D&RGW / Rio Grande Southern

Jon’s On30 scale DRG&W / RGS is set in August of 1943. The 22’ x 27’ layout depicts the line that runs from Chama, which is staging, to Farmington, which is also staging. Durango is the main yard from there it runs to Farmington. Prior to Farmington the main line branches off to Ridgeway, CO. The track plan is double deck around the walls with two peninsulas. There is a helix with staging tracks in a separate room. The layout is being built for operations and features transport of coal and yellow cake for the Manhattan Project. There is also the hauling of standard narrow gauge products such as coal and livestock.

On the branch line to Ridgeway there is Dolores which has a coal tipple and an oil refinery. The oil comes from the oil fields around Farmington (staging). Ridgeway also has livestock facilities and a mining supply warehouse that add to traffic. On the main line from Durango there is a coal mine, another town with a cattle stockade, and an area with a mine for yellow cake. Most of the locos are MMI with four Bachman locos that have been modified to resemble D&RGW locos. There is Digitrax with Tsunami sound in all locos. Also used is Micromark 4 way waybill cards for ops. We've recently started using a fast time clock with dispatcher to make the op sessions more interesting.

Scenery is about 15% finished. If you get "The Dispatcher's Office" you will find a photo of the Durango area on page 14 and the helix and Farmington staging area on page 17 in the Oct 2019 issue.

Layout Owner

Jon Silverberg

Location

Sheridan, IN

Scale

On30

Layout Size

22 ft x 27 ft

Era

August 1943

Crew Complement

4 - 7

Completion

Track: 100%
Scenery: 40%
Electrical: 100%

Control System

Digitrax

Wi-Fi Throttles

Yes

Communications System

Wayside phones

Dispatching Method

Timetable and Train Order

Car Forwarding

Car Cards/Waybills

Fast Clock

3:1

Pets

Yes - dogs