“Tall Timber & Santa Fe”

Model Railroad

• By Jim Lofland
• The “Tall Timber & Santa Fe” is a freelanced layout following no prototype, but includes a lot of Santa Fe in the layout.  The “TT&SF” is an HO gauge railroad that occupies a space of 20 feet by 32 feet. This railroad is approaching 31 years old with scenery 100% complete, and represents the era from the 1920’s to the present including both steam and diesel operations.  The layout includes 400-feet of main line track and approximately 400-feet of passing and industrial sidings including 130 turnouts. Track is hand laid nickel-silver code 100 and all turnouts are scratch built. Minimum turnouts are number 6 and minimum radius is 30-inches.   The “TT&SF” is a point to loop layout but operated as a point to point.  The layout contains three yards and seven towns for local switching.  From Lofland Yard all traffic proceeds south to Childress Yard with intermediate towns of Stephen, East Jason, Jason, Jeffrey City, and East Childress.  The Edna Branch begins in Stephen and serves the towns of North Edna and South Edna.  All trains from Childress Yard proceed north returning to Lofland Yard, again passing through all towns but in reverse order.
• The theme for the “TT&SF” is based on operations with all car, locomotive, and caboose movements being managed via the windows based RailOp computer program developed by Phil Chambers.  Operating Sessions on the “TT&SF” include running 10-12 way-freights, 2 passenger trains, and any extras as time permits.  Operating sessions normally last four hours and require up to 7-8 operators.  A typical operating session can switch 250-300 cars across the layout. Operators have the following operating choices to choose from: 1. Lofland Yard Master, 2. Lofland Yard Engine House Hostler, 3. Childress Yard Master, 4. Three Main Line Cabs, 5. Dispatcher, and 6. Local Switchers for Stephen, North Edna, South Edna, Jason/East Jason, Jeffrey City, and East Childress.  Normally the Dispatcher position is filled by one of the local operators as the “TT&SF” is a block controlled layout with the main line and passing sidings accounting for 22 independent electrical blocks on the layout.  Some familiarity with the physical locations of the blocks helps, but is not a necessity.
• Presently, the model railroad fills the entire railroad room.  Over the past couple of years structures and scenery have been updated utilizing more modern Cornerstone Structures and improved scenery materials. Two passing sidings have been added that allow improved management of trains during operating sessions. It is not likely that the “TT&SF” will undergo any major modifications in the near future. The largest challenge now is keeping up with maintenance requirements on the current layout.
• Model railroad guests are always welcome on the “Tall Timber & Santa Fe”.
• Meet Jim Lofland --