Modular Model Railroads

This month’s feature is the Spokane International Railway (SIRy) submitted by Mike Pagano, the layout’s builder and a contributing author to N Scale Railroading magazine. The SIRy is an N-scale, lightweight, portable layout consisting of 4 sections with two separate track loops depicting the SIRy near Sandpoint in the Idaho panhandle. The portable layout is available for exhibitions and is headquartered out of Bellingham, Washington.  Photos and some text by Mike Pagano.

Layout Name: Spokane International Railway 

Famous for: Mike’s prototype signature scene on the SIRy is the Sand Creek Trestle, which was pictured on the cover of the July/Aug 2007 issue of N Scale Railroading. The Jan/Feb 2008 issue of N Scale Railroading describes how the project was conceived, including fitting the 650 foot scale trestle onto a portable layout. On the SIRy website, you can compare Mike’s efforts, as featured on the front cover of N Scale Railroading, with the prototype photo by Laurence Shawver in the 1950’s. It was important to Mike to have a historical railroad background for his project railroad and to also have a signature scene that would give the layout an identity.

Description: The Spokane International Railway (SIRy) is featured in the July/Aug 2007 issue of N Scale Railroading magazine. The following describes which issues the construction details of this unique portable N scale layout.

• July/Aug 2007 – Cover & Part 1 – Introduction to the Spokane International Railway
• Sept/Oct 2007 – Part 2 – Building lightweight aluminum benchwork
• Nov/Dec 2007 – Part 3 – Installing roadbed and track over the foam base
• Jan/Feb 2008 – Part 4 – Building the Sandpoint Trestle
• Mar/Apr 2008 – Part 5 – Creating a backdrop on a sheet of styrene
• May/Jun 2008 – Part 6 – DCC wiring and controls for the SIRy

The model is built using benchwork construction methods found on The Clinchfield Railroad in N Scale, designed by the late Gordon Odegard for Model Railroader back in 1978. There are four frame sections. Two 36″ x 72″ self supporting tables with folding legs and two 23″x 84″ bridge sections that interlock into the frame of the two table sections. This makes the foot print of the layout 6ft x 13ft. Unlike The Clinchfield, each table section is sheathed with a thin layer of plywood and built up with layers of styrofoam insulation. All the track is laid on cork glued to the styrofoam sub-roadbed. This is what it looks like when the layout is put together for operation. Each bridge section is C-clamped to a table on either end. Different thicknesses of extruded Styrofoam are glued together to change the elevation of the scenery and mainline. Making the layout portable means making it light weight. Each section is designed to be handled by one or two people. The Clinchfield design was one of the best N scale portable railroads built for display as well as portability. Mike the layout design to the next level by using the new products available to today’s modelers.  Mike Danneman created the custom backdrop for the SIRy.

Website: http://www.spokaneinternationalrailroad.com/

Contact: Mike through the contact link on the SIRy website.

Scale: N

Theme: Mike’s track plan design contains two independent loops, representing the SIRy and the NP railroads that interchanged at Sandpoint. The GN also connected into the interchange yard from the east side of Sandpoint. The layout also features a four track staging yard and a hidden return loop using the GN connection from Spokane, WA to Kalispell, MT.

Setup Status:  The layout frame is constructed of three inch aluminum architectural channel. Mike welded all the corners and cross members, giving each section a rigid frame. There are four frame sections. Two 36″ x 72″ self supporting tables with folding legs and two 23″x 84″ bridge sections that interlock into the channel of the two table.  Mike developed these unique techniques to build a sectiona layout that is both lightweight and resilient.   The layout is built to withstand the stress of being portable and allow for rapid and precise assembly.

Size of Layout: There are four frame sections. Two 36″ x 72″ self supporting tables with folding legs and two 23″x 84″ bridge sections that interlock into the channel of the two table sections. This makes the foot print of the layout 6ft x 13ft.

Power & Control: The SIRy is powered by Digitrax with PM 64 stationary decoders that run the Peco code 55 switch machines

Operations: The prototype SIRy operated a 140 mile rail line from Spokane, Washington to Eastport, Idaho with a branch line connecting to the town of Coeur d’Alene. The railroad existed independently from 1906 to 1958. The SIRy primarily moved interchange traffic from the Canadian border to the Pacific.  Additional details regaring prototype operations is available in this Wikipedia article.

Open to the Public: The SIRy is open to the public at various public exhibitions as posted on the SIRy website.

Photo Tour: More photos and information are available on the SIRy website.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 12:05 am and is filed under General, Module Clubs, Module Construction, Module Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.