Setting
The Northstar Subdivision (NS Sub) is modeling the Canadian Pacific and BNSF mainlines from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area up to the northwest into North Dakota. While these two railroads have separate mainlines in reality, I have "merged" the two lines into a single mainline. Besides CP and BNSF, the railroad also interchanges with the Union Pacific and Canadian National railroads, as it does in real life. Pool power from other railroads will also make an appearance on the NS Sub.
That said, when I first learned about operating sessions at the Purdue Railroad Club, each operating session would change the layout locations into a different railroad. As the scenery will be generic Midwest scenery, there's no reason that the destinations along the railroad could not be another region of the country. For instance, we might run from Chicago to Iowa on the Union Pacific, or somewhere on another railroad. The only real requirement is that there is enough motive power for the railroad to be realistic.
Train Types
There will be both freight and passenger trains on the railroad. Amtrak's Empire Builder will traverse the route to and from Seattle. We'll also take some liberty with reality and have VIA Rail trains going from the Twin Cities to Winnipeg, as well as a Canadian Pacific "heritage" train that can make the rounds as a fan trip. I will also be hosting some truly foreign engines, as I'm a fan of German Rail (Deutsche Bundesbahn) trains. We'll ignore the pesky fact that those trains are electric and chalk it up to hidden third rail. This will be another fan train owned by a museum somewhere along the line. Passenger trains will get priority on the NS Sub, unlike in real life.
I'm also planning to add some passenger stations to the railroad, although I don't think I have space for a large passenger terminal. Passenger train crews will be required to make station stops during their journeys.
Freight trains will be broken into three categories:
- Run-through trains with no switching -- intermodal and unit coal trains for starters.
- Manifest freight trains that will switch cars only at yards.
- Local trains that will work industries.
Manifest freight trains do not work industries. They drop and pick up cars at yards only. Locals are responsible for moving those cars to and from the industry tracks. There will be far more rail-served industries than likely exist in real life, but as this is primarily an operations-focused railroad, that's to be expected. Freight trains arriving at the main yard will need to take their power to get serviced, as the yard represents a major stop on each train's trip.
There may also be "special" trains that inject variety into the operating session, such as work trains that block a particular part of the line.
Standards
- Atlas code 83 track - concrete color for mainlines, wood color for all other track
- Mainline turnouts - #8, all other turnouts
- Minimum radius on visible track: 30"
- Maximum train length is governed by staging yard track lengths, but 11-12' is roughly the maximum length.
- Mainline track blocks are all detected through JMRI and RR-Cirkits products.
- Mainline turnouts will be controlled both from dispatcher's panel (via JMRI) and with lineside pushbutton controls. The pushbutton controls will be considered out of service during operating sessions if a dispatcher is present.
- All mainline turnouts and turnouts that are out of easy reach will be powered using Tortoise drives.
- Layout will eventually be signaled through JMRI and RR-Cirkits products.
- Wiring Standards - See this article
- Benchwork Construction - See this article
- Visual indicators will be added to the layout to help identify the block divisions.
DCC
- Digitrax DCC is the command system in use on the layout.
- JMRI is also installed, allowing for Wi-Fi throttles.
- Yard operators will have wired utility throttles (UT4) for responsiveness.
- UT4D throttles are already available for operators to use.
- Command throttles (DT400, DT500, etc.) should be restricted to avoid programming issues during an operating session.
Motive Power
- Each locomotive will be assigned an engine card with instructions on how the DCC functions work. Engines that are consisted will have their cards clipped together with the addressable engine card on top.
- In general, locomotives will be assigned in pairs for manifest freight trains. Locals may use single engines if they don't have to traverse the helix or if the train is less than 10 cars.
- Engines will all have reversing headlights, which helps determine if the locomotive is answering to DCC commands.
- Engines with sound will have their sound turned down so that an engineer walking along side can hear it, but so that it can't be heard across the room.
- Engines should be muted when they are not in use, either through the appropriate command function or through a kill switch on the track.
Signals
- While hooded signals are more modern, ensure that they are easily visible from the engineer's point of view. May need to angle them slightly out towards the aisle, or install "repeaters" on the fascia.
- We are not following a particular prototype for signals. Most signals in the Midwest use the colors and not positions for their indicators. Some Canadian signals use a single multicolored light, but the specific signals used on the layout will be dictated by what models are available for purchase.
