April 25, 26 Fun Run at Bill Lohman's Layout

[Bill Lohman <844bill@gmail.com>]

TTAT Members

 

You're cordially invited to participate in the TTAT's April 09 Fun Run to be held on Bill Lohman's Overland Pacific Railway.

 

We'll conduct railroad operations on Saturday, April 25, 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday April 26, noon to 6 pm.

 

Door prize is a rare, brand new, never out of the box, 0-27 K-Line Limited Edition Shiner Bock Wood-Sided Reefer, number 276 of 495 sponsored by Clay Kinsner of Lone Star Trains and Collectibles in San Antonio a few years back.

 

We'll have fun running your trains and mine.  But, it also might prove useful for those of you planning layouts to see a moderate sized layout in a mult-use room.  And also to gain some hands on experience with DCS, TMCC or Legacy in a laid back, user friendly environment.   

 

In addition to running trains, we'll burn some burgers and there'll be an ice chest for your favorite beverage.  I'll throw in the first batch of beer and bottled water.  Bring your favorite beverage if you like.

 

While we're operating, train video's will be shown on the trainroom flat panel TV.  A slide show of Sherman Hill and my one-on-one tour of the Cheyenne Steam Facilities last fall with Lynn Nystrom, famous UP Steam Team Engineer of UP3985 and UP 844, will be on the PC Flat Panel.   What a gentleman he is.

 

Please let the me know soonest if you plan to attend by signing up on the Coordination Document on the TTAT website or emailing me  -- so I can work out the logistics.

 

The OP is located in the Lake Hills Area about 4 miles west of Bee Caves Road and Loop 360.  See the Coordination Document for written driving instructions or I can email them to you.  And Ira has placed a Mapquest hot link on the club schedule.  Thanks, Ira.  Just click on my name on the club schedule and the map will pop up.    There's plenty of off-street parking and plenty of room in the trainroom for the usual turnout.

 

Thanks,

Bill Lohman

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

The Overland Pacific Railway

 

 

 

 

Details Follow Below   --  for those of you interested.    

 

The Overland Pacific is a mythical railroad owning a small segment of one of the transcontinental routes somewhere in the rural, small town western U.S.  -  in Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Territory  -- between the small towns of Cache City and Ft Logan.  The era is 1930's to the end of the steam to diesel transition in about 1960.  The OP is primarily a railroad service company and gains most of it's revenue by collecting fees from trains of the various western railroads using it's tracks and services. 

 

The OP management encourages railroads from all era's, ancient to modern, and all geographical areas to use it's facilities during this Fun Run!  That would be YOU!  We desperately need the revenue in these hard times!

 

The OP is an around the walls shelf type layout housed in a 17 ft. X 32 ft. multi-purpose room.  It has two levels and enough mainline tracks and switches to run two or three moderate length trains while staging an additional one.  We can parade trains on the Highline Mainline and bring them into the valley and the OP facilities at Overland Junction.  And at the same time we can run a point-to-point switching operation in either direction for about 60 feet between two turntables on the OP Valley Line.  

 

We'll have to work together  --  as a team   -- to run two or three trains in a more or less realistic manner!!!

 

We can run easily run a mixture of MTH DCS and Lionel TMCC and Legacy trains.  Analog trains can be run separately but can't be mixed with command trains.  

Minimum track diameter is 090 and all switches are #5's or #7.5's allowing the OP to handle the largest known locomotives and cars.  Ditto with the two 128 ft (32 inch) turntables. 

 

The OP at this point operates very reliably, but, is a work in progress.  There are 20 plus switches.  The mainline ones will be automated and signalled in the future.  Yard switches will remain manual.  All are manual at this point.  This means we'll have to pay attention and have a real railroading experience!  Many buildings are in place as place holders.  Scenery and detailing will be added after the final modifications and the electronics are proven rock solid. 

 

The following may interest some of you. Come over and see what you think.  There's room for improvement and I'll welcome all suggestions!!  I've attempted to take a balanced approach to my train room.  On the one hand I want a model railroad with enough trackage and operating detail to make for interesting operations.  On the other hand I want to have a multi-purpose room which is comfortable and has room for plenty of people and for other activities and other hobbies  -- and for that often neglected item -- plenty of storage.  Achieving this balance in a moderate amount of space has been and continues to be a real challenge for me.  For example, at one point I had a 20 ft X 4 ft center peninsula which I removed in an attempt to regain the balance.  Also, I've proven to myself over the years (this is my 10th layout) that the more track you have the bigger maintenance effort it takes.  Some of the eternal trade-off's for model railroaders!!  

 

Hope to see you on on the 24th and 25th!   If you have any questions, you can call me at 512-663-4599 or email me at 844bill@gmail.com .