Bear Creek&South Jackson - 4
Photography– I like tomake it lookas real as I can.When
blownup large, does it feel like I could step into the layout?
TheBC&SJmeets all these. Now that I’mmostly retired, it’s
becomea focal point ofmy life. I don’t spendmuchtime
wondering, “What should I do today?”
Planning theBear Creek
Thefirst versionof theBC&SJ, started in1997,was a4x8
twicearound. The secondwas a328 square-footmulti-deck
nolix (around the roomhelix) design. Iwashappilyatworkon
the second layout in2000when three littlewords turned the
(scale) universeupsidedown.
“Land for Sale”
Mywifeand I sawa signbearing thesewords, anda short time
later theold layoutwas stacksof used lumber andboxesof
structures, trees, track, and turnouts. I savedMill City, a12’ x
15’, L-shapedareaof theprevious layoutwhichbecameMill
Bendon thenew layout. The restwent inadumpster.
DonMitchell helpedmewith theprevious layout’sdesign,
andwhilemywifeand I sojourned ina rental house, Donand
I discussedplans for version III of theBC&SJ. Goals included
walk-aroundoperation, a singledeck (isn’t 1100 square feet
bigenough?Not quite…), enoughmainline tobe suitable for
TT&TOoperation, anddecent photographic vistas. Thedesign
appeared in
Model RailroadPlanning
2004as “FineTuninga
Layout forOperation.”
Once the roomand layout shapeand sizewere resolved, I
appliedmyself todetails:
Pickingelevations for theDeschutesBranch in the land-
down-under topermit sufficient space for lower deckaccess
andvisibilitywhileavoidingoverly steepgrades.Maxgrades
are2%on thebranchand2.8%on themainlineabove. A40”
Deschutes elevationworked.
Locating thehelix connectingmain staging (under thepenin-
sula) and the landabove tokeep its grade reasonable– the
helixmust not be the rulinggrade.With the lead from stag-
ingonagrade, a two lap, double trackhelixwith1.7% inner
gradeand1.5%outer trackgradeworked.
Placing the swingbridge
)
spanning theentrancedoor topermit nod-under access
when thebridge isn’t open, but lowenough for operators
to see their trains. Originally I chose a65” rail height, but
that dropped to63” aftermockingup the area.My 67” high
eyeballs love their near eye-
level viewof Oakhill.
3: RS-2 “pickles” descending themainline fromOakhill
atDeschutes Jct. areabout toenterMill Bend. Apair of
BC&SJ2-8-0 steamerson theDeschutesbranchwait
for them topass.
3
MRH-Apr2014
