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HOGRAILS.COM
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Twin City Rails |
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“Twin Cities Rails” is a HO layout with major
emphasis on rail service in St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1955. Great
Northern is the major railroad with facilities that include the Jackson
Street Roundhouse, a car repair shop, wheel shop, and a fuel depot.
Interchange railroads in the Twin Cities include the NP, Soo, and Rock
Island. Most industries in the Twin Cities replicate real 1955
industries that existed during that time frame. There are three major
freight yards. They are located in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Spokane.
Spokane also handles interchange freight from the SP&S and Milwaukee
Road.
The layout is approximately 900 square feet using Code 100 track and Peco manual turnouts. There are two staging areas and they use Atlas electric turnouts. The main staging area has 22 tracks and the small staging area has 5 tracks. The layout has approximately 50 engines with a few having sound systems. Rolling stock includes over 700 cars which are mainly 40 footers. The DCC system is Digitrax with wireless throttles. There are three Digitrax boosters and 12 power districts protected with Tony’s Power Shield Circuit Breakers. Trains and switch lists are generated using RailOps software. A normal three hour operating session consists of 7-10 operators plus a dispatcher. There are two yard masters, one in St. Paul Union Yard, and one in the Minneapolis Yard. A variety of trains are run such as those listed below. |
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You can reach Lee at gnrrfan@cox.net
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