honor of Model Railroader magazine's Art Curran), but that name just doesn't fit in with the western Montana theme. The other background building has eluded me. I just don't know what to call it.
In response to nkalanaga's post about Code 100 track, if I were to build this layout today, I would use Code 83 track. I know various companies make roadbed-style track, but I'm just an old-fashioned guy.

[nkalanaga]

If I was building an HO layout I'd probably also use code 83.

In this case, my question was more for the folks who would want sectional track.  I've never modeled in any scale except N, and wasn't sure if HO had something similar to Kato's Unitrak.  HO modelers don't seem to talk about such stuff much!

[np1969]

If I was building an HO layout I'd probably also use code 83.

In this case, my question was more for the folks who would want sectional track.  I've never modeled in any scale except N, and wasn't sure if HO had something similar to Kato's Unitrak.  HO modelers don't seem to talk about such stuff much!

I think by "sectional track," you mean the type with integrated roadbed. It's not something I would use, but Kato makes HO Unitrack, and both Bachmann and Atlas also have integrated roadbed track. Atlas' selection of True-Track® is rather limited. Bachmann's E-Z Track® would seem to be the preferred choice if a person would want to do it with integrated roadbed trackage. However, be prepared for "sticker shock" when you look at prices.

I used sectional track for almost the entire layout, but I also used a couple short pieces of flex track, and there is one 15" radius curve at the cement distributor.

[nkalanaga]

Yes, today, I was thinking of the roadbed track.  At least in North American N scale, it seems that most modelers are using either it or flex track, with very little traditional rail-and-ties-only sectional track.

And, yes, I suspect that it's expensive.  One reason I probably wouldn't use it on a permanent layout.

[np1969]

For what it is worth, I thought I'd show how I used Caboose Industries ground throws on this layout. First, I will tell you I made a mistake painting the “lift” beads.
Having said that, the genesis of this idea came from a rare opportunity to run trains and switch cars on an HO club layout. They used a lot of these ground throws, and it was obvious that most people would jam the throw bar as far down as it would go.  It was a pain to dig up the throw bars, so when I began my little layout I gave thought to prevent the throw bars from being planted.
On a trip through a Michael's craft store, I wandered through every aisle they had looking for anything that might be used on a model railroad. In the aisle filled with beads, I saw packages of plastic beads with holes through them. I bought a package of 1/8-inch beads to see if they would work.
I used a 3/4-inch brad through the bead to secure the ground throw to the layout base, and it worked well. Then I went overboard with the paint. I wanted green throw bars to show straight through and red to show diverging. By painting the beads, I just made it confusing. When I get a few more round "to-its” I'll repaint the beads with black paint.
In some places where space was tight I ran a stiff wire from the turnout through a styrene tube to the ground throw, as shown in this photo.

[np1969]

This photo shows the west end of the Nimrod "yard." I find it difficult to call two tracks a "yard," but I can't think of an alternative word.
In the original 4x8-foot plan, those two tracks were stub-ended. It worked for a one-person ops session, but became a mess when there were two people working.
When I set out to solve that issue, I thought that as long as I was going to add an extension to the yard for a functional yard lead, I might as well add a portion of the town with streets and downtown businesses. I had several aborted N-Trak modules gathering cobwebs in the garage, so I used one of them for the extension. I think it really worked out well. Even after adding the #4 turnout and necessary track, there was still enough room for the 10 cars in the operating session.
I made the fir trees from tapered dowels and a thick type of furnace filter material covered with ground-foam cover.
I used different mixed colors of Woodland Scenics® ballast for the main and yard tracks.