Great Northern- Hillyard and the Spokane Sub

To all who have been reading my blog in the past I need to apologize for not writing any updates to my past entries. To be honest until recently there have been no updates. The economically trying times have been hard on the already drained funds of a student turned modeler so the construction of Hillyard was put on hold.

I have planned Hillyard as a sectional show layout, broken down into six sections. Ironically with the launch of this seemingly well thought out idea that would allow me to work on the project as I had the money had to wait until I had enough money to build the first section which is the roundhouse and turntable. Those of you modelers know that the word turntable means $$$$table. My goal was the Walthers 130' indexed turntable, and I met that goal with the use of that great combination of Christmas and Birthday money (If you have a birthday in December you know what Im talking about).

Now that I have purchased the long awaited turntable and also 3 stalls of the roundhouse I am constructing the bench work for this first section in grand anticipation for getting on with the project with the increase in income that is due to me with my new job as a shop teacher this summer.

The roundhouse is planned to be a 270 degree roundhouse that is about 20 stalls...I think with exterior tracks for other storage. I am planning to buy add-on stalls whenever I can snatch them up.

As far as the rest of my layout (Downtown Spokane) I have made a design change after more indepth research into that area and a rare find...a track diagram. This diagram shows that there was not much switching off of the GN mainline through town it also shows an OWRN interchange. I decided that the interchange would be more interest for me. It would allow me to model two additional railroads...UP and OWRN in the interchange, and in plan the OWRN steel bridge flows right into the back track of my Hillyard area of the layout, so this bridge can be opporational rather than just for show, as well as make the interchange somewhat realistic. My desk is next to the interchange so I decided to build a removable "pig tail" to the layout that would allow a locomotive to run directly onto my test track on my desk from the interchange.

I will have pictures soon for those of you having trouble picturing this in your head. Again, I am back and building. By the way I have named my layout....

Great Northern & Inland Empire

This name comes from my Main line (GN) and all other lines that will interchange or be depicted in some way: SP&S, UP (Spokane International), MILW (Washington & Idaho Northern), NP, and Spokane Falls & Northern