September, 2004

The East Bay Model Engineers N Scale Division is proud to announce the release of its first custom-run Micro Trains N Scale car. These cars are now being released for sale to the general public and commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the East Bay club, founded in 1933. The car is a Micro-Trains Special Run in the 74000 Series. It is a 40 ft. box car, no roofwalk, plug door, decorated in the Santa Fe style and incorporating the East Bay logo. Cars are available at the Museum Gift Shop. [More information...]

June 30, 2001

We've been busy upgrading control systems, adding more trackage to the Sacramento area, and the Sacramento Engine Terminal. We now have five radio-controlled throttles and 3 "yard" tethered cabs, but all cabs are now operational everywhere, meaning we can now run eight trains simultaneously! There are more structures in the Oil City area and the interurban area is coming along.

October 16, 2000

A scene from our layout was the "centerspread" in the first issue of N Scale Railroading magazine. To obtain this magazine, write "NSR. P.O. Box 77296, Seattle, WA 98177-0296". [Images shown here with permission of Kirk Reddie, publisher]

In the photo, the San Francisco Overland passes under the towering mountains at Summit on the way to Truckee.

Watch for more coverage of our layout in future issues.

 

As we near the end of the current running season we are gearing up for our winter projects. The main project will be a major push to complete the front portion of the layout, including the trolley area in Sacramento-Elvas Wye, the Sacramento Passenger Station and the Roseville Engine facility. The preliminary work is already done: the main control panel is now portable and can be moved around as we do major modifications. We have installed a trial version of the background board against which we will construct the facades of the Sacramento industrial area. Soon we will begin widening the benchwork to accomodate the Sacramento Passenger Station. The Narrow Gauge line continues to progress. A few more turnouts and it will be partially operational.

August 20, 2000

The 2000 NMRA and N Scale Gathering have come and gone and we were pleased and delighted to be visited by many people during the conventions.

July 11, 2000

We continue to upgrade our electrical system. We now have yard cab access to roughly half the layout with the rest expected soon. This will eventually allow us to run seven trains simultaineously. More narrow gauge track has been installed. We are doing a final cleanup in preparation for the upcoming NRMA national convention.

June 5, 2000

We recently added a 5th mainline cab to our system and this past weekend we had five trains running simultaneously! The Blue Diamond Almond plant is nearing completion. Some of the track on the Narrow Gauge portion of the layout is now installed as are the first of the Narrow Gauge turnouts (these are all hand-built by our members). We now have a working road signal crossing and gates at the Elvas Wye to protect N-scale motorists attempting to cross the busy dual mainlines.

April 21, 2000

The new radios worked well at the April 16 run session. The escape track has now been successfully lengthened on BOTH ends. Scenery around the Woodford popup has been repaired. The main control panel has been moved clearing the way for progress on the scenery in Sacramento. The Bakersfield turntable is now cut in and in the process of being levelled. Turnouts for the Sacramento street area are finished. More ballasting in Sacramento turntable area and in Norden. The bridge at Tehachapi is installed but needs work. The Narrow gauge destruction is complete and new roadbed has been laid. Track will be going in very soon. Narrow gauge turnouts are being constructed.

March 10, 2000

The escape track has now been successfully lengthened on one end and work continues on lengthening the other end as well as scenery modifications to accomodate the extension. More progress has been made on structures for the Elvas area. Ballasting continues around the Sacramento turntable and the pit is being prepared for the Bakersfield turntable. With our recent surge in membership, several long-term projects are now possible. The old (partially completed) hand-laid narrow gauge track was ripped up and is being replaced with new MicroTrains narrow gauge sectional track. We hope to have an operational loop in the next few months.

February 14, 2000

The escape track lengthening project continues (roadbed and track is in, next is the new turnout); more turnouts have been added to Bakersfield yard, and progress is being made on the structures for Elvas. On the website, I have reorganized the N Scale information and I have added a "Prototype" link to the Nscale page to provide information and links to the real world places and things we are trying to model on our layout.

December 4, 1999

Work continues on the industrial trackage near Elvas, and the crossing gates are installed, soon to be operational. The turntable tracks at Sacramento have been painted.

October 1, 1999 Yet more trees! We are working on installing crossing gates at the Elvas Wye, finishing wiring of the turntable and extending the hidden passing siding that leasd to the Tehachapi loop.

September 6, 1999 The tree planting has slowed, but not stopped. The turnouts at the engine facility are installed and will soon be operational. Work proceeds on making the turntable operational. Roadbed has been added for the passing siding addition and we are adding a crossing gate at Elvas.

August 6, 1999 Even more trees! We have now planted over 1500 trees on the Sierra mountains. In addition, there are new turnouts and tracks at the Sacramento Engine facility, work on extending our hidden passing siding under the mountains, and some benchwork and trackwork in the Elvas area.

July 4, 1999 Look at those trees! We have undergone a major reforestation program on the layout with the addition of over 1200 trees! Yes, 1200 and counting. The Sierras have finally received the bulk of the forest cover that belongs there and the layout is looking more and more "finished" all the time. The Sacramento turntable is now wired and awaits final installation of the main control tower and tweaking of the tracks and circuits to make the whole thing come to life. Turntables in any scale are difficult to model, and aligning the 40+ tracks on ours was no simple task, but the end is in sight. The final turnouts and complex trackwork that feed into the turntable and service facilities are progressing daily. Land reclamation in the Elvas areas continues as we prepare for the assault on the urban area behind the main yards. This area will eventually contain an interurban line, and dozens of warehouses and trackside industries.

April 2, 1999 Lots of new stuff in N scale. The turntable is well on its way to working. The tracks in the Bakersfield siding/industrial area are all in place now, and awaiting only final electrical connections. We have a new set of crossovers on the main line through Roseville yard. Land has been "reclaimed" in the Elvas industrial area in preparation for more sidings. The turnouts at oil city are being replaced (they had been the only #4 turnouts on the layout and have been replaced with #6's for more reliable operation). The scenery above Cisco has received a much thicker coat of Hydrocal in preparation for final treatments and the scenery at Tehachapi has been refreshed in preparation for the season opener.

January 8, 1999 We've been sprucing up the scenery in preparation for the upcoming photo-shot by Model Railroader magazine. More trees have been planted, and the area around Tehachapi is back to its golden yellow.

December 4, 1998 The mountains behind Woodford were recently planted with trees and the Woodford tracks were ballasted. Structures have started appearing adjacent to the Sacramento and Roseville yards. The tunnel portals along the tracks to Truckee are in place, along with a beautiful wooden retaining wall, and Chinese wall made of stone. Painting of the background mountains continues.

October 3, 1998: Scenery work continues behind Truckee. The mountains are now continuous from one end of the layout to the other. Allan will continue scenicking westward towards Norden and Cisco to start adding the rock molds and ultimately the thick pine forests we envisage. Track work continues in the Bakersfield area and the passenger station at Bakersfield is now online. We also have a new siding to the industrial buildings at Elvas. Electrical refinements continue in preparation for switching over to our new (and final version) control panels. Gordon has managed to do this work seamlessly so that operations have never been interrupted. Track #6 of the hidden yard at Mojave has now been relaid with Peco track (we had tried Atlas track but found the gauge was too variable for our liking) and is now rewired and operational. Tracks #3, 4 and 5 are still being evaluated for replacement.

September 4, 1998: Truckee yard is now operational because of the newly completed west end yard ladder. As with all recent ladders, this one was constructed off the layout and dropped in place. It features a dual-guage turnout. The Bakersfield siding and industrial area is partially operational -- turnouts are installed and wired but power routing is not yet complete. Allan continues scenery work along the back wall at Stanford/Eder

GSMRM Main Page © 2008 by GSMRM comments to info@gsmrm.org

nbsp;