line

An HO scale track plan for Southern Pacific’s Shasta Route makes the most of a 22 x 45-foot room

the mountainsthroughMain

Otis McGee and several friends arebuilding an HO scale SouthernPacific Shasta Route layout basedon a John Armstrong track plan.Here we see SP Cab-Forward no.4285 leading a North Coast Perish-able train over a Harriman-erathrough-truss bridge at Sims. Modelphotos by Jim Providenza and Bill Kaufman

© 2010 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.ModelRailroader.com

04/05 • Model Railroader 61

By John Armstrong

The key to developing a track planthat can become a model railroadwith realistic appearance and oper-

ations is making and implementing aseries of good choices. When I’m devel-oping a plan for a client, it’s importantthat the person has a clear concept ofwhat they want their model railroad tobe. Is the client more interested inscenery or operations? Do they want ageneric or prototypically accurate rep-resentation of a real railroad? These arejust some of the questions I posed toOtis McGee, Jr., when I developed thisHO scale track for him.

Asking questions also helps clientssee the benefits and drawbacks to eachlayout approach. On a generic South-

ern Pacific layout, the trackage wouldrepresent a line somewhere in the west-ern United States. The station designsand signaling would follow SP prac-tices, but the towns and yards modeledwould be fictitious.

However, when Otis approached meto design this layout, he wanted to takea more ambitious approach by model-ing a portion of SP’s Shasta Route. Theprototype offered abundant scenic andoperational features that, with appro-priate compression, could be convertedinto model form. With ample space towork in, it’s easy to understand why ageneric layout just wouldn’t do.

In this article I’ll walk you throughthe thought process that went intodesigning this track plan. You’ll seethat by asking the right questions andcarefully working through the layout-design process, track planning can befun and enjoyable.

Meeting criteriaThe layout Otis is building is located

in a large room, reached from a four-car garage below by a U-shaped stair-case. The staircase is wide enough that4 x 8-foot sheets of plywood can bebrought into the layout room even afterthe doorway is spanned by benchwork.

The track plan had to meet severalcriteria: a minimum track radius of 40"to accommodate 2-10-2, 4-10-2, andCab-Forward steam locomotives; noscenes on the main line can be passedthrough more than once; a minimum

aisleway clearance of 30" is required;and the layout should be a mushroommultilevel design without duckunders.

Within these constraints, an around-the-walls model railroad feeding intolines on both sides of a single serpen-tine peninsula extending to a helixseemed to be the best option becauseit was possible to include almost fivescale miles of main line while stillmaintaining 30" or better aislewaysalong most of the route. With a layoutstyle selected, it was now time to turnmy attention to the scenic elements ofEspee’s Shasta Route.

Along the lineCapturing the essence of the Shasta

Route in the steam-to-diesel transitionera was a matter of condensing as manyof its most defining segments as possi-ble, in order, on a visible main line.

A keystone of the Shasta Route wasDunsmuir, Calif. Located at the foot of ahelper grade, trains from both theSiskiyou and Cascade Lines ran throughthis railroad town. Dunsmuir was hometo a large engine terminal and modest-sized yard that are compressed in thetrack plan. The roundhouse has 16 stallsinstead of 24 as on the prototype, andthe upper yard has six tracks betweenSacramento Street and the backshopsinstead of nine. An opening in the lower-level backdrop helps to bring criticalparts of the trackwork within arm’sreach for operators and provides a betterview of the roundhouse.

Steep grades and mountainous terrain made for rugged railroading on the ShastaRoute. John Armstrong designed an HO scale track plan of the Shasta Route thatfeatures grades similar to those on the prototype. The line’s namesake mountain,Mount Shasta, can be seen in the background of this photo. Southern Pacific photo

Southern Pacific LinesShasta Division

Castella

BlackButte

Azalea

WEED

Down

Sand

REDDINGLOOP

McColl

Tunnel 1

Tunnel 2

PitBridge

Sims

Dunsmuirlower yard

DUNSMUIR

Lower level

Small

Cantara

GenericTimber Inc.

Caboosetracks

Oil tank

Helixup

Lowbackdrop

Sacramento St.

SacramentoRiver

C

C

AA

B B

Room size 22' x 45'Scale: 3⁄16" = 1'-0"24" gridHO scaleArrows indicate photo locations

58"

60"

33"

49"

49"

47"

48"

50"

74" 74"

74"

72" 47"

72"

70" 68"

68"

70"

70"

66"

72"

64"

62"60"

56"

54"

52"

52" helix46" loop

8"

8"

8"

16"

16"

16" 51"

50"

To upperlevel

Raised floor

Lead

Sidebar

The lower yard at Dunsmuir also hadto be compressed from the prototype’s17 tracks to four. The yard sits on a 1percent grade. For the sidings to provide20- to 25-car capacity the tracks had tobend around a horseshoe, but the cou-pling and uncoupling areas are reason-ably straight. Many of today’s modelshave very free-rolling trucks, though, soeven the modest 1 percent grade mayprove to be a nuisance. As a precaution,I designed the benchwork so the gradecould be eliminated if desired.

Climbing the gradeComing out of Dunsmuir, trains

begin climbing the 2.75 percent gradeup to Black Butte. This part of the linepasses through Small on its way to thescenic Cantara Loop, where the tracksparallel the river. The radius from Can-tara to Azalea was reduced to 38". Evenwith the reduced radius, this stretch ofthe layout still consumes about 120square feet. This includes the horseshoeitself, as well as the second curveneeded to return to normal shelf width.

Between Cantara and Azalea there’san optional logging operation. The log-ging scene utilizes some empty spacebut highlights another problem withhorseshoe curves – access.

Fortunately, the track is approach-ing eye level by this point, and the ter-rain is such that a good-sized accessopening reached by a comfortable (morethan 60" clearance) duckunder can beleft without a top. The foreground canbe contoured so the hole is out of sight.

Approaching Azalea, two steps upbring operators back to eye level withthe layout for the rest of the climb toBlack Butte and its wye junction withthe Siskiyou Line. But how should thisline be represented?

The layout is high enough abovefloor level to accommodate an un-scenicked, along-the-walls return loopwith lavish staging sidings in the crewlounge, workshop, and dispatcher’soffice without interfering with thefunctionality of this portion of the lay-out. However, we’ll leave that loop as afuture possibility. Instead, a modestwye-tail alignment proves a workablealternative, as shown in the track plansto the right.

Facing the big peakKey scenic features (primarily the

line’s namesake, Mount Shasta) and the north-south alignment of the ShastaRoute lead to a serious complication. It’snormally possible to create a going-somewhere, directionally consistent feel-ing while still following the layout’sconvolutions where viewing angles are

62 Model Railroader • modelrailroader.com

Illustrations by Jay Smith

WEED

Hotlum

Leaf

Down

Texum

MountHebron

MountShasta

Wye tail

McCloud RiverRR yard

GrassLake

Logdump

KLAMATHFALLS

NATRONLOOP

Section A-A

Section C-CSection B-B

AA

B B

Long-BellLumber Co.Camp One

78"

78"

78"

64"77"

68"

77"70"

74"

75"75" loop

73"

73"

76"75"

75"

76"

76"

78"

60"

58"

58"

16"

74"

73"

73"

741⁄2"

74"

74"

74"

74"

75"

72" helix

C

C

Mount Shastaviewed fromnorthwest

Mount Shastaviewed from southwest

Dry CreekTrestle

Lounge and workshop entryway

WalkundersFromlowerlevel

Access

Access

20" radius

20" radius

20" radius

Access

Optionalfold-upstep

To helix

Helixdown

Eye level

Eye level

To Natron Loop

8"8"

8"

16"

16"

16"

20"

10"

10"

20"

Upper level

04/05 • Model Railroader 63

OREGON

Southern PacificShasta Route1887-1942

ToPortland

ToNatron

Natron Cutoff, Kirk-Natron,

1926

CALIFORNIA

Siskiyou Line, 1887SouthernPacificModoc Line,1929

GreatNorthernto Bieber,1931Shasta Dam

relocation,Redding-Delta,

1942

To Roseville,San Francisco

Realignment,Black Butte-

Grass Lake, 1926

Cas

cade

Lin

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926

Ca

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an

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Long-Bell Lumber Co.

Kl

amath River

McC

lo

ud River

Sac

ram

ento

Riv

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Pit River

McCloud River RR

REDDING

Pit Bridge

Delta

CastellaDUNSMUIR

Cantara

WeedHotlum Mount Shasta

LeafMontague

Hornbrook

SiskiyouAshland

Medford

Kirk

Texum

Chemult

Mount Shasta Black Butte

GrassLake

Mount Hebron

GrantsPass

KLAMATH FALLS

CrescentLake

52"

57"

62"

67"

72"Level five

FP

Level four

TP

Level three

FP

Level two

Up

Level one

FP = facing-point crossoverTP = trailing-point crossover

Helix levels

Up

Up

Up

Up

� Layout at a glance

Name: Southern Pacific Shasta RouteScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 22 x 45 feetPrototype: Southern PacificLocale: northern CaliforniaEra: 1952Layout style: double-deck around-the-

walls with peninsulaLength of mainline run: 300 feetLayout height: 33" to 78"Turnout minimum: no. 6Minimum radius: 38" main line, 36"

passing tracks, 20" branch linesMaximum grade: 2.75 percent

arranged so that west is to the left andeast is to the right, for example.

On the Shasta Route track plan, how-ever, the scenic canyon line from thesouth (timetable west) through Duns-muir must be viewed from the east,meaning north is to the right. For manymiles north of Cantara, the essential fea-ture is Mount Shasta itself, and it canbe seen only in proper relationship tothe track from the west, which meansnorth must now be on the left. The onlysolution is for the line to cross the aisle.

Fortunately, the track is headed forthe Upper Klamath Valley. The layoutbeyond Black Butte is high enough that,with the aisle taking two steps backdown to floor level, the tracks can crossthe aisle and operators can comfortablywalk under the scene.

McCloud River RR connectionAfter passing under the crossing,

operators enter Mount Shasta, whereanother section of raised floor bringsthem back to eye level with the trains.Mount Shasta is where the SP connectswith the McCloud River RR. The town’snamesake mountain looms properly tothe northeast over the short line’s yard.

But wait. Mount Shasta is actuallySouth of Black Butte! What gives? Well,placing the mountain in its correct loca-tion would have caused complicationssuch that quietly accepting this compro-mise with reality seemed the best choice.

Restoring geographic orderGeographic order is restored when

trains enter Hotlum and pass over theDry Creek trestle. The bridge is some 700scale feet shorter than its prototype but

could be modeled almost as high. Thelow backdrop in this scene allows accessfrom both sides, and viewing along thewider sections of the benchwork pre-cludes raising the floor level in this area.

Trains then proceed to the highestpoint on the line: Grass Lake. Viewedand operated again from eye level,Grass Lake is the end of some helperturns from both directions. The townhas a long passing track, a full-radiuswye, and Mount Shasta in the back-ground, just as it should be.

Is having two separate versions ofMount Shasta on the backdrop dishon-est? Maybe, but not too obvious adeception since the intervening terrainis such that you never see more thanone Mount Shasta at a time.

At this point trains disappear ontoan unscenicked shelf far above the stair-case opening, emerging into the townof Leaf, where logs are picked up fromLong-Bell’s mill. The Long-Bell linedoes a 180 through the lounge area toenter Leaf realistically from the east.Because of its elevation, this portion ofthe layout may need to be reached byladder. The track arrangement is simpleenough that operation should be trou-ble free. No space was devoted to turn-ing locomotives on this nearly scale-mile-long branch since the geared anddouble-ended rod locomotives used onthis line didn’t need to be turned.

Crossing the lineContinuing down on a bit more-

moderate grade (1.6 percent) typical ofthis plateau region of California, thetrack must unprototypically, but invisi-bly, cross itself at grade on its way

toward Mount Hebron. The 90-degreecrossing can be reached from thewalkunder below.

With an elevated aisle again to theeast of the line, the 13- and 19-car lappedsidings at Mount Hebron and Texumallow the longest consists to pass withoutneeding to saw by. The lumber mill atTexum completes a loads-in, empties-outconnection with the McCloud River RRyard at Mount Shasta. In this case there’sa third track so the railroad can make arunaround move to put the caboose onthe right end of the train when both theempty and load tracks are occupied. As alarge mill with its own switcher, Texumproduces mostly finished lumber goingout in boxcars, which look the sameloaded or empty.

The end of the visible line is locatedin the industrial outskirts of KlamathFalls. In a manner similar to that at the other end of the layout below, theturnouts connecting the end loop withits staging sidings and the helix are hid-den in a short tunnel.

Helix detailsThe key to the overall space efficiency

of this layout is the helix, which has 40"-radius curves and 4" of separationbetween levels. The helix is reached via aduckunder and is secluded with a hard-board shroud. Experience has shown,however, that even with reliable loco-motives and electrical control systems,visual confirmation of train movementis desirable. I recommend cutting open-ings in the shroud at each level.

The helix has facing- and trailing-point crossovers so that each of the fourlevels can also function as bidirectional

64 Model Railroader • modelrailroader.com

45"

50"

55"

60"65"

70"

75"

80"

Helix

Feet0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220

Loads

Southern Pacific Lines-Shasta Division

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HO scale miles = 60 miles0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

West (by timetable) East

1percent

2.75 percent

1.0 percent

1.6 percent

Empties

2.75 percent 2.0 percent avg.

1.6 percent

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staging tracks capable of holding 35cars. As is the case with all other stagingtracks in this plan, track center spacingis 3". The extra inch provides fingerroom for moving cars by hand.

Concealed stagingThe west end of the layout (milepost

0) is at the center of a 40"-radius loopsurrounding tracks of slightly sharper-radius curves for staging an additional70 cars worth of trains.

To get some extra visible main line,trains exiting staging pop into the opena few feet short of the loop turnout,which is hidden in a short tunnel. A connection from the helix that pro-vides continuous-running capabilitysneaks in via Tunnel 2, crosses a highly condensed version of the double-deck Pit Bridge, and then enters the Sacra-mento River Canyon.

Decision timeWith the track plan complete, it’s

now time to select an era for the layout.One factor in this decision is the chal-lenge of re-creating a reasonably authen-tic locomotive fleet for a specific period.In the case of the Shasta Route, 1950 to1956 were the transition years betweenthe arrival of the first diesel freight unitsand the last revenue steam operations.The Shasta Daylight debuted in 1949, socolorful Alco PAs could be seen meetingAC-12 Cab Forwards.

Signaling systems can also dictate alayout’s era. Although Centralized Traf-fic Control had been in service as fareast as Black Butte, the line from thereto Klamath Falls remained AutomaticBlock System territory. Espee’s lower-

quadrant semaphores lasted in ABS ser-vice until 1963.

Ultimately, Otis settled on modelingSP’s Black Butte Subdivision circa 1952.His locomotive fleet has a variety ofsteam engines, from diminutive 0-6-0switchers to large 4-8-8-2 Cab-Forwards.

For signaling, Otis plans to have Cen-tralized Traffic Control (CTC) betweenRedding and Black Butte, and timetable-and-train-order operations from BlackButte and Klamath Falls. Rod Loder andJohn Signor, with assistance from MikeBurgett, are designing a prototypicalCTC panel for the layout. Donald Woods

is working on interfacing the panel tothe layout via Bruce Chubb’s Computer/Model Railroad Interface.

Even though the layout is set in 1952,with some modeler’s license the eracould be shifted in either direction. Theinteresting changes that occurred dur-ing the transition era, combined with alarge scenic layout, will make for hoursof model railroading enjoyment. MR

John Armstrong, a well-known layoutdesigner and model railroad author, diedon July 28, 2004. He wrote more than 75articles for Model Railroader.

04/05 • Model Railroader 65

From track plan to reality

The late John Armstrong designed this track plan for Otis McGee, Jr., of Oak-land, Calif. Otis said he’d been thinking about modeling the Black Butte Subdivi-sion of Southern Pacific’s Shasta Division, circa 1952, for several months. Theidea for the model railroad, he said, came during the course of several visits toScott Kew’s tri-level HO scale SP layout of the same general area.

Otis settled on the location for his layout after visiting Dunsmuir, Calif., andmaking a side trip to Cantara Loop, Mount Shasta, Black Butte, Grass Lake, andMount Hebron. He received further encouragement to model this portion of theSP from several of his friends in the hobby.

These friends have also helped Otis convert the Armstrong track plan into anoperating model railroad. While there’s still a lot of work to be done, Otis and hiscrew have made great progress in just a couple of years.

“Layout construction began on September 14, 2002, the day after we movedinto our new house,” Otis said. “A big challenge was converting John’s plan intomushroom construction methods. By May 2004 we’d made enough progress toconduct our first operating session. Three months later we held our second session.

“More than 200 feet of main line is in place, including nearly 100 handlaidturnouts. The visible track is handlaid, using Micro Engineering rail and CentralValley tie strips. True to John’s word, his plan fit in the allotted space. Some tweak-ing of the plan was done to better facilitate operations. Changes included addingstaging tracks and extending the length of the passing sidings.”

Otis notes that some parts of the layout are proceeding faster than others. “Although scenery is lagging behind, Dave Biondi has painted sensational

backdrops for the layout to accompany hundreds of Canyon Creek Scenicstrees. We’ve also built and installed several laser-cut wood structures, includingthe roundhouse, machine shop, maintenance-of-way building, and Mallet shed atDunsmuir, a feature location on the model railroad.”

You can learn more about Otis’ HO scale SP layout and see additional pho-tos online by visiting www.spshastaroute.com. – Cody Grivno, assistant editor

Helix

230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300

4.0 4.5 5.0

1.6 percent

4.0 percent

4.0 percent

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