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.Max grades
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.
