Locking up your layout - 1
R
ailroads lock everything. From turnouts to gates to sig-
nals, prototype railroads place their critical infrastruc-
ture under lock and key. The added safety and security
ensures that only the right people have key access (pun
intended) to the essential equipment of a railroad’s operations.
Locks are such an integral part of the day-to-day running of a
railroad that having them represented on our model railroads
is almost required. As I developed my HO scale Iowa Interstate
Locking up your layout
1: Equipment locks play a key role in the operating
scheme of James McNab’s HO scale Iowa Interstate
Grimes Industrial Track layout. His simple but straight-
forward methods can easily be used on your own mod-
el railroad.
1
Grimes Industrial Track layout, I realized that I was missing out
by not including these locks as part of my operating scheme.
Not only would including equipment locks on my layout better
represent the prototype practice, it would also add additional
tasks for my crews to perform, adding time and interest to my
operating sessions.
These locks can easily be added to your new or existing layout,
as well as incorporated into your own operating sessions, with
little investment of time and money.
– James McNab
Photos by author
Adding and incorporating equipment locks to
your layout and operating sessions ...
MRH-Dec 2013
