GSMRM/EBMES O Scale Interurban - Layout and Operations -
			Updated: February 20, 2008

O Scale Interurban Description

O scale is similar in size, but not quite the same as the Lionel trains many people had as kids. The scale is 1:48, so an O scale boxcar is 1/48^th as big as its full size counterpart. In O scale, _ inch on the model equals 1 foot on the real thing. 110 actual feet on the model equals 1 scale mile.

Electric railroad locomotives receive their power from an external source, usually a wire suspended above the rails or a third rail. Electric railroads first found a home carrying passengers in large cities. Steam engines were noisy, smoky, and frightened horses, so quiet and pollution free electric trolleys were developed. As the cities grew, the electric railroads grew with them, often extending to the suburbs to carry people to work.

Several electric railroads ran throughout the Bay Area. The Key System carried passengers from the East Bay to San Francisco across the Bay Bridge. The Sacramento Northern ran from Oakland all the way to Chico and carried passengers and freight.

Mainline railroads also used electricity in some areas. While expensive to construct, electrification resulted in lower operating and maintenance costs. The most famous electric railroad in America was probably the Pennsylvania Railroad, which had thousands of miles of electrified trackage. Their most famous electric locomotive, the GG1, was in service for over 50 years! Some railroads in the West, notably the Great Northern and the Milwaukee Road, electrified portions of their line where they had easy access to Hydro-electric power. Electrification eliminated the problems of smoke and exhaust building up in the long tunnels.

Trolley Operations

Today we have a trolley operation near the middle of the layout. We have also track for a city trolley system in the Yaquina Bay area. Trolley lines also run on the south end of the layout, but are currently not operational.

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O Scale Interurban Layout Size

The interurban layout occupies over 400 square feet of the O Scale layout. The layout is not a model of any particular region, instead it is intended to capture the flavor of the interurban areas of the West while providing us with as long a mainline run as possible. We currently have a mainline that is about 4 scale miles, or 400 feet long, plus over 200 feet or yard trackage.

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Layout Construction

Construction is the same as for the O Scale and On3 layouts, except that additional attention is needed for the overhead wiring.

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Track Plan

Under Construction

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Layout Scheme

The O Scale layout doesn't attempt to model any specific area, but generally resembles the Western United States. The layout is noted for its high mountains, deep canyons, wide rushing rivers, steep climbs, long straight-aways, and snow-capped peaks. Although a specific era was not targeted during construction, most of the structures would mark this as a mid-1930s to mid-1950s motif.

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Yards

One yard area is visible to the public. This the Churhhill yard and industrial area near the Post Rd area of the O Scale layout.

One additional staging yard, with a total of 6 40-car tracks, is outside the view of the public beneath the Midway O Scale yard.. It is here we build and dispatch the trains we run.

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Operations

 

The interurban layout is not yet completely wired. Some trains are run with a mainline cab using a manual power block control system,

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Trains

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Structures

Oil Refinery Model

The oil refinery model you see here was built in 1971 for Standard Oil. It is an exact scale model of one of the processing units in the Richmond Refinery. Scale models like this are used as part of the construction process to help visualize the relationship between all of the parts of the plant and make sure it all fits together. This is one of the few cases where the model was actually built before the prototype!

The model was donated to the Golden State Model Railroad Museum by Chevron.

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If you are interested in the latest progress, please visit O Scale Progress Section.

If you are interested in learning how to become an O Scale member of the East Bay Model Engineer's Society >click here.

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